AI bulls II: The sires of REI in Stillwater, OK

[CAB]

  I think that some of the comments by us SP dwellers put a dim light on us as cattle PPL. Unless you are @ the stud everyday and know all of the details about each individual bull, it's not fair or smart to make many comments on a bull. We just can't know enough information to make comments on the bulls. Sometimes the stud is actually trying to take weight off of bulls. They maybe coming off of a lease that the owner doesn't even really know how the bull was being treated. We do have a right to our own opinions as to whether to personally use a particular bull or not, but I think it makes us look very judgemental and all knowing when we make statements that are based solely on a one day run through picture taking tour. JMO. Brent

 

[Dusty]

I like to look at bulls in Denver on display and I like to look at them at the studs in their working clothes, but the best way to decide whether or not to use a bull is to see his offspring.  Thats all that matters.  Frankly I don't care if a bull is a crippled up POS that needs a shot of lead, if he throws good calves that are worth money, I'll use him.

Everyone has a cow or two that absolutely looks like crap year round, but that always have a good calf.  Would you cull the cow just because she didn't look good even though she had good calves? 

When looking at bulls, especially the clubby ones, don't think that just because one looks good or bad that his calves will necessarily be better or worse.  There's really no predicatability with the clubby bulls.  It takes a couple years of trial and error to figure out which ones are going to work.

 

[chambero]

I've got mixed feelings about putting photos up on here of other people's cattle.  Personally, I'm not going to do it. But, being somewhat hyprocritical, I'll sure look at ones others do.  If I owned one of these facility's though I wouldn't allow photos to be taken. 

 

[CAB]

  I agree with Dusty & Chambero on this one. After the first year beauty pageant is over the only proof a bull needs is his progeny. We all should wait and let others prove the 1st year bulls and especially the clubbies. PPL are so quick to throw the 1st stone that it is kind of daunting trying to promote a bull.

 

[herefordfootball]

If I owned one of these facility's though I wouldn't allow photos to be taken. 

I agree 100%, I think it's up to the owners of the bulls to decide which photos go public and which ones dont. I like seeing what the bulls actually look like without hair, but I would be afraid to show pics of someone elses bulls that might not've been meant to be public pictures. JMO

 

[BAILEYFARMS]

If I owned one of these facility's though I wouldn't allow photos to be taken. 

I agree 100%, I think it's up to the owners of the bulls to decide which photos go public and which ones dont. I like seeing what the bulls actually look like without hair, but I would be afraid to show pics of someone elses bulls that might not've been meant to be public pictures. JMO

as a bull owner myself I agree, we pay alot of money for these animals so we have to push them hard get stuff breed and them take them to stud. Then they get leased out for most of the year so there only a month or two a year that were letting them rest. So yes i agree the owner should be the only one to decide what pics get published. I sent a bull to Texas to get collected they let him get thin and cocitosis if pics got out of him at that time it would of been very bad.  Just alittle story  from an owners point of view.

 

[Telos]

I see nothing wrong with reporting on bulls at stud if it is accurate, unbiased reporting. Photos usually don't lie and I like looking at them untouched more so then the touched up ones.

 

[herefordfootball]

I see nothing wrong with reporting on bulls at stud if it is accurate, unbiased reporting. Photos usually don't lie and I like looking at them untouched more so then the touched up ones.

I agree with seeing untouched photos better than seeing touched up ones, but I still think that if you take a photo with your camera, and have the picture processed or you put it on your computer, you should probaly have the permission of the owners of the bulls to post the pictures publicly, I guess I dont know about any legal stuff or rights(I dont know it there even is any laws about this) but I just dont think I'd put pictures of other peoples animals up without their permission. JMO

 

[knabe]

but I just dont think I'd put pictures of other peoples animals up without their permission. JMO

hmm, i wonder if PETA would obey that law.

 

[herefordfootball]

but I just dont think I'd put pictures of other peoples animals up without their permission. JMO

hmm, i wonder if PETA would obey that law.

(lol) Probaly not, but if they ever come around my farm they're gonna get more than they bargained for. Just Kidding. NOT. 

 

[farmboy]

if Peta comes to my farm, they are trespassing. I will unleash my obese dogs on them... they will roll around want petted.... instead of attacking 

then they will say they are being mistreated because they are fat dogs and being disadvantaged in life 

 

[Joe Boy]

I'd like to know more about the bulls and appreciate the discussion.  I don't take pictures of others cattle, anywhere.  I like to see a bull in working clothes and to know if he is crippled, as I keep cows.  Many owners are not as honest as they would like you to be.  I would have enjoyed more photos of each bull.  I do not like people criticizing a bull they have not seen or used.  You don't see the bull in a photo... you get an image that could be deceptive.  That is why photos are touched up, and it is also why it is hard to get a good photo of your own cattle.  My cattle have always looked better to me than the photos I take of them.

 

[shortdawg]

I'll have to say JPJ looks just like he does out in the pasture. But if I owned him or any other AI bull I don't think I would want any and everyone posting pics of him. JMHO

 

[Telos]

I think what everyone wants is some courtesy. But when you have these promotional bulls you set yourself up and become wide open to criticism. We should always question the people reporting or taking the pictures as to their accuracy. Kinda of like watching the News.

One thing I do know...If I had a number of cows to AI, you can bet I would look at all the information available and not just a picture in a semen catalog. Bottom line, it's about what their calves look like and do. Heat Wave took pathetic pictures by amateur photographers which never seemed to hurt his sales.

 

[ruhtram]

people shouldn't be allowed to take pics at collecting sites

 

[j3cattleco]

I think what everyone wants is some courtesy. But when you have these promotional bulls you set yourself up and become wide open to criticism. We should always question the people reporting or taking the pictures as to their accuracy. Kinda of like watching the News.

One thing I do know...If I had a number of cows to AI, you can bet I would look at all the information available and not just a picture in a semen catalog. Bottom line, it's about what their calves look like and do. Heat Wave took pathetic pictures by amateur photographers which never seemed to hurt his sales.

I understand your point and agree with it for the most part.  I just wish people would go see them with their own eyes and make their own determinations as opposed to purporting pictures that could or could not be accurate representations of the bull. 

 

[JSchroeder]

Few people have repeated the "everyone has a right to know" line more than myself but even I don't think it's fair to take pictures of bulls at stud.

The idea that somebody's opinion of Heat Wave should be swayed by what he looks like as a hard working nine year old is absolutely preposterous.

 

[knabe]

so uh, where's the best stud in the world everyone should be emulating?

i've seen bulls in a big lot rarely move. 

on the other hand, are they not confined for very long other than one's like heat wave?

has heat wave ever been used as a herd/clean up bull?  i know the clones have, seen them personally.  they didn't look lame, they looked good.  out there acting as bulls.  gotta say the heat wave clones looked better than the steer clones.  the steer clone was just tooo open fronted for me.

 

[Telos]

I have enjoyed viewing photos of these bulls at stud and find it more then refreshing as opposed to always looking at their touched up versions. I think we should always have this freedom to see photos of these bulls in this environment. I am the first to agree that photos can be misleading but the touched up photos are designed strictly for sales and can be extremely misleading.

 

[Dusty]

I guess my opinion on the matter is if people promote the heck out of a bull and essentially try to take him to "celebrity" status, they are leaving themselves open to the criticism that celebrities face in real life.  Ya know the unflattering photos, cosmestic surgery rumors, etc..  Its a double edged sword.  They have to be prepared to handle the bad along with the good.  In the end the bulls that sire the good calves are the ones that sell semen in the long haul.  The other 90% are only remembered because of a pic in the semen catalog for a year or two...