The ABBA Bull Development & Marketing Program is designed to provide Brahman breeders with the opportunity to develop bulls, collect economically relevant data and market commercially oriented bulls in a cooperative effort. Projects Supported: Identification of Early Pubertal Males – George Perry, Texas A&M; Genetics Associated with horn/poll/scur – Clare Gill, Texas A&M; Relationships between Docility and Productivity – Courtney Daigle, Texas A&M; Composition of Seminal Microbiota and its impact on Male Fertility – Saulo Zoca, University of Tennessee; Genetic Analysis of Fertility – A.J. Knowles, ABBA/ Mizzou
This data will be paired with a sampling of height, weight, 100K genotyping, and ultrasound carcass characteristics. Together, this will provide a collection of data that is unavailable through other programs and will give breeders the most confidence in their selection decisions for the future. By identifying and selecting superior males for breeding, we can recognize increases in traits such as marbling, yearling weight, and ribeye area, while balancing or even decreasing traits such as birth weight or frame score. These advances will help to breed Brahman calves that are increasingly desirable to commercial breeders. The Bull Development Program is expected to last approximately 6 months, from the time animals are dropped off until they are ready to be picked up.
Bulls should be approximately 1 year of age (10 – 14 months) as they enter the program. Acceptable birth dates range from February 1st, 2023 to May 30th, 2023 (2/1/23 – 5/30/23). This age has been determined through collaborative efforts between the Director of Breed Improvement, research collaborators, and breeders to be the optimum timeframe to collect these phenotypes on the greatest number of bulls. This will allow researchers to identify animals who express early puberty and uncover relationships between fertility and carcass measures in Brahman bulls.
Bulls must:
1. Be a registered purebred Brahman
2. Be tested for/and free from BVD-PI with a current certificate of veterinary inspection. Test results must be submitted to the ABBA office before animal delivery.
3. Report a birth weight and weaning weight. Measurement method required (scale, tape, eye, etc.)
4. Be weaned and backgrounded 45 days, receiving at least one round of vaccinations before delivery at Texana Feeders LTD. Dehorned animals should be healed upon delivery, with all wounds closed completely and sutures removed.
5. Receive an official ABBA Bull Development ear tag.
Schedule:
Day 1: March 15th: Drop off: Collect height, weight, docility score, tissue sample, horn/poll/scur evaluation;
Day 15: April 1st: Data Collection 1: Collect height, weight, docility score, horn fly count;
Day 75: June 1st: Data Collection 2: Multi-min, Collect height, weight, docility score, horn fly count, carcass ultrasound; Day 120: August 1st: Wrap-Up: Collect height, weight, docility score, horn fly count, BSE, blood sample, semen sample;
Day 120-150: August 1st – Sept 1st: Pick Up/BSE Retest (at owner’s expense).
Total: $250/hd (Plus feed costs, billed through Texana Feeders, average $3.5/day);
$60 Genotype Discount; $190/hd if bulls are genotyped with horn/poll add on before they are dropped off.
For COMPLETE program information visit brahman.org or contact A.J. Knowles at ajknowles@brahman.org
