Beef AI/Bulls MEGATHREAD

vanderbadger · 24-01-2013 7:29pm

Andy Gray wrote: »

ERE is rediculously hard calving. It's a pity because they have muscle and power and are very quiet. Dovea left the bull go widespread last year which meant he was readily available in technicians tanks. He had an easy calving figure, but with a very low reliability which meant at the time no calves had been born from him. As it turned out ERE is now considered not a cow wrecker, but a cow killer!!! AI men paid no attention to the reliability figure and put that bull into heifers up and down the country and he has left a sorry trail of destruction. If you've cows or god forbid, heifers in calf to ERE, don't expect them to calve on their own.

my ai man reckons he is the best bull in dovea, says he is not for heifers but not all that hard calving, he must have heard back plenty of reports as he covers a big area

pakalasa · 24-01-2013 8:14pm

1,304 calvings now in ICBF (Dec 2012). 17% needed a pull or more.
Plain crazy.

Andy Gray · 24-01-2013 9:26pm

vanderbadger wrote: »

my ai man reckons he is the best bull in dovea, says he is not for heifers but not all that hard calving, he must have heard back plenty of reports as he covers a big area

No offence now but AI men or AI companies will rarely tell a bad story about their own bulls. ERE would be a great bull if you could get the calf outta the cow. I got some of the first straws off this bull two years ago. Put three cows in calf to him. Had trouble with all of them and lost a cow and calf. The cow was a big Simmental cow 800-850 Kgs on her fifth calf and was out-wintered on kale and straw so she was fit and lean when she calved. If a mature cow that size can't get a calf out then the bull is too hard calving. Dovea's new beef catalogue is just out and ERE is not included which speaks for itself. If you want a good Limo in Dovea use Dartagnan (MBP).

moy83 · 24-01-2013 10:03pm

Andy Gray wrote: »

No offence now but AI men or AI companies will rarely tell a bad story about their own bulls. ERE would be a great bull if you could get the calf outta the cow. I got some of the first straws off this bull two years ago. Put three cows in calf to him. Had trouble with all of them and lost a cow and calf. The cow was a big Simmental cow 800-850 Kgs on her fifth calf and was out-wintered on kale and straw so she was fit and lean when she calved. If a mature cow that size can't get a calf out then the bull is too hard calving. Dovea's new beef catalogue is just out and ERE is not included which speaks for itself. If you want a good Limo in Dovea use Dartagnan (MBP).

Im no expert on breeding by any means and we have mostly small ould black cows but MBP gave us the best calves I ever saw them having last year . Any use UBN ?

Andy Gray · 24-01-2013 10:18pm

Never heard much about UBN. Rough looking bull in the catalogue. Wouldn't be my cup of tea at all. If MBP is doing such a good job why change.

moy83 · 24-01-2013 10:30pm

We will be sticking with MBP alright but a blue cow had a UBN calf in november and he is very muscely and wide , nothing like what we would usually have but just wondering is it from the cow or did anyone else have calves out of him that were good .

mikeoh · 24-01-2013 11:47pm

Was going to use ZFL on some 2y.o AA heifers but he looks a bit of a lump and I don't know if I can trust his calving figures anyone used him or MLJ

Andy Gray · 25-01-2013 1:23pm

mikeoh wrote: »

Was going to use ZFL on some 2y.o AA heifers but he looks a bit of a lump and I don't know if I can trust his calving figures anyone used him or MLJ

Don't use Angus so can't comment. Generally 90% of Angus bulls are suitable for heifers. The breeders have started to breed a little bit more power and muscle into their cattle in the past few years and the calving difficulty on some bulls is starting to creep above the breed average. Best advice is only use a bull that is less than 5% on calving difficulty with > 90% reliability figure on heifers.

blue5000 · 25-01-2013 8:58pm

mikeoh wrote: »

Was going to use ZFL on some 2y.o AA heifers but he looks a bit of a lump and I don't know if I can trust his calving figures anyone used him or MLJ

I wouldn't mind him 'being a bit of a lump' his reliability figures are low though. Has anybody got calves from him yet? I need a good angus bull to use on a few aubrac x aa heifers.

mikeoh · 25-01-2013 11:57pm

blue5000 wrote: »

I wouldn't mind him 'being a bit of a lump' his reliability figures are low though. Has anybody got calves from him yet? I need a good angus bull to use on a few aubrac x aa heifers.

MLJ is well proven but I think lacks a bit of size...

Aubrac · 30-01-2013 11:59am

blue5000 wrote: »

I wouldn't mind him 'being a bit of a lump' his reliability figures are low though. Has anybody got calves from him yet? I need a good angus bull to use on a few aubrac x aa heifers.

