Bodacious heifer- opinions?

[SandyB]

This is our Bodacious x Angus heifer. She is 11 months old. We would like you opinions on her and who you would breed her to. We are thinking I-80?

She is registered with the ACA association (Chimaine), it show that she is 1.89 Chianina, 13.89 Angus, 19.24 Maine and 64.98 Other. Guess that means she is a mutt??

She is a bit of a handful and has learned to get away from us when we walk her. We have tied her for hours on end and she is good for that, but she has learned to get away regardless. So we picked up a clamp on nose ring at the show this past weekend and it has worked wonders. Changed her whole attitude. Today we managed to lead her all over and even to our wash rack where she got her first bath in a long time, she was brushed and blown. Truth be told, she was pretty much an angel at the wash rack. She loved and thoroughly enjoyed all the pampering. We hardly even have to put any pressure on the nose ring and are mainly using the rope halter. How would one go about weaning her away from the nose ring?

This is her after she was washed and blown today. She has so much hair its crazy. I will post a new photo once she is clipped. This will have to do for now.

 

[SandyB]

I am shocked!!  So far 164 people have looked at this post and not one has replied. I have noticed that there are a lot of posts that not many are replying too. Must be a busy calving season  <party>

 

[GoWyo]

OK - I'll bite.  This heifer appears to be pretty straight on her hind legs, round muscled and bold shouldered.  My very limited experience with I-80 is that his calves are a little on the straight side depending on the cow.  I would not use I-80 on this heifer.  I would probably use something pretty deep and soft with proper rear leg structure -- thinking an Angus bull like Vin-Mar O'Reilly Factor, Dameron First Impression, SAV Brilliance or something along that line.  To me she appears more market oriented and could use some femininity.  I think a soft Angus bull or another soft, calving ease bull from another breed would balance her out some.

 

[vc]

I have to agree with Gowyo on the structure and type that she is. As far as breeding, for the first a solid calving ease Angus as well, for any breeding after that I would look at using may be a good Shorthorn bull on her. Bull needs to definitely have some flex to it.

She looks like she will carry some size to her as well.

Choose the bulls carefully and you should be fine.

 

[SandyB]

Thanks guys! I appreciate your opinions! You guys have way more experience than I do for sure. Here is another picture of her just standing at the wash rack. It may show her hind legs a bit more for you guys to evaluate. I think she could use more flex in her pasterns too. I also think she is a tad on the thin side but I wanted to be careful not to feed her too fat for breeding. As she has aged she has lost some of her femininity. Maybe once she is clipped she will look better? I will look in to the bulls mentioned. Her dam's sire is SJRC Cash Only who is by Checks In The Mail. Not sure if that means anything to you Angus guys??

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

As far as clipping goes, I would take her head and neck down pretty slick. I would suggest having an experienced clipper/ fitter show you how to blend her shoulders in a bit so they look like they lay in a bit better. She looks wide based (seems to show adequate space between back legs), so she could probably do with some fill to expand her gut a bit, this would emphasis the capacity she seems to have. Also, I would square off that tail head to help the look of her hip. She does look straight in her hocks, but aside from showmanship skills to minimize it and a good hoof trimming, there is not much you can do to hide it. These are things I would do to help hide some of her flaws, and they are areas I would look to "fix" with her future matings. Best of luck and keep us all posted on her progress!

 

[SandyB]

Thank you Boot Jack Bulls. We have a fitter that is coming next week to start clipping on her. She has a lot of hair. I agree with everything you said. Once we get her cleaned up I will post more photos. I also need to start thinking about what bull to breed her too.

 

[CAB]

  I'll ask this question for you Sandy. Hope that you don't mind. How good of cows are the Bodacious sired females making? To me they don't have that maternal look to them and I haven't had very good luck percentage wise on the power clubbie bred cattle making good cows plus when we do keep them we have to be very careful which bulls we use back on them. Hope this helps you and doesn't upset you.

 

[parkerqb7]

My Opinion: Have her at least have one calving ease Angus calf out of her before you breed clubby or for size.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

My Opinion: Have her at least have one calving ease Angus calf out of her before you breed clubby or for size.

I agree. Not that I think Angus is the only option for true calving ease, but it is a safer bet than most clubbies. Also, the right Angus bull could help put a bit of flex in those rear wheels and add a dose of style.

 

[SandyB]

CAB I know many cattle breeders are not too keen on breeding clubby heifers/cows and no you did not make me mad 
I like this heifer and I like the fact that she is packing some Angus breeding on her bottom side. Is she perfect? Hell No! I know that and if she had been I would not have been able to afford her.
I will search around for a low birth weight bull. Not sure what direction or breed I will go. I do know I need something that will clean up her shoulder some and something with more flex. Any LBW bull suggestions & breeds are appreciated. I would like to try and get a calf out of her for my daughter to be able to show.

 

[RankeCattleCo]

If you can find it, Northern Improvement.

I-80 will sure clean up the shoulder, just may not help/hurt the hind wheels much.

 

[TOP 50]

I would look for a Polled Hereford bull called WLB Lego. We are using a son right now and are very pleased. Lots of vigor and super rib shape and top to the calves, havent seen any of them born and nothing over 81lbs. all out of first calf heifers.