Masculinity in Shorthorns

[Will]

I am not sure but would guess the Bigham family at Elbee farms has been line breeding Shorthorns as long as anyone.  Those cattle are designed to survive and are manange with little to no feed.

 

[r.n.reed]

XBAR, you are a straight shooter and I appreciate that.
It's hard to move on from Roan Gaunlet, but I have to agree with you when I really look at the animals.

It would be a fine thing if Shorthorn breeders, through linebreeding AND selection, developed strains of Prepotent maternal trait bulls that some in the Angus breed have developed. Then we could cross the strains commercially.  Probably this is going on and I just don't know about it.

Best example I know of for breeding for maternal traits:
http://shoshoneangus.homestead.com/home.html
When I select the bulls I use, I visualize their five to ten generation pedigrees as a pen of cattle. In an ideal pen, the cows in the pen would be more similiar to the preferred type. Of course, the same cow appears in the pen several times among the more inbred stock. Since the bulls are simply the progenitors for the maternal characteristics, their indivdual performance is secondary. While I have flirted with a few of the more extreme bulls within the population, I have finally learned to avoid them altogether.  Larry Leonhardt

The body of the highly fertile cow is in beautiful proportion; she looks feminine or broody. Her brisket is not full and she has a dewlap running around her brisket. She has a tremendous stomach capacity, is big from the hip to the pin and from the hipbone to the patella or stifle joint.The largest part of a fertile cow`s body is the midrib region. Standing behind such a cow, her midrib or spring of rib is the widest part of her body, not the thurls or hipbones.  The influence of sex hormones on hair growth and hair shedding of cows is most important. Fertile cows are sleek and glossy.
Jan Bonsma, Judging Cattle For Functional Efficiency

I know these are Angus models, but the principles are the same. This is a good discussion and it would be great to see more Shorthorn examples.

This is not going on in shorthorns any place except Kapers. Maybe I'm wrong. The Canadian folks do a bit of line breeding. But nothing like what Mr Leonhart has done. IMO his ranch is the way of the future. Where every breeder develops his or her own strains. Bred to hit certain target areas. Breeders could go to another breeder and get a totally unrelated animal of the same breed that is also line bred. I think the tru line theory is something every seed stock breeder should study. I sure wish I had found him a decade ago. Also I find it very interesting many folks have gone along with Larry and stopped registering their cows. Literally turning down huge money by doing so. The goal is prepotent, profitable cattle that last on minimum inputs.

So glad to see another breeder find Shoshone. Keeners Corner is a great learning tool for me.

Trevorgrey, there are a few others but the ranks are thin.
One of the things that caught my attention in Leonhardts statement was his visualization of the animals 5-10 generations behind a potential replacement or bull when adding them to the herd.
It would take an old man to have seen that even if you turned the herd over every 5 years.If a guy was breeding for longevity you could potentially be back to the era of some of those pictures the Librarian has been showing us by the time you hit the 10th generation.
An example from my herd would be the dam of 4508.Her sire is only 3 generations removed from one of my foundation  females born in 1973 40 years ago!

 

[Okotoks]

Here is an interesting calf coming from a cow Jaimie has with Hilltop (Anwender Cattle Co) He is linebred with an inbreeding coefficient of 9.375%.

 

[RyanChandler]

I'd like to see some in the 20+ range

 

[coyote]

This is a fairly Masculine bull with a Inbreeding Coefficient of 14.844%.
MURIDALE MATT 37Y

 

[Okotoks]

This is a fairly Masculine bull with a Inbreeding Coefficient of 14.844%.
MURIDALE MATT 37Y

He has a neat pedigree with the Ultimate/ Bonanza crosses. Does he have calves on the ground yet?
He definitely is a masculine bull. (thumbsup)
                      SASKVALLEY BONANZA 219M X-[CAN]M469921-
              MURIDALE BRIGGS 91T X-[CAN]M473333-
              MURIDALE SASHA 61P X-[CAN]F680367-  61P also by Alta Cedar Ultimate 130K
MURIDALE BRIGGS 25W X-[CAN]M474617-
ALTA CEDAR ULTIMATE 130K -[CAN]M468315-
MURIDALE ROBBY 12P -[CAN]F680357-
MURIDALE ROBIN 57G X-[CAN]F671181-
MURIDALE MATT 37Y
EIONMOR ULTRA 88G X-[CAN]M467008-
ALTA CEDAR ULTIMATE 130K -[CAN]M468315-
ALTA CEDAR SILVER GEM 3H -[CAN]F671808-
MURIDALE MOCHA 57W X-[CAN]F686693-
                SASKVALLEY BONANZA 219M X-[CAN]M469921-
                MURIDALE MOCHA 37S X-[CAN]F683027-
                                  MURIDALE MADDI 94M X-[CAN]F678037-

 

[r.n.reed]

I really like that bull.

 

[nate53]

I really like that bull.

What he said! ;D

 

[comercialfarmer]

This is a fairly Masculine bull with a Inbreeding Coefficient of 14.844%.
MURIDALE MATT 37Y

With the screen being a little angled, he like he could be really useful.  But then I realized he wasn't black.  ;D

 

[Duncraggan]

This is a fairly Masculine bull with a Inbreeding Coefficient of 14.844%.
MURIDALE MATT 37Y

This is NOT a fairly masculine bull in my opinion!

Take note of the following points evident from the attached photograph of him:
1)  Coarse, curly hair on the head, poll and face.
2)  Coarse and curly dark hair on the neck area.
3)  Coarse, curly, darker hair on a thick tail.

Also take note of the alert, head up posture and wedge shape from forequarter to hindquarter.

This is in my opinion a VERY masculine and fertile bull, with a high libido as well!

Once again, my statement about you Canadians needs repeating, you have taken linebreeding to an art form!

 

[coyote]

Thanks for the comments.
Here is a picture of Matt 37Y, mother (57W) and grandmother (37S)