Breeding first time Shorthorn heifer- Help

[Robbie]

I'm sure this goes some where else. You'll have to excuse me I am new to this whole thing.....

I am AI-ing my sisters Shorthorn heifer. I have never had to worry about finding semen or anything. The heifer is a first time heifer, and we would like something that is easy calving. I would like to have some ideas what you have had success with. Obviously we would like something that will produce a good calf (by good I mean something that will do well in a show.) Any help/ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Robbie 

 

[showsteerdlux]

MAV Bellringer all day. You can get the semen from Cattle Visions or the Vogel family.

 

[OLD WORLD SHORTIE]

MAV, JPJ, and Captain Obvious are your choices so take your pick and all will work well for her first heifer. <cowboy>

 

[mark tenenbaum]

i agree- Bellringer is by far the showiest-probably the biggest-I had 1 68 pound bull out of HC Touchdown that may make a hifer bull-out of a 1st calver. Touchdowns are wide made-so you would want to palpate her and see how big her bith canal is:they will DEFINITELY show. O0

 

[JTM]

What is the breeding on you sister's heifer?

 

[Pleasant Grove Farms]

you could use a red angus bull and then the resulting calf would be called a Durham Red. Just for a first calf, this would be an easy calving choice.

Getting that first baby here safe and easy will set up your cow for the rest of her life.  So important to make it a good experience and then go for that awesome
baby next time.

just how we do it here.

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

I have used shorthorn bulls on heifers for over ten years. Some good some a total wreck. If you want a super easy calving ease bull then RS DV 034 329 08 is a super choice. Cattlevisions carries him. I have calved heifers for three years now and have never pulled one. He is the real deal and will still give you a very phenotypically nice calf with lots of rib and a great foot. Best feet I have ever seen on a shorthorn are all sired by 329.

 

[JTM]

I have used shorthorn bulls on heifers for over ten years. Some good some a total wreck. If you want a super easy calving ease bull then RS DV 034 329 08 is a super choice. Cattlevisions carries him. I have calved heifers for three years now and have never pulled one. He is the real deal and will still give you a very phenotypically nice calf with lots of rib and a great foot. Best feet I have ever seen on a shorthorn are all sired by 329.

The 329 bull that TGCC mentioned is as sure of a thing in calving ease as any Red Angus but you will have a Purebred Shorthorn calf. We have a really nice looking 329 heifer out of a first calf proud jazz heifer. She calved unassisted and was 71 lbs at birth. Proud Jazz in my experience has been about 60-75% unassisted on first calf heifers. Not quite good enough IMO. I am recommending A&T Renegade for calving ease although he is only a yearling.

 

[Shorthorns4us]

I'm going to chime in on this one also:

From looking at the picture of your heifer-- I would agree with Pleasant Grove-- go with a Red Angus-- you are going to get a calf that will be qualified for the Durham Red program.  Red Angus is an excellent choice to get the first calf time experience and keeping the odds in your favor. 
I'm am not trying to avert you from using one of the many great CE Shorthorn choices-- but Red Angus is always a trusty back up for those heifers! 
Also--- these Durham Red calves are some of the best kept "secrets" in the breed right now-- you get awesome commercial- cowy type heifers and the steers are super feeders.  I love my Durham Reds.

Now for my plug:  you can also check out www.fordfamilyshorthorns.com for our Shorthorn Bull that semen is available on right now-- we bred him to all our heifers last year and did not have any problems this spring-- so in my opinion- he is on the right road to possibly be a heifer bull choice.
Thanks
Emily

 

[cornish]

Well to continue on with the shameless self promotion plugs- and make it 4 in a row- not because I want to sell semen on the bull...

Here's our proven calving ease deal- over 250 calves- 5 assisted- all from wrong position.  Calf weights ranged from 38-75- although there was just the one calf under 50 pounds.  The roan heifer is sired by this bull from a Shorthorn heifer, she was the 38 pound calf; and she'd developed into our lead yearling heifer this summer.