Why would you not use a AU bull on ur Heifers?

blue5000 · 30-01-2013 1:43pm

Aubrac wrote: »

Why would you not use a AU bull on ur Heifers?

I use an aubrac on all my angus heifers already, going to use angus on the heifers that are by the aubrac bull.

Aubrac · 30-01-2013 1:50pm

blue5000 wrote: »

I use an aubrac on all my angus heifers already, going to use angus on the heifers that are by the aubrac bull.

If u put another AU on them you'd get a higher graded offspring with better weights. What's ur production system?

blue5000 · 30-01-2013 2:47pm

Aubrac wrote: »

If u put another AU on them you'd get a higher graded offspring with better weights. What's ur production system?

A bit complicated at the moment:)

I keep aa and aubrac heifers for breeding, selling bulls this summer as beef at about 16 months, first year doing this as up to now I was selling them as weanlings. I also use a blonde as a terminal sire and sell the heifers at about 300kg live.

Sounds like a lot of bulls but farm is fragmented and I run a bull in three different places.

I think the aubrac and angus work well as they are easily fleshed, deep bodied wide cattle and are hardy.

Aubrac · 30-01-2013 3:14pm

I'd still b inclined to go with AU on those heifers as you'll find AU weighs better than other breeds for same size. Def easily fleshed. Blonde a nice cross on AUx. the more AU u have in ur females the better they'll calve muscled bulls. Can't knock Angus, they're great, but AU will give u better grade and weights esp as young bulls.

Neddyusa · 04-02-2013 9:53pm

moy83 wrote: »

We will be sticking with MBP alright but a blue cow had a UBN calf in november and he is very muscely and wide , nothing like what we would usually have but just wondering is it from the cow or did anyone else have calves out of him that were good .

UBN bull calf out of a PB Simmental cow we had a couple of years ago. 4 months in second pic and 14 months in first. I thought him a lovely, solid animal. As per other UBN cattle here I would say very good feed efficiency. Graded a U+ and very easily finished.
To be honest though it was more for maternal traits we were using UBN and I reckon you would have great cows after him from e.g. LM x FR cows.

Have some nice heifers from this lad in the pics - looking forward to seeing how they breed next year;)

vanderbadger · 04-02-2013 10:08pm

Neddyusa wrote: »

UBN bull calf out of a PB Simmental cow we had a couple of years ago. 4 months in second pic and 14 months in first. I thought him a lovely, solid animal. As per other UBN cattle here I would say very good feed efficiency. Graded a U+ and very easily finished.
To be honest though it was more for maternal traits we were using UBN and I reckon you would have great cows after him from e.g. LM x FR cows.

Have some nice heifers from this lad in the pics - looking forward to seeing how they breed next year;)

Fine looking animal alright

Bodacious · 14-02-2013 1:56am

bogman_bass wrote: »

FL25 is as close a bull to ROX as you'll get. Fantastic muscle.

Hi Bogman,

Did he go in the IBR or not a great producer or was he in great demand as he went off all catalogues fairly quickly?

rayzorsharpest · 15-02-2013 1:17am

pakalasa wrote: »

Ya, I use Munster Ai, myself. It would be great to see a video of the bulls they have. You can see alot in those videos. That BBQ is a great walker too, for such a heavily muscled bull.

Ave a look at this bull 4m Munster A.I. ive seen some great calves off him.
http://www.netbbg.com/netbbg/commun/corps/liste.php?type=V&b_deb=A&b_fin=D

rayzorsharpest · 15-02-2013 1:22am

i have used APZ on hfrs nd had no problems bar one muscly one. she wld ave been hard calved with watever bull.

bogman_bass · 15-02-2013 1:42am

Bodacious wrote: »

bogman_bass wrote: »

FL25 is as close a bull to ROX as you'll get. Fantastic muscle.

Hi Bogman,

Did he go in the IBR or not a great producer or was he in great demand as he went off all catalogues fairly quickly?

went in the cull but there's still straws of him. Just not enough to go marketing him aggressively

Mac Taylor · 15-02-2013 10:38am

Any one use the Lim bull - Mbp from Dovea. They seem to be giving him a great write up in this years beef book

moy83 · 15-02-2013 9:58pm

Mac Taylor wrote: »

Any one use the Lim bull - Mbp from Dovea. They seem to be giving him a great write up in this years beef book

We got some lovely calves out of him , one smasher from a bb x cow . We will be using him again

Durrus Boy · 07-04-2013 5:33pm

Just curious as to what bulls you guys doing A.I are using on your sucklers this spring?

To start the ball rolling sourced Lims - GWO & FTY through GENE Ireland. Using TVR & ADX from NCBC. Getting some CSQ Charolais from Dovea & EKB BB from Bova for the late calvers.
Still have Lim - BYQ in the pot for heifers.

