A Guide to Reading Our Catalog Bulls sell in catalog order by lot number, with each tagged accordingly, with the lot number in one ear and his personal herd number (tag) in the other ear. They are tagged, tattooed and weighed at birth, with the tattoo number in the left ear corresponding to his calf tag number. Bulls are weighed and thoroughly evaluated throughout the next two years. Birth Weight and Calving Ease - Birth weight is the best predictor of calving ease, but is influenced by dam age, genetics and nutrition. A heifer bred to the same bull for her first, second and third calves may increase the birth weight as much as five pounds per year of age, and a cow of 10 years and older may taper off in birth weight of her calf. A cow born with a high birth weight herself often passes this trait to her calves, regardless of sire. In this catalog, dam’s age is provided in the pedigree to help evaluate birth weights of the bulls in this sale.
If (Hfr) is noted under the dam’s name, she is a 2-year-old first-calf heifer and is bred to an easier-calving sire. If (3) is under the dam, she too is bred to an easier-calving bull and her age can affect the birth weight. If you are selecting bulls to use on heifers we suggest you select only from the *Heifer Bull* lots 151 to 160 . For extra-easy calving of small or young cows, select from the (Hfr) and (3) dams with low birth weights. For over 50 years we have selected bulls with shorter gestations (highly heritable), thereby allowing the calf to be born on time (in 283 days or less), so it is not growing too large inside his mother and causing calving problems. A calf will gain one pound or more per day the last 30 days of gestation, so not going overdue is very important. Nutrition can also affect birth weight by 5 to 10 pounds. An easy winter can be followed by larger calves if the cows had it too easy and got too fat. A tough winter in which extra supplement has been pushed to the mothers, or if they stood around in confinement with no exercise, can also increase birth weights. Therefore, birth weights should not necessarily be compared from year-to-year within a herd, nor be compared to another herd with different cow size and age, or climate and management. Weaning Weight and Growth - Weaning weights are adjusted to 205 days to ensure fairness for extra days of age, so that an early-born calf does not have extra days of growth advantage over a later born calf. Since most of these bulls are born within a short five-week period, adjustments are minimal. Selecting bulls that breed early will increase profitability. A calf born 21 days late weans about 60 pounds less at weaning, costing big dollars. For a cow-calf operation, the maximum weaning weight put across the scales from the number of cows exposed at breeding time is the key formula for your success.
18-Month Index and Development - The 18-mo. index listed in our catalog indicates the weight of these bulls at 18 months and reflects mature size and genetic growth capacity. Weaning weight indicates how big the calf was at birth plus the amount of milk his mother fed him. A year later, at 18 months of age, the bull has been on his own for about a year. Bulls are raised on alfalfa hay after weaning and then pastured on rugged terrain to develop soundness, endurance and natural muscling. This grass- based development ensures bulls are ready to travel, breed efficiently, and remain sound for years. They won’t melt after turnout.
Our sane way of maturing our two-year-old bulls allows you to select a mature bull that can and will travel well in your pasture and breed more cows in a shorter breeding period. Plus, they will stay sound for more years than feedlot-fattened yearling bulls. Our catalog order is based on the 18-mo. Index of the bulls .
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