Would you use a bull this colour??? New pics from CWA

Just a touch coloured up but pretty damn good. Pics are taken with a old phone so pretty brutal but still shows the colour pattern.

Absolutely..

I think he would make a Longhorn blush

Really neat markings, what's the breeding on him?

Some colour and flash certainly seem to be popular and acceptable these days both in the purebreds and commercial/clubby industries. He was definitely a standout, for more than his colour! when I saw him a few weeks ago and he seems to still be coming along nicely! I wouldn't be castrating him just yet anyway

so to put it bluntly: yes  <beer>

to put it bluntly. No
I would think that your answer depends on what market you are breeding for.

I wouldn't use a bull this color myself, but i had a bull very similar to this color a couple years ago. I had several people wanting to use him and he ended up selling to a guy with black cows. I was totally surprised as his calves were 100% solid black... no white markings at all. I haven't talked to him to see if he has any color from him this year so far.

Theres a main or 3w payoff x ? in the woodpile

Most definitely! Chrome is hot right now and he would certainly add some pattern to some purebred shorthorns too! He looks plenty powerful as well.

HML said:

Really neat markings, what's the breeding on him?

Click to expand...

My limited computer skills are giving me gas trying to put up links for sire and dam.
Sire... Star P Matrix 4N
Dam..Mcbeth Rose 18U
If anyone can get them to work fell free to put up links please.

well ive heard alot of people say color like that is distracting, but personally i think it catches the judge's attention and keeps it on your animal. so yes i would use him as a bull.

We've had a couple of real chrome jobs this year as well. We've steered them both. First calf (6A) is straight Shorthorn and the second one (8A) is 3/4 Shorthorn out of an f1  Short x Simm cow.

If a bull is good, use him

In Texas we call that color pattern a shorthorn so yes!

if he's a good bull use him, and color is getting more popular too! I don't let color get in my way of choosing a good calf and sometimes you just need a bull with such neat markings to POP!!! (pop) (pop) <party> (thumbsup)

Philip Butterfield referred to this color as" traditional Shorthorn color".  Maybe that is another reason he loved Matrix so much. BTW, the calf we had a couple years ago was also a Matrix out of a dark red Sprys True Blue cow. She was at least 3 generations solid red so I was very surprised to get this color. We nicknamed him Neon Leon.

Here is a heifer sired by Matrix from 2011. Gold Spear is the maternal grand sire of both calves dams.

I believe that colour is a double-edged sword!

A few years ago (2004) I was looking for a bull to improve the bone in my cattle as I felt they were a bit fine-boned.  I found the ideal bull in a 'blotchy' red and white which the seller euphemistically referred to as a 'splashy red and white'!  The added bonus was that I bought him for a song due to his colour!

Well, he certainly did the job on the bone in one generation!

I had the President of the Society doing my inspections yesterday for my September sale string and he pointed to all the grandsons of that specific bull!  They all have a white blaze on the face or a white patch on the flank like Matrix.  The other common thread is that they all have good bone.

From my experience here, the more 'splashy' coloured cattle don't sell as well, but a red grandson was my top priced bull at my 2012 sale.

If he fits well with somebody's programme he should do well and if he is a desired 'show' colour, ditto, but the eventual buyer, if he offers something extraordinary, will probably get a bargain!

I agree about the double edged sword.    Some color makes them cool looking show cattle, but after watching a couple hundred head of small groups of feeder calves sell yesterday, a white face, and maybe a sock or two wont get you hammered, but too much "chrome" and you will be selling your sale barm calves for a discount.        So from an economic standpoint, if you are going to use something with that much color, it has to be good enough to not end up with very many salebarn calves or else you will not make up enough premium on the good to make up for the severe discount on the average calves.

Personally, I would shy away from that much color.  Shoot even solid red sees some discount at the sale barn!

He's a nice lookin' calf  (thumbsup) Would love to see him at Agribition as a 2 year old  ;D (We hope to go with our 4-H club again in 2014)