Simmental bull

[valtraman]

tin hat on time!!
I'm going to Stirling on Monday with the intention of buying a simm bull, we are all Angus cows and bulls at moment but just fancy a cross through them. Bought some cows with sim calves at foot and like the look off them and have sold similar to the Angus. So what makes a good simm bull? Will be putting it on cows not heifers. Light colour or dark ?

 

[roscoe erf]

tin hat on time!!
I'm going to Stirling on Monday with the intention of buying a simm bull, we are all Angus cows and bulls at moment but just fancy a cross through them. Bought some cows with sim calves at foot and like the look off them and have sold similar to the Angus. So what makes a good simm bull? Will be putting it on cows not heifers. Light colour or dark ?

I've a simm bull here bloody nice bull throws good calfs nice temperament easy calver get good prices for off spring whats not to like

 

[Northeastfarmer]

 

[valtraman]

I've a simm bull here bloody nice bull throws good calfs nice temperament easy calver get good prices for off spring whats not to like

I like the colours of them more than anything else, can u buy polled bulls ?

 

[roscoe erf]

I like the colours of them more than anything else, can u buy polled bulls ?

yes i believe you can

 

[jamesy]

Go for it, they're great!

There are a few herds that dabble with polled.

 

[Bill dog]

I'm heading up to the simm show tomorrow to have a look at the Simms too, before possibly getting 1 on mon. Only heading up tomorrow so I can see if they have decent locomotion etc. Not so easy looking at them spinning round themselves in the ring. There are a few polled ones In the catalogue! Happy shopping

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

I like the colours of them more than anything else, can u buy polled bulls ?

Yes.

 

[Henarar]

tin hat on time!!
I'm going to Stirling on Monday with the intention of buying a simm bull, we are all Angus cows and bulls at moment but just fancy a cross through them. Bought some cows with sim calves at foot and like the look off them and have sold similar to the Angus. So what makes a good simm bull? Will be putting it on cows not heifers. Light colour or dark ?

Look for one with potential
but not a dippy back

 

[CharcoalWally]

tin hat on time!!
I'm going to Stirling on Monday with the intention of buying a simm bull, we are all Angus cows and bulls at moment but just fancy a cross through them. Bought some cows with sim calves at foot and like the look off them and have sold similar to the Angus. So what makes a good simm bull? Will be putting it on cows not heifers. Light colour or dark ?

For a start , it won't really matter what colour of bull you buy , if you put him to AA cows , the great majority of the calves will come out a chocolate dun colour , or some variation thereof. I've had both red and yellow Simm bulls here and I've never felt the colour of the sire made any difference to either the calves or how his daughters worked in the future as cows.

As to what makes a good Simm bull , well that's really dependant on what kind of cattle you like. Do you want a big , long bull , or are you looking for something that might leave a more moderate sized cow for breeding in the future? Or , are you only interested in selling the heifer calves for finishing?

Since it's the sales , try to avoid the lads that are over-fed to the extreme. Avoid any bull that is walking in discomfort at the mart - they'll only break your heart trying to keep them right , unless you're incredibly lucky.

Since it's AA cows , a polled bull would be a great bonus obviously , but only if you really like one.

Finally , have a close look at the health notes , if it's important to you.

 

[wellingtonfarmer]

I'm going up tomorrow to have a look for a Charolais, something in my head though is telling me to buy a sim as I want to increase the herd!

 

[bert]

Just gone down the Simmental route, got this youth last month, 15 months old, have got 2 Charolais bulls as terminal sires and an Angus for the heifers. Have kept heifers off the Charolais bulls but we find they run out of milk and get some big numb calves, so not keeping any of them now. Simmy is going on milky cows to try and breed some nice replacement heifers. Pull apart if you like, like to hear other opinions.......

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Simmental crosses make for milky mums though can be a bit big for some tastes (relatively high maintenance). Always done us well. A bit of South Devon in there is good too.

 

[Who2]

Just gone down the Simmental route, got this youth last month, 15 months old, have got 2 Charolais bulls as terminal sires and an Angus for the heifers. Have kept heifers off the Charolais bulls but we find they run out of milk and get some big numb calves, so not keeping any of them now. Simmy is going on milky cows to try and breed some nice replacement heifers. Pull apart if you like, like to hear other opinions.......View attachment 474146 View attachment 474146

Thats a nice sort of a bull imo. clean lines, nice markings and not slack looking.
To the op, i wouldnt put a sim on aa. you would have a far more saleable animal with a limo. The only issue id have with some of the sims are they can have too big of a head and lead to some awkward calvings.

 

[onthehoof]

I like the colours of them more than anything else, can u buy polled bulls ?

Why do you want a polled bull if you're crossing with Angus

 

[valtraman]

Why do you want a polled bull if you're crossing with Angus

Good point lol. Just thought the bulls would pass on the horns

 

[Happy]

I like the colours of them more than anything else, can u buy polled bulls ?

As @CharcoalWally says, you will not get nice coloured ones if put to AA cows. They will be Dun at best and the ugly buggers will have short dark coats with longer spikier lighter coloured bits standing up on their back, shoulders and neck

As kids we used to call the ones like that car seat covers. That style was big for them in the 80's

Nice stretchy bull @bert
All we need now is for @valtraman and @Bill dog to get theirs and we can have a top, middle and bottom!

 

[onthehoof]

Good point lol. Just thought the bulls would pass on the horns

We reckon 80% of polled cows throw polled calves

 

[jamesy]

Just gone down the Simmental route, got this youth last month, 15 months old, have got 2 Charolais bulls as terminal sires and an Angus for the heifers. Have kept heifers off the Charolais bulls but we find they run out of milk and get some big numb calves, so not keeping any of them now. Simmy is going on milky cows to try and breed some nice replacement heifers. Pull apart if you like, like to hear other opinions.......View attachment 474146 View attachment 474146

We kept Charolais cross cows in the past & gave up for the same reasons. They ran out of steam milk wise too young in their breeding life. Went for sim also & love them

 

[CharcoalWally]

Thats a nice sort of a bull imo. clean lines, nice markings and not slack looking.
To the op, i wouldnt put a sim on aa. you would have a far more saleable animal with a limo. The only issue id have with some of the sims are they can have too big of a head and lead to some awkward calvings.

I have customers come to me for a Simm. bull to go over AA cows. These customers are generally looking for more maternal traits in their females , so these two breeds work well together on this reason. You would be extremely lucky to get this with a Lim. Here in Scotland , there wouldn't be a lot of AA being crossed with a Limousin. They would either be run pure or would be crossed with a maternal sire for the female traits.

You'll only get big heads and awkward calvings if you buy a bull with a big head. Look for something with a neat head for a good start.