We've also got a Red Maine- Gigolo Joe x HAA Contender bull that we're using on heifers this year instead of the RA deal- this will make us 7/8 blood instead of 1/2 bloods.  No pictures yet, no semen to share either (just for personal use).  He's not had an assisted birth yet this spring.  I want to wait another year or two to promote this bull as a calving ease deal- as he's by far the stoutest "calving" ease deal I've ever dealt with.  One thing you'll notice in the Red Angus bull- I'm not a believer in having "Stout", or "Heavy boned" "Calving Ease" bulls on the place and with heifers- as calf shape is extremely important to us. 

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

I don't give a frogs fat ass about promoting my bulls.  I just answered the question with a honest answer. Durham reds are awesome. But don't think because she is a heifer she has to have a ra. I'm pretty much out of the registered deal. Only one registered shorthorn left. I'm concerned about live calves and good mommas. I will use 329 for the foreseeable future on all the angus heifers. Proven calving ease is rare and I got a bull here I'd put up against any shorty bull.

 

[cornish]

I don't give a frogs fat ass about promoting my bulls.  I just answered the question with a honest answer. Durham reds are awesome. But don't think because she is a heifer she has to have a ra. I'm pretty much out of the registered deal. Only one registered shorthorn left. I'm concerned about live calves and good mommas. I will use 329 for the foreseeable future on all the angus heifers. Proven calving ease is rare and I got a bull here I'd put up against any shorty bull.

x2 on that... or any bull from that breeding program for that matter..

Pending money towards the end of the year- I wouldn't mind buying about 10 RS heifer calves...

 

[JTM]

I don't give a frogs fat ass about promoting my bulls.  I just answered the question with a honest answer. Durham reds are awesome. But don't think because she is a heifer she has to have a ra. I'm pretty much out of the registered deal. Only one registered shorthorn left. I'm concerned about live calves and good mommas. I will use 329 for the foreseeable future on all the angus heifers. Proven calving ease is rare and I got a bull here I'd put up against any shorty bull.

x2 on that... or any bull from that breeding program for that matter..

Pending money towards the end of the year- I wouldn't mind buying about 10 RS heifer calves...

Haha! Well if I owned one of the best calving ease Shorthorns in the country like 329 then I think I would let somebody know he is an option when they are asking for opinions.

 

[OH Breeder]

I'm sure this goes some where else. You'll have to excuse me I am new to this whole thing.....

I am AI-ing my sisters Shorthorn heifer. I have never had to worry about finding semen or anything. The heifer is a first time heifer, and we would like something that is easy calving. I would like to have some ideas what you have had success with. Obviously we would like something that will produce a good calf (by good I mean something that will do well in a show.) Any help/ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Robbie   

I think it depends on what you want to do with her calf. If you are looking for a terminal animal then you could go cross. If you are looking to stay purebred looks like someone may have a frogs fat ass to offer as well as a plethora of other shorthorn bulls that are proven calving ease. If you can post her breeding that helps a bunch.
She looks like she might be pretty compact in her make up. If you are looking to lengthen her up I would research your options and as you can see from previous post there are folks on here that have options.

 

[Doc]

I'm with OHB. It depends what you want to do with the resulting calf. Wether you want purebred or not. I wouldn't go with RA, just for the sake of getting a Durham Red. Because you don't really have any marketing advantages there.JMHO

 

[aj]

Some people don't want throw away calves the first calf........breed for a good un and then shoot the cow.

 

[cornish]

Some people don't want throw away calves the first calf........breed for a good un and then shoot the cow.

\

Best quote i've  heard in a LONG TIME- but TRUE.

 

[Robbie]

Sire- Monopoly
Dam- Miss. Gringo 25T

My sister would like to have a pure bred calf. She is about a year old now, we just want to figure something out for her. Please be honest, tell me what you use on your first time heifers.
Thanks

 

[Robbie]

Sire- Monopoly
Dam- Miss. Gringo 25T

My sister would like to have a pure bred calf. She is about a year old now, we just want to figure something out for her. Please be honest, tell me what you use on your first time heifers.
Thanks

She is Shorthornplus regristered if that makes any difference......

 

[cornish]

You'll never had a PB calf from a half blood cow- if she's even a half blood.  That dam sounds like a Mid Continent deal- and they're pretty strong on the Maine blood. 

Sounds to me like you need to go the RS route (TGCC's bull), or the Renegade (JTM's bull) route.