not so much what you like, but it’s what you don’t like and what you don’t need. It’s a moving puzzle, and it’s an ongoing process for us. Bulls are watched carefully from the time they are born until ultimately their fate, breeder or freezer. In the first six months, we really look for three things. 1) COLOR If a bull lacks marketable color, there’s a high probability he won’t make the short list of prospects.
2) BODY Size and conformation are important to us. A bull has to be structurally sound in order to be able to perform his tasks.
3) HORN SET He has to have the marketable horn set we’re looking to add.
Tese three things can change too depending on the plan
for a bull. Is he one we’re looking to add to our program or is he one we’re looking to market and sell? Each program is different and looking for different things, there are no cookie cutter choices. Your cows need size added to them? Well then a smaller calf won’t work. Your cow needs better horn sets? Well then a higher set on a prospect won’t work. Once a bull passes this first six to seven months of scru-
tiny before he’s weaned, we’ve determined he has the size we want, the color we want, and the horn set we want, whichev- er that may be. Now we really watch a few things happen: 1) DEVELOPMENT We want
to watch to see how
these bulls grow. Are their bodies growing how we want? We usually know this at the time of weaning from genetics how they’re going to mature, but what if they don’t? Are their horns still going in the direc- tion we want them to grow? Again, it’s a constant scrutiny where every day we are observing.
2) ATTITUDE Tis is very important to me. I want a bull who is quiet but not a pet. I want one who re- spects me but won’t run away. Currently, our Sniper bull was halter broken as a calf and shown a little. While show bulls can become very complacent and lack respect, Sniper does not. Maybe it was because
When we cull bulls, we start at weaning. Given a couple of weeks or so to get them over the trauma of being weaned, we look at sev- eral things:
he wasn’t shown long, but he has the perfect mix- ture of quiet and calm and respect. I don’t want to sell a bull that I need to warn the new customers about or be fearful of someone feeding for me and being in danger.
As these weanlings now start to mature, there will be
some culled from the pasture. Tose who don’t fit what we’re looking for have to go. As they develop into breeding ages, those that have earned the right will be used on some heifers and sold. Tose that don’t get put into our beef program. Watching and developing your own bulls can be real
enjoyable. Tese futurity events all across the country will host some magnificent animals. If you’re ever tempted to see what some of the best young developmental bulls look like start there. And if none of yours match up, then cull the whole bunch and buy into a young prospect. Sometimes, it’s more effective to go out and buy a two year old then it is to feed one out hoping he develops. Plus, you bring in new genetics.
structure, size, legs,
shape of head and ears, Longhorn characteristics (i.e. small or no na- val, good hook to pin ratio, etc.), testicles, color appeal, weight, etc. The first question that we ask our- selves is, “Would this calf at matu- rity be one that we, as a breeder,
would consider using on our own herd?” If that answer is “no”, then why would we expect that other breeders would have interest in that particular calf? If the answer is “yes”, then we continue to try to develop to see what we have after a couple of months. If they are de- veloping at a satisfactory growth rate, they stay on a solid feed reg- imen to enhance the possibility of becoming a herd sire. If after a cou-
ple of months, we start to see flaws or faults, we make a determination as to whether they would make a good steer, or if they should be in our beef program. if neither of these apply, rather than continuing to reduce the profitability with pouring more feed into them, we bite the bullet and take them to a local auction facility. This is our last resort.
-Christy Randolph, Lonesome Pines Ranch
HERD SIRE EDITION | TEXAS LONGHORN JOURNAL | 27
Brett Krause photo
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