What others have ye in mind for the year????

tismesoitis · 07-04-2013 10:26pm

EKB belgian blue.(also) Dubai(THZ) limousin and Carlo(LRY)Parthenaise from Bova. Ardlea Dan(ADX) Ultime (UTL) limousin from Ncbc. Also Haltcliffe Dancer (HCF) from powerful genetics. Of these bulls ones i will use again based on calves on the ground i'l use EKB, ADX, LRY and THZ for heifers

bogman_bass · 07-04-2013 10:38pm

HCA for heifers.
ADX APZ and VUL and a couple of straws of EDJ on cows

blue5000 · 07-04-2013 10:42pm

Will only be using AI on a few angus x aubrac heifers, planning to use kya from progressive on them. Anyone got calves yet?

Bigbird1 · 07-04-2013 10:46pm

Haltcliffe Dancer is one of the best lim bulls available at da min,i will use him,stq blue and kib,mzt,lgl in charolais.

How hard calved is the best BB bull Adajio,have many people on here used him?

bogman_bass · 07-04-2013 10:49pm

blue5000 wrote: »

Will only be using AI on a few angus x aubrac heifers, planning to use kya from progressive on them. Anyone got calves yet?

Dont know If i would use him on beef heifers. More of a bull for dairy heifers.

Very easy calved but no quality about them, think LRH - that kind of bull

blue5000 · 07-04-2013 11:42pm

Thanks bogman, hard to find a decent 5 star angus, there is a lot of sh1te out there, bred just for a dairy farmer, easy calving but not much else.

micky mouse · 07-04-2013 11:53pm

Bigbird1 wrote: »

Haltcliffe Dancer is one of the best lim bulls available at da min,i will use him,stq blue and kib,mzt,lgl in charolais.

How hard calved is the best BB bull Adajio,have many people on here used him?

You like lgl,have two calves from him,those cows would have got cf52 in the past, BIG difference in the quality of the calves. Banker in bova is suppose to be throwing good calves

Bigbird1 · 08-04-2013 12:51am

micky mouse wrote: »

You like lgl,have two calves from him,those cows would have got cf52 in the past, BIG difference in the quality of the calves. Banker in bova is suppose to be throwing good calves

Im just goin on a few iv seen, and what others tell me,nice compact calves.Seen him in the flesh as a calf,nothing special but very well bred,banker is hard calved i think,ah the great CF52!

mikeoh · 08-04-2013 7:23am

blue5000 wrote: »

Thanks bogman, hard to find a decent 5 star angus, there is a lot of sh1te out there, bred just for a dairy farmer, easy calving but not much else.

Dovea have some nice Angus

bogman_bass · 08-04-2013 9:34am

blue5000 wrote: »

Thanks bogman, hard to find a decent 5 star angus, there is a lot of sh1te out there, bred just for a dairy farmer, easy calving but not much else.

KDU. at 3% calving difficulty might be worth a punt.
The new bull FDI. Has size but not that much class. Would leave you with a decent amount of beef on the hook though

ESH is a better bull than his figures would suggest

Does it have to be an angus? HCA is slipping out calves no bother, good calves and milk in the pedigree

Durrus Boy · 08-04-2013 10:38am

Bogman,

Has there been much feedback on the test CH LZF? Still have a few straws left from the autumn.

Cheers..

bogman_bass · 08-04-2013 12:23pm

I've heard nothing back about him. He would only have calves coming on the ground around now

blue5000 · 08-04-2013 12:38pm

bogman_bass wrote: »

KDU. at 3% calving difficulty might be worth a punt.
The new bull FDI. Has size but not that much class. Would leave you with a decent amount of beef on the hook though

ESH is a better bull than his figures would suggest

Does it have to be an angus? HCA is slipping out calves no bother, good calves and milk in the pedigree

Preferably, for replacements. I've decided to go over and back every generation between aubrac and angus. I am prepared to risk a bit on calving figures to get the right angus. The aubracs are fairly small, easily calved and don't go over 280 days so this should contribute to to the calves from the mother's side. What is the best angus in dovea?

pakalasa · 08-04-2013 12:55pm

A lot of new unproven bulls especially with NCBC. I wouldn't use any on heifers until more is known. For replacements though, I like the look of Lennon Frosty, FTY. He's in the Gene ireland programme. Cerebus X Lino X Eleazer, all good maternal bulls.
I've only one LGL calf but i'll wait till he's a weanling to see how he goes. He was born small enough, but plenty of length.
Also one heifer by ADX. She looks like a keeper. Might breed from her. Mother is a great simmental cow.

