Checking Water August 24, 2009

I carried my camera this morning as I checked pastures.  Things look good.  Thursday August 27th will mark three weeks since we put the bulls in.  They are tired but happy.    Took a couple shots of bred heifers.  The Lilianne heifer picture is for the WYE enthusiasts among us. 

Notice anything peculiar about the LAD S6114 bull?  Like the swelling underneath.  Yes, it appears he has suffered a career ending injury.  I really liked him too.  Certainly one of the nicest looking Prudent Lad sons we have raised and a calving ease bull too.  The good thing is I’m working with a renewable strain.  It is NOT dependent on any one outstanding individual.   The strain is predicated on reliable continuity.   I didn’t cause it to be this way.  The work was largely done by those who came before me.  They used close breeding and selection to fix the characteristics to the point that, Iwill be able to use another young bull in the strain and expect with a high degree of confidence that he will transmit very similarly to the injured bull.  6114 was never collected, I didn’t have insurance on him and yet discovering his injury today was no big deal.  Replacing him will be neither expensive nor difficult as the entire herd is being used to replicate the same pattern over and over again.