Bull Calf

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Lazy G

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Sep 25, 2008
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Hey, I have this little red angus bull calf that was born in may. I haven't decided whether to keep him as a bull, or whether to steer him for market steer. What are peoples thoughts on him? What should I do? Thanks,
 

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Lazy G

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Sep 25, 2008
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Nova Scotia
He's a fairly thick calf and that's the only reason I thought about keeping him as a bull, but recently I've been leaning towards cutting him. If i were too feed him up, what do you think he'd weigh next september/october? 
 

Lazy G

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Here's a couple other pics of him, I love all honest opinions. He's just a calf I picked up cheap when I bought his dam earlier this year.
 

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TJ

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May 15, 2007
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I'd cut him.  

RE his weight 1 year from now... That all depends upon his genetics & your feed program.  We've had a bunch of frame 5 - 6 Tarentaise steers finish around 1,250 - 1,350 lbs. by 14 months of age, in several feedlot tests.  Those calves were not creep fed, but they were preconditioned at weaning & went to the feedlot about 45 days later, where they were fed very well.  But, again, it's all about the genetics & the feed program.  From what I've seen so far out of my own Red Angus cross calves, I'm not sure that you can get 1,250 lbs. consistantly at 14 months.  They definately do not grow as well as my Tarentaise cross calves.                                      
 

Lazy G

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Yeah, I think if I can he achieve 1250 by 15 or so months I'll be happy. I hear that angus are fairly good at converting their feed, so I'm hoping I can get him to market weight by next year. As a side note, do you know what the best cross is for a market steer project in 4H?
 

TJ

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With a decent feed program, you should be able to finish him by 15-17 months, I would think. 

Best cross?  It depends.  Are you talking slick shear or fitted?

I don't think that the breed is as important as the individuals themselves.  I also don't know if there is such a thing as the best cross, especially since the club calf industry is always changing with the type of cattle that win, so the best cross is not always a constant.  Right now the trend, I think, is toward smaller, thicker steers.  In other words... "tanks".  25 years ago, they wanted large framed cattle.  25 years before that, they wanted "belt buckle cattle".  We aren't back to the "belt buckle cattle" & I doubt that we will ever get back to that completely, but I do think that cattle are trending shorter & high corn prices will only continue to cause that trend to continue.  Also, different areas of the U.S. are different than others. 

With that said, almost every "great" steer has a little Angus blood in it, but a high percentage Angus probably will probably not win a major show.  Lowline Angus are typically thicker than the typical "Americanized" Angus, and I personally think that they would be ideal low percentage cross within a cross system.  Percentage Maine Anjou is a very common component in many "great" steers.  Charolais is becoming quite popular, especially for slick shear shows.  Chi, Simmi, Shorthorn are some of the other breeds that are commonly found in winning club calves. 

         
 

Bawndoh

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Dec 17, 2007
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Cut him.  He has good leg structure, and the thickness in his stifle I think he will do just fine as a fed steer. 
 

Becs

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Sep 29, 2008
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Nova Scotia
I'd Cut Him He seems to be a nice little calve with a nice hair coat with he right feed in him he should be just fine for the Markert Steer project
 

garybob

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Feb 4, 2007
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He's pretty correct in his skeletal make-up. What is his WDA, thus far. He looks pretty big for a May calf. I'd leave him a bull.

GB
 

Lazy G

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Sep 25, 2008
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Nova Scotia
garybob said:
He's pretty correct in his skeletal make-up. What is his WDA, thus far. He looks pretty big for a May calf. I'd leave him a bull.

GB

I don't know what is WDA is, but he weighs around 350-400 pounds I would say, but I could be wrong.
 

simtal

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Feb 3, 2008
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Champaign, IL
Not sure what you needs are but if you keep him as a bull, then you have to worry about several new factors:

Bulls  are not as easy to keep around as steers
Bulls tear stuff up
Do you really need a bull?
Can you market him as a bull?

Bulls are a pain to keep around unless you have plenty of cows that need bred.
 

Lazy G

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Sep 25, 2008
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Nova Scotia
Yeah, in terms of profit my best bet would probably be to steer him then. There are a few farms around, but I doubt they would be willing to pay for a little bull that's unproven, plus he'll be too small by next spring to handle the workload of breeding a bunch of cows.
 
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