Anyone try the Char Angelus, AGZ?

towzer2010 · 08-04-2013 1:18pm

blue5000 wrote: »

Preferably, for replacements. I've decided to go over and back every generation between aubrac and angus. I am prepared to risk a bit on calving figures to get the right angus. The aubracs are fairly small, easily calved and don't go over 280 days so this should contribute to to the calves from the mother's side. What is the best angus in dovea?

In my opinion it has to be MLJ. I had some good calves off him the last two years.

bogman_bass · 08-04-2013 1:22pm

blue5000 wrote: »

Preferably, for replacements. I've decided to go over and back every generation between aubrac and angus. I am prepared to risk a bit on calving figures to get the right angus. The aubracs are fairly small, easily calved and don't go over 280 days so this should contribute to to the calves from the mother's side. What is the best angus in dovea?

Take a look at GJB then. He's a quality bull!

Dovea's bull MLJ looks savage!

mikeoh · 08-04-2013 1:22pm

MLJ a good bull but word has it he not producing straws this year so hard to get......lisduff dandy has great calves on the ground big frame and weight his reliability figures are low yet but he has easy calving pedigree and milk.......he has same sire as GJB

towzer2010 · 08-04-2013 1:28pm

bogman_bass wrote: »

Take a look at GJB then. He's a quality bull!

Dovea's bull MLJ looks savage!

I found GJB to be hard calved for an angus.

mikeoh wrote: »

MLJ a good bull but word has it he not producing straws this year so hard to get......lisduff dandy has great calves on the ground big frame and weight his reliability figures are low yet but he has easy calving pedigree and milk.......he has same sire as GJB

Ya my AI man has no MLJ this year or I'd use him again on heifers. I might try lisduff dandy on a few this year.

blue5000 · 09-04-2013 4:42pm

I've been using all stock bulls the last few years, it's amazing how easy it is to lose touch with ai stuff, anyone got prices? I don't do my own ai so will have callout fees as well.

wiggy123 · 09-04-2013 10:00pm

I am a pedigree breeder..
and currently have a MLJ heifer on the ground--nice calf/femine,etc.. am told he is all out...luckily purchased some straws last summer off him
also a KYA bull calf-not the biggest, but nice, thick-traditional type

Dovea have some good bulls..
I'd say away from LRH and KDU... i have used b4, well pedigree use-and they were midgets-did nought for me!

PG some nice bulls there... BJP-if can get them, breeds nice traditional offspring...femine!
other good bulls they have be FIW (maybe hes all out)
Jetts bred nice stuff.... some of the new bulls, breed well am sure...

blue5000 · 09-04-2013 10:30pm

Thanks wiggy, have you seen any zfl (dovea) calves or heard anything?

just do it · 09-04-2013 11:54pm

bogman_bass wrote: »

Take a look at GJB then. He's a quality bull!

I hope you're right, I got a few straws through gene ireland and the first one went into a near PB LM cow this evening.

towzer2010 wrote: »

I found GJB to be hard calved for an angus.

What are the calves like quality wise? Females make worthy replacements?

tismesoitis · 10-04-2013 12:30am

Bigbird1 wrote: »

Haltcliffe Dancer is one of the best lim bulls available at da min,i will use him,stq blue and kib,mzt,lgl in charolais.

How hard calved is the best BB bull Adajio,have many people on here used him?

Have to agree Dancer is a class bull have 4 calves all bulls but i'd put ADX just ahead of him on quality. have 5 Dans on the ground now 4 heifers 1 bull and delighted with them all!!

redzerologhlen · 10-04-2013 1:06am

tismesoitis wrote: »

Have to agree Dancer is a class bull have 4 calves all bulls but i'd put ADX just ahead of him on quality. have 5 Dans on the ground now 4 heifers 1 bull and delighted with them all!!

Had you any trouble calving the dancer calves? A friend gave him to a pb rocky cow and it produced the biggest calf I have ever seen and the cow was on hay all winter. Would be very sketchy about using him after seeing that calf.

wiggy123 · 10-04-2013 9:56pm

ZFL... not used him or bought any of him, heard little of him--re pedigree breeders using him!!
heard thought producing great offspring..commerical stock--why they bought him i think!!

blue5000 · 06-05-2013 12:21pm

mikeoh wrote: »

MLJ a good bull but word has it he not producing straws this year so hard to get......lisduff dandy has great calves on the ground big frame and weight his reliability figures are low yet but he has easy calving pedigree and milk.......he has same sire as GJB

Just bumping this one up to see if anyone knows if MLJ is available again? I'll probably end up using ZFL though.

What have other ppl ended up buying?

Beef AI/Bulls MEGATHREAD

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