Eric and I attended a Purebred Angus Bull sale today, in the hopes of finding a new herd bull.
Our Mr 50T is getting really old ( about 9) and will most likely not be able to cover all the cows we have.
We have followed the cattle from this breeding program for a number of years,
so decided it would be worth the drive to go and check out their bulls this year.
At home we had marked on the catalog which bulls we liked, we then went through the pens to see if they matched up with our expectations from the catalog.
We made a short list of preferred bulls and added some others as "possibilities".
You never really know at an auction if you will truly get the bull you are wanting, having more possibilities allows for some more flexibility.
The bulls were not run through a ring, the selling was done off a video screen with online auction bidding as well as live bidding.
Some of our hot favorites sold well over what our budget could afford, but when all was said and done, we came home with some great young bulls.
Our Mr 50T is getting really old ( about 9) and will most likely not be able to cover all the cows we have.
We have followed the cattle from this breeding program for a number of years,
so decided it would be worth the drive to go and check out their bulls this year.
At home we had marked on the catalog which bulls we liked, we then went through the pens to see if they matched up with our expectations from the catalog.
We made a short list of preferred bulls and added some others as "possibilities".
You never really know at an auction if you will truly get the bull you are wanting, having more possibilities allows for some more flexibility.
The bulls were not run through a ring, the selling was done off a video screen with online auction bidding as well as live bidding.
Some of our hot favorites sold well over what our budget could afford, but when all was said and done, we came home with some great young bulls.
We bought 2 bulls.
A red and a black Angus bull from 2 different lines.
These bulls are very different and we are hoping they will each add specific traits to our herd.
We like to look at how they index, as we sell most of our calves after weaning, we like to see a rapid growth from a low birth weight up to wean weight.
The first bull we bought was this Black bull, his name is
Aspen Hill Right Answer 77B.
A powerful and balanced bull, this picture does not do him justice.
A red and a black Angus bull from 2 different lines.
These bulls are very different and we are hoping they will each add specific traits to our herd.
We like to look at how they index, as we sell most of our calves after weaning, we like to see a rapid growth from a low birth weight up to wean weight.
The first bull we bought was this Black bull, his name is
Aspen Hill Right Answer 77B.
A powerful and balanced bull, this picture does not do him justice.
The second bull we bought, is this lovely red Angus,
Red Aspen Hill Designer 124B
Red Aspen Hill Designer 124B
We loaded these new guys up, and brought them home.
We released the beasts in the bull, ram and draft horse pen, to become accustomed to the other bulls.
This is always a high stress moment, as these bulls are enormously powerful and once they start pushing and shoving, nothing is really safe.
We checked that the hot wire was hot, and made sure both these new bulls are well insured.
We let them out and held our breath.
We released the beasts in the bull, ram and draft horse pen, to become accustomed to the other bulls.
This is always a high stress moment, as these bulls are enormously powerful and once they start pushing and shoving, nothing is really safe.
We checked that the hot wire was hot, and made sure both these new bulls are well insured.
We let them out and held our breath.
Sure, enough the pushing and shoving started between the old red bull we have, and the new black bull.
The locked heads and pushed, the power struggle began.
these power struggles took place with the other younger bulls we have.
The sarplaninacs, kept a good eye on all the pushing.
and then, things get a little more serious..
The old bull chases off the younger bull.
and, young Meco ensures,
he is out of the way before bad things happen..
he is out of the way before bad things happen..
Sometimes, life is not very fair..
Once again, the old bull locks heads with the new blackie,
another round of pushing, shoving and running the loser off..
another round of pushing, shoving and running the loser off..
It is like the two sars are watching over a MMA fight.
Strutting his stuff.
After about 30 mins, the action cooled down.
Hopefully the bulls have now established who the herd boss is and that all the disputes have been settled.
We are of course, very excited about this year's breeding program.
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