bulls

[CarleyE]

I have read through a few of the postings on here and I have read multiple comments like "this bull throws crappy calves" "don't breed this bull to anything with a bad topline", etc.about several top producing clubby bulls. The bull is only half of the genetics that the calf recieves.    

 

[knabe]

First of all don't breed a cow if her topline is that bad.

why not?

 

[willow]

I am going to play both sides of the fence here.  I can see your point CarleyE.  There are probably some cows out there that should be just commercial cows and there are probably some that should have been dinner, but who are we to decide what someone else does with their cattle.  On the other hand, you are very right about the bull only being 1/2 of the equation.  But, lets say that you breed a cow and get a really great calf every year for five years and then one year you get a calf that has issues that you have never seen out of that cow before.  True that could still be the cow, but odds are it is the bull and I think in most cases that is what the fellow Steerplaneteers are trying to relay.  I don't think people are just randomly trying to run down anyones cattle, but tact and perspective wouldn't hurt either.  It never hurts to remember that, that animal that any of us just commented on is someones pride and joy.

 

[Gargan]

i agree willow, isnt that the reason we bother to AI? to optimize our chances to produce a top quality offspring? If not then why bother and just use our ole herd bull. So I agree, if you take the time to AI your cattle, and spend $250 on 10 straws of semen, we expect excellence. If my cows only fault is she breaks a lil in her top and is great in every other aspect and im in the club calf or pure bred business, dang rite im goin to AI her. If the calf carries on that trait of a break in its top, then imma try a new bull next time. JMO

 

[CarleyE]

I understand what everyone is saying, and I agree. My point wasn't to just defend the one side, I was just saying that people shouldn't just blame only the bull for faults or imperfections. The cow that you are breeding the bull to has a lot to do with the phenotype of the calf as well. And sometimes the bull and the cow don't match up genetically. Of course we breed our cows to improve imperfections that the cow may have. My comment about "not breeding the cow if her topline is that bad" didn't mean we shouldn't breed cows that breakin their tops. I was refering to a comment that I had previously read in a post, the guy was saying that he had bred his cow to several different bulls and each calf had a bad top line. So this guy was saying that all of these top bulls threw bad calves. So my whole point of posting my comment was directed toward what that guy had said about his cow and the bulls.