Maybe a stupid question but....

Grassfarmer, I have nothing of intellectual, inbred significance to offer or say, but, those are just the cutest little horns on that bull I believe I have seen. Do the Highlanders have such horns or is it just a Shorthorn thing. Most of the Shorties I have seen were hornless, which I find rather ironic.

Nice oil well too. That should help reduce pasture rental rates! I could use a couple or twenty of them around here and buy the nicest double wide on the market.


To stay on topic, they all look alright to me......if only I could see their feet

These are a throw back to Highland horns - a straight bred Highland would be way bigger at that age. We get the full spectrum from highland to shorthorn horns and big old shorthorn style scurrs as well. Fortunately @90% of our cattle are polled.

Isn`t that last cow pictured just about as nice as a cow ever needs to be?

The bull with the cute horns also has an interesting dish face, like an Arab horse. I dont think I've ever noticed that in your other bulls GF. You make anything f that, good or bad?

For Bootheel

How are the feet looking now? I thought I was doing a favor taking the pictures before I moved them onto their new break.

Mike, she is just on the plain side of what I like to see in a cow. I feel I need them a bit thicker and better fleshed to withstand the climate and system here. She also has that funny hump thing happening in front of her tailhead.

MS, I think its a case of facial hair rather than a particularly dished face. The hair around his eyes and up to his horns was quite long and pointing forwards creating the dished look. Again quite a highland look.

GF, you might think that last cow a bit plain for your environment, and that might be possibly so. She would be just right here in O-HI-O, the land of the Coffin Bone Cattle Co.



Are you concerned that the horned bull might pull this line of cattle more to the Highland side of the breed in future generastions? Or maybe you are looking for more hardiness?

Grassfarmer wrote:

For Bootheel

How are the feet looking now? I thought I was doing a favor taking the pictures before I moved them onto their new break.

Mike, she is just on the plain side of what I like to see in a cow. I feel I need them a bit thicker and better fleshed to withstand the climate and system here. She also has that funny hump thing happening in front of her tailhead.

MS, I think its a case of facial hair rather than a particularly dished face. The hair around his eyes and up to his horns was quite long and pointing forwards creating the dished look. Again quite a highland look.

Astounding feet, perfect dew claws, all four udders perfectly attached, no pinkeyes, perfect epidymis. But the cows are too short, the grass too tall, and I cannot see their performance. I think it may be a bit dishonest to represent them in such a way, so I am not buying anything from you.

Wow, derail achieved. I'll quit now.


I think their is pride of ownership in inbreds. Expectations are low. One of my little incestuous pups in Tennessee has given me new insight. Everybody said, says, agrees he is ugly.....but his new owner I believe likes him more 'cause he's ugly. Maybe the real Revolution is learning to like ugly, or not be dissappointed by it. Pretty is an easier sell, but when ugly makes pretty, that is just more fun. The other upshot, far less disappointing when ugly makes ugly, rather than the prettiest, bestest of the bestest, mostest of the mosted, makes a big ol' pile of crap.

Provocative stuff, I know

Bootheel

Charles wrote:

GF, you might think that last cow a bit plain for your environment, and that might be possibly so. She would be just right here in O-HI-O, the land of the Coffin Bone Cattle Co.



Are you concerned that the horned bull might pull this line of cattle more to the Highland side of the breed?

I think she'd be too big for Coffin Boner and besides she only has one udder. These are probably genetic potential 13-1400 lb + cattle just like the rest of the pool only they were starved. On second thoughts maybe that would suit CB - that's basically what Pharo is trying to sell a lot of the time.

I'm not concerned of going too much to the Highland side with this bull - apart from the facial hair and horns he is not much like a Highland. The "Luing type" was firmly established way back and they are their own breed, it's not like these are first cross Shorthorn x Highland cattle. He was only used as a one off on an "outcross" line we are running parallel to my main breeding program - purely to maintain genetic diversity within the breed.

Points well taken GF. I still like your cow's type, starved or not, Coffin Bone or not.

outsidethebox wrote:

Mean Spirit wrote:

outsidethebox wrote:

"Outstanding phenotypic performance means they aren't as inbred as you think they are. I sure wouldn't hate them, but I'd just doubt the ibc."

MS, I do not believe this is a scientifically valid statement. Please explain.

I guess it's not definitely true that your 40% IBC calf with outstanding performance is anything other than 40% inbred. But its certainly the rule that cattle that are actually 40% inbred generally show regression, not outstanding performance. On the other hand, cattle that have pedigrees that indicate that they'd be 40% inbred may have simply gotten the evolutionarily best set of genes from their closely-related parents. Can your bull be truly homozygous and show outstanding phenotypic performance? I guess he could, but I don't think its the most likely answer. Seems like a bit too much "having it all" in that answer. But I guess it happens sometime.

MS, I agree with this...and this is what I was trying to say. And it is not that this "40%" calf is growing in outlier proportions-he and his "29%" 3/4 brother who were born minutes apart are virtually identical. I would be glad to hear thoughts on how to employ this calf...I think I have to use him to try to uncover/discover what is really in him.

OTB,
I would think it a must to employ the bull calf...what, besides being inbred, is he bred to do? I think inbreds should be tested in outcross, or even crossbreeding situations...preferably , against non-inbreds with similiar attributes...

Quote :

Astounding feet, perfect dew claws, all four udders perfectly attached, no pinkeyes, perfect epidymis. But the cows are too short, the grass too tall, and I cannot see their performance. I think it may be a bit dishonest to represent them in such a way, so I am not buying anything from you.

Need larger FS to see them better!

Bootheel wrote:

I could use a couple or twenty of them around here and buy the nicest double wide on the market.

if I was looking this is the outfit I'd buy from http://www.bofunk.com/video/9542/super_slick_mobile_home_salesman.html