Common Breeding Question

[TLBarrow]

I figured this would be a common question but could not find any threads on it.

-How do you decide which direction to take your breeding operation. For someone like myself I have a small herd of show cattle shown through out the years that I have kept to begin raising some calves. My main question is do you just raise calves to sale or do you try raising some heifers and bulls to show and/or promote your show cattle operation? What is the best way to get your name out there for raising good quality calves? I know getting the calves in good homes is a major part of selling cattle but it starts with raising good quality/functional cattle first. When having a small herd is it better to have one good bull that can cover them all, or try to AI them all to different bulls? There are so many bulls out there today that you can buy semen on, but a lot of them only work on cows bred a certain way. Basically i'm just wondering how most people run there small show cattle operations when first beginning.
Cheers,
Taylor

 

[WinterSpringsFarm]

First and formost, pick the direction you want to go. Then from there research, ask questions, surround yourself with like minded people and see what their thoughts are. Go to shows and see what genetic lines are working. Then order semen and AI based off of what each cow needs improvement on to get to your destination. And most of all, if you are looking to build interest in your program, sell the best and keep the rest.

Me for instance, I'm about maternal cows that can show as well. I'm always looking through catalogs, Sullivan's the pulse and asking people questions. Finding out what lines are doing what I want and working towards that. I order semen of bulls that'll do only what I want for a specific cow. I've made 2 great friends in this business and they help me out a lot by giving advice or just opinions on animals.

You must have a goal and work only towards that.

 

[Bradenh]

That's a lot to touch on and by no means am I a seasoned veteran compared to some. With a small set of cows that's assumed to be more clubby than not you'd be better off trying to a.i what you can and clean up the rest. Certain Bulls throw winners for reasons you're in a part of the country where cattle that can slick are at a premium. Also dabbing in american clubbys would be something to think about heavily a lot of people over look that. Try to use Bulls you can register heifers out of (half your calves will be heifers) that gives you an extra market to sell cattle in

What I've tried to do and noticed it works and people notice it is when starting out every calf isn't a show calf. Some are bred to be show calves but need to go to salebarn- take them to the saebarn. Nothing is worse than a kid selling a wormy washed up bottle calf on facebook because it's out of a show bull. Sell good calves. Keep some good females back but don't halter them if they're not something you want as a walking billboard of your program. Only post Good pictures for the public (for a lot of people that's the only way they see your cattle) and push the Good ones. Don't be afraid to scrap the bad ones. And just because a mating doesn't work, that doesn't mean give up on it. Happens all the time full sibs look different some hit some miss don't beat yourself up over a missed mating. Hope that helps