Holstein Bulls

[Wilber32]

We served some captain this season, realistically not in a different price league (there was a deal on at the time) and we got our best conception rates from him. Well worth it for us!

Second person I’ve heard that captain holds very well.

 

[wooly619]

When was genosource captains first semen actually available ? I know he came out in the April prof last year but I see he hasn’t got any registered offspring yet and we are at middle of May ai should be calving now.

 

[Holsteinfriesian90]

Out of interest anyone got any Rubicon’s milking?

 

[Jdunn55]

Out of interest anyone got any Rubicon’s milking?

Must be some hes been out for ages

 

[Holsteinfriesian90]

Must be some hes been out for ages

Ours are now being served strong heifers though plenty of width about them.

 

[Rossymons]

Out of interest anyone got any Rubicon’s milking?

Havent seen any but feedback has been very good so far. Starting to see more of in my patch.

 

[crashbox]

Yep kicking on

Just bought some Commend straws...
I noticed he's minus on milk, what made you go for him?
Do you use him on higher yielding animals, to level off yield and improve health?

 

[dinderleat]

Just bought some Commend straws...
I noticed he's minus on milk, what made you go for him?
Do you use him on higher yielding animals, to level off yield and improve health?

He was geonomic when I used him but had good constituents. There’s better bulls available now if you use genomics

 

[crashbox]

He was geonomic when I used him but had good constituents. There’s better bulls available now if you use genomics

Yep using genomics pretty much exclusively (just because the proofs look better).
Plan to use him on some of my highest yielders that are perhaps a bit too milky.

 

[som farmer]

Yep using genomics pretty much exclusively (just because the proofs look better).
Plan to use him on some of my highest yielders that are perhaps a bit too milky.

genomics, we are told, is the way to go. But how many genomics bulls, do you ever see proven ? Certainly not saying genomics are bad, just wondering why we don't see many as proven, if they are as good as they claim. Neither would i believe the rate of improvement by genomic sires, is greater than the using of them. If it were, cows would be averaging 14/15,000 litres minimum. One catalogue arrived this week, 28 bulls, all genomic bar 1.

 

[Jdunn55]

genomics, we are told, is the way to go. But how many genomics bulls, do you ever see proven ? Certainly not saying genomics are bad, just wondering why we don't see many as proven, if they are as good as they claim. Neither would i believe the rate of improvement by genomic sires, is greater than the using of them. If it were, cows would be averaging 14/15,000 litres minimum.

I think it's an element of who's buying, people buy more genomic semen these days than proven meaning more genomic bulls are needed than proven and in order for people to buy proven that bull still needs to be at ther top of the game even with the young new genomic bulls which is difficult to do when technically you're now "out of date" hence why few bulls make the proven cut

 

[Mr Jones]

Looking at using some Clincher on smaller Br Fr heifers in June/July, any thoughts?

 

[som farmer]

I think it's an element of who's buying, people buy more genomic semen these days than proven meaning more genomic bulls are needed than proven and in order for people to buy proven that bull still needs to be at ther top of the game even with the young new genomic bulls which is difficult to do when technically you're now "out of date" hence why few bulls make the proven cut

turnover of bulls must be enormous, do they slaughter them, or sell them on. The hols are so finely tuned now, does one actually get that 'extra' production/trait. I don't doubt the figures, just seems a waste of good bulls, It may well be that better nutrition would give further gains.

 

[cjbailey]

genomics, we are told, is the way to go. But how many genomics bulls, do you ever see proven ? Certainly not saying genomics are bad, just wondering why we don't see many as proven, if they are as good as they claim. Neither would i believe the rate of improvement by genomic sires, is greater than the using of them. If it were, cows would be averaging 14/15,000 litres minimum. One catalogue arrived this week, 28 bulls, all genomic bar 1.

Below is a link to a AHDB study done comparing the all the bulls that were genomically tested in 2014 to how the the figures changed once proven in 2018. The results suggest genomics are pretty reliable not perfect.

Dairy Genomic indexes stand the test of time

www.uksiresdirect.com

We have only use genomic bulls at home for the last 6 years. Since 2014 we have genomically tested every heifer calf at birth via Holstein UK. We are finding the results very reliable and key to helping us decide which heifers to bred pure. Also helps identify weakness in heifers to try and correct (milking speed, lack of solids ect). Very valuable tool

Got 10 straws of captain sex last summer for £55 (think price has come down a lot since then) and had to sign a legends contract confirming that the calves would be genomic tested and cogent would have chance to buy any they wanted. 7 heifers in calf to Captain due to calf July onward. Found conception rates to captain good.

 

[Yorkshire owl]

the hol bulls we found, or come up 'in the lucky dip pot' are :
comestar lavenguard -225 pli, not good
gen-I-beq aikmam, pli 400+ good
comestar loic pli 400+ good
as before Norwegian Red, Braut very good
Dutch fr Bernard 26 very good
Canadian jersey, Gabys Arrow, got some really good xbred from him
and a bull Arnica, not sure if normande or fleckvieh, and cant make it out on the straw.
so, all in all, our 'finds' in the bottom of the flask, have been a good find, trouble is, we don't know what is coming out, as our AI man, wont risk pulling out to look, hence 'lucky dip !!!

Glad you like your Bernard 26, Cattle Genie has the bull in stock.

 

[Stuart1]

Has anyone got any Westcoast Alcove daughters milking? Mine are 3-4 months off calving yet but they look extremely promising with plenty of strength throughout. I’ve seen photos of a few milking in Canada which look tidy.
I can also confirm that captain is fertile semen with 14 pregnancies out of 20 sexed straws.

 

[Hotspur]

genomics, we are told, is the way to go. But how many genomics bulls, do you ever see proven ? Certainly not saying genomics are bad, just wondering why we don't see many as proven, if they are as good as they claim. Neither would i believe the rate of improvement by genomic sires, is greater than the using of them. If it were, cows would be averaging 14/15,000 litres minimum. One catalogue arrived this week, 28 bulls, all genomic bar 1.

All of them! Every Proven bull was a genomic sire, not always the top ones that end up on top when proven though.

 

[Stuart1]

First Westcoast Almamater heifer born last night, she’s a bruiser.

 

[Stuart1]

Anyone got any Ammo-P daughters milking? I’ve only the 1, she’s fresh in her second lactation. Wish I’d more.

 

[lizness]

Someone mentioned Classic a while back and I had my camera out. The first two are Classic's. The first has a little bit of friesian in. The second would be pure. The third is a something like Timotel out of a holstein frieisan