I have a shorthorn heifer I raised last year out of frrebird on a surf cow. I hate to talk bad abput my own breed, but I dont know where to turn or what to do with my shorty cows anymore. I am tired of theese furballs that have no real shape. This female is probably the soundest structured heifer I have ever raised. She's good fronted and awesome in her lines. She's deep enough but she just needs a lot of rib and muscle shape. Suggestions?
Shothorn breeding advice
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OH Breeder
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That is really unusually that a Sonny son is not throwing rib. Sonny is usually known for rib shape or in my experience anyways.
What are your goals with this heifer? Are you shooting for my breed females or are looking to go down the club calf route? Ihave found that when you cross the Sonny/Trump lines with the Double Stuff lines you get some very nice show cattle.It just seems to click. There is a bull by Double Stuff called Double Trouble who is clean. He has a son on the market AL Sabatoge clean. Again this has worked for me. I have quiet a few Sonny x Double Visoins all clean that work very nice as cows.
I am not sure this helped any. There are quiet a few more experienced folks on here than me. Doc, JIT, ITK, Olson Family Shorthorns, Shortdawg, NHR, GAry Bob( watch this one...ask him about hair he is all about hair)
and many many more shorty folks sorry if I missed you shorty peeps.
What are your goals with this heifer? Are you shooting for my breed females or are looking to go down the club calf route? Ihave found that when you cross the Sonny/Trump lines with the Double Stuff lines you get some very nice show cattle.It just seems to click. There is a bull by Double Stuff called Double Trouble who is clean. He has a son on the market AL Sabatoge clean. Again this has worked for me. I have quiet a few Sonny x Double Visoins all clean that work very nice as cows.
I am not sure this helped any. There are quiet a few more experienced folks on here than me. Doc, JIT, ITK, Olson Family Shorthorns, Shortdawg, NHR, GAry Bob( watch this one...ask him about hair he is all about hair)
and many many more shorty folks sorry if I missed you shorty peeps.First off I would look at breeding her to a real low BW angus for the first year and we have found Final Answer to be a true calve ease and growth, you will have a live calf and then can think about what to breed her to. We have had great luck with Gizmo,however you can get a big one every now and then.
My main goal is to raise show cattle, but I'm in between the show world and producing real world cattle. My main goal is to combine th two. I also raise clubbys, but I keep my feamales maternal and functional which leads me to another question. I strongly believe that you can raise club calves/ show cattle and not have all of theese night mares.ie. strcuture wrecks, huge BW's and such. I know that we are going to the extremes with some of theese cattle and it is a fine line, but I think if we breed our cattle correctly that we can have both.
OH Breeder
Well-known member
WIth a heifer is hard to get muscle and lots of rib and bone without using a sire that has that already. The complication is then, how do you breed the first go around for that and not have problems with calving. I used Gizmo on a half blood our ours. But, the heifer had lots of bone and mass. The heifer is pretty darn good. Very correct and muscular.
If it were me, thinking of your heifers reproductive future, try a proven calving ease bull first. There are Red Angus sires that may fit the bill as well as other shorthorn calving ease sires. If you look under SH heifer- breeding advice thread you will see some listed. The first go around should be shooting for a live calf and then after that work on that great one. First calf heifers and power bulls don't always mix. You can't get an elephant from a peanut. If that makes any sense.
If it were me, thinking of your heifers reproductive future, try a proven calving ease bull first. There are Red Angus sires that may fit the bill as well as other shorthorn calving ease sires. If you look under SH heifer- breeding advice thread you will see some listed. The first go around should be shooting for a live calf and then after that work on that great one. First calf heifers and power bulls don't always mix. You can't get an elephant from a peanut. If that makes any sense.
Doc
Well-known member
OHB makes a lot of sense in his 2 posts. If you don't try a free Double Stuff line, then I would try Kaboom or Chiller. If you go outside Shorthorns then I would use something like Gigolo Joe or Smokin Joe. I personally would use a black Maine calving ease bull before I would use a Red Angus. Just remember that a deep ribbed, super thick, dead calf doesn't make you a lot of money.
Show Heifer
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I have had several Kabooms (none out of SH cows)....LIGHTEST one was 110. Very nice calves though. When I called SEK about him, they told me he was NOT calving ease, even though his EPD would indicate that.
I would go angus calving ease. Try Northern Improvement or TC Freedom. Both will throw a stylish calf without calving difficulties.
I always use the theory: A square peg will not come out of a round hole without some damage to both the peg and the hole. And maines, limis, herfs, shorties, are usually pretty square in the shoulders and hips.
Good luck and remember, its hard to create a cow herd out of dead/damaged heifers!!
I would go angus calving ease. Try Northern Improvement or TC Freedom. Both will throw a stylish calf without calving difficulties.
I always use the theory: A square peg will not come out of a round hole without some damage to both the peg and the hole. And maines, limis, herfs, shorties, are usually pretty square in the shoulders and hips.
Good luck and remember, its hard to create a cow herd out of dead/damaged heifers!!
Jill
Well-known member
I have not had any Kaboom calves, but thought I remember a couple of years ago the rumor he was pretty hard calving.
I know I've said it before but here it goes...try Major's Money Man. You could get a double registered calf that way and maybe even a cool blue calf. My calves out of MM were easy coming and got up fast. Heaviest even out of heavily fed show heifers were 80 pounds. Not one pull. Just an idea, double registered calves really do sell, and gives the kids options.
oakbar
Well-known member
I agree with Just Me if you decide to use a non Shorthorn bull. I just ordered Money Man and Smokin Joe semen and I plan to use some of it on my Shorthorn cows to get calves that can be registered either Shorthorn Plus or Maintainer. I haven't used any Smokin Joe before, but the Money Mans we've had were not small calves but were easily born.
Jill
Well-known member
I agree with the last 2 posts, we don't breed anything Angus except our Angus, a Maine bull gives you a double registered calf with a whole lot more options if you are showing the calf.
I'm not really sold on Smokin Joe at this point, but I do really like Money Man and Gigolo Joe, they can both be purchased for a reasonable amount and you don't have a certificate cost on top of the semen price.
I'm not really sold on Smokin Joe at this point, but I do really like Money Man and Gigolo Joe, they can both be purchased for a reasonable amount and you don't have a certificate cost on top of the semen price.
For three years all our Kaboom calves are small. But there are big ones. Seldom do you get a consensus on someone experience with a bull. It's just one step above useless to ask for opinions on an internet board. Every one means well, but all have different experiences.
redwingfarm
Well-known member
I would reccomend using Ali, we have had several Ali calves from our heifers both shorthorn and crossbred and the calves just pop out at 65-75 lbs and hit the ground hungry. Also if your heifer is roan there is a good chance of getting a blue. Good luck
showman ne
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LCC Above and Beyond (red angus), TBSC Showstopper (3/4 Maine), DFS Red Rider 844 (PB Shorthorn)
shortyisqueen
Well-known member
NHR said:
Thanks NHR. Maverick does calve really easily on heifers, and seems to click really well with Sonny/Trump Influence cattle. If you would like more info, there is a bit more here http://www.luckyspringsfarms.com/html/maverick.html or you can PM me!
I have had 5 Jakes Proud Jazz babies this year - all heifers. 3 of them were 1st time heifers. All born unassisted and tend to follow mom's structure with adding some width and frame. All have followed moms coloring. Have had Kaboom babies and they were large requiring pulling and were hard on the heifers - my thought was if this was an easy calver I'd hate to see one that wasn't. I like Jakes Proud Jazz so much I may reuse him again this year. It was nice to have good looking babies and not have to pull them all.
