Looking for an angus bull?

[haypoint]

I saw this on Craigslist. I think the price is too high, the bull too thin and the photo angle awful. But I think it might help someone to see this, so they might be better equiped to buy a quality bull.
Mature bulls are selling at around 78 cents a pound. I recently sold a 4 year old angus bull at that price, but he weighed 2300 pounds, grass fed.
http://nmi.craigslist.org/grd/3490264571.html
Comments?

[springvalley]

If he`s been running with some cows, no wonder he is thin, not a real bad looking guy. Most bulls around here and priced from 1800 to 2500 on angus bulls, bad picture for sure, would liked to have been more from the side to see what he looked like. > Thanks Marc

[gone-a-milkin]

Straws are a lot cheaper.

[gone-a-milkin]

Or:

Hi, I have this 3 y/old bull. He is an angus as you can tell by his black color.
Here is a picture of him at a bad angle making it look like he has a huge skull. Just what you will want.
Call me and I will drive him over to your place for $1800.

No mention of bloodlines or birthweights.

[gone-a-milkin]

Here is one a bit younger (but more money) off my own local CL, just for comparison.
http://springfield.craigslist.org/grd/3469971613.html

[springvalley]

Originally Posted by gone-a-milkin

Straws are a lot cheaper.

This is so true Wendy, but the chances of settleing a whole herd of beef cows AI is slim to none. Thats why most beef herds still use bulls, hard to catch a cow in heat when she`s running on pasture, unless you live with them. > Thanks Marc

[Jennifer L.]

He looks ok for a half Angus.

[haypoint]

Here is a photo of the bull I had last year, after he had bred a herd of cows. He was 4 years old in the picture. He scored 8th out of 75 bulls in the Michigan Beef Association field trials. Regestered, in the top 10% for low birth weight, in the top 20% for rate of gain but in the top 50% for feed efficiency. So he throws small calves that grow fast and are feed hogs. I figured I could live with that. After being used on my farm for 6 weeks, he went to live with my neighbor.

[Jennifer L.]

Nice, haypoint.

[SCRancher]

My bull - first pic is right after winter with his first taste of lush spring grazing.


This second picture is early summer.

[MO_cows]

Granted that is a sorry photograph in the CL ad, but I am inclined to believe he is a sorry bull as well. 1200 lbs at 3 years is way below normal for an Angus. He doesn't look as muscled as a mature bull should. And, the ad says he is "grassfed" but he is standing in corn stubble. I guess they have the magic combines up there that don't miss any ears. Hopefully no sucker comes along to buy him for breeding and that bull ends up at McDonald's.

And here is another example of a 3 yr old bull, he is short framed but still weighs about 1600 lbs.

[opportunity]

that was a sorry looking bull but if it's registered you will pay at least that in this area

[bigbluegrass]

MO_cows - is that a tarentaise bull? He looks really good. Is that one of your breeding?

[MO_cows]

Originally Posted by bigbluegrass

MO_cows - is that a tarentaise bull? He looks really good. Is that one of your breeding?

Thanks! That photo actually makes him look shallow in the hindquarters, he has more butt than it shows. No, we didn't raise him, we bought him. He is very mellow and throws good calves.

The popularity of Angus might turn out to be their downfall. Any sorry example of the breed, or anything that is black, gets marketed as Angus and people buy it simply because of that. There are some really fine Angus cattle out there, I am not bashing them at all. But too many poor quality ones are getting a free ride because of the popularity and therefore diluting the overall quality of the breed. A minor breed like Tarentaise and others, you don't have suckers lined up waiting to buy your culls!

[oregon woodsmok]

You really can't tell anything about the first bull because the photo is so bad and there is no information in the ad. I probably wouldn't go and look, but who knows. Maybe he is a good one if you see him in person. It's possible.

Young Angus bulls around here would cost you at least $2500 (and maybe a lot more). But that would be pedigreed and have all the genetic calculations and generations of information about birth weights and ribeye size.

The ranchers use them.. Turn them out on the range with the herd. You can't realistically AI range cattle. Lots of black white face coming off the range around here with good Angus sires that pack on the meat.

[greatwhiteape]

Originally Posted by gone-a-milkin

Here is one a bit younger (but more money) off my own local CL, just for comparison.
http://springfield.craigslist.org/grd/3469971613.html

Now that is how you write an ad to sell a bull!

[fitz]

This is the Bull I'm using now. Picture was taken before Christmas.

[Crazy Farmgirl]

That is sorry photo of the bull, it may very well be a sorry bull. Having dealt with many cattle owners ( Northern Mi) I'd guess the guy doesn't really know any more than he posted in the add! Many I have dealt with don't know or care about genetics or for that matter good beef! They know it's a bull and made them calves and it's black (therefore must be angus). I would pass on this one and continue to look...those who know quality in beef and genetics advertise the info to attract buyers, you can find much better than that one!

[haypoint]

Michigan Cattlemans Association is doing another big Bull Test near Crystal Lake. Bulls are brought in from all over the state, weighed, fed and evaluated. In March they place them by conformation, weight gain, fertility, etc and auction them off. Great place to get a top quality young bull

[greatwhiteape]

Originally Posted by fitz

This is the Bull I'm using now. Picture was taken before Christmas.

What does this guy weigh? I wish that I had a little shorter leg on my bull like that.