Whine Not Billabong (on the right) could hardly have a better role model than Bindii who is now 10 weeks old but has been acting like a "grown up" since she was 3 weeks old, Billabong's present age. The Senepol calves are wonderfully intelligent, calm and sensible right from the start. Billabong's coat is so slick that you can see each rib and every detail of muscle expression but she is gaining weight at a very satisfactory rate (17 kg in the last 18 days). She is by WJ Wizard out of DOH Jewel 1L, and is a product of some embryo transplants performed last February. Her recipient mother, Hazel, is a trusted Jersey cross Angus cow that I bucket reared nearly five years ago. She has been and continues to be a great asset and a pleasure to own.
Monday, December 18, 2006
The 2006 vintage - a great drop!
Whine Not Billabong (on the right) could hardly have a better role model than Bindii who is now 10 weeks old but has been acting like a "grown up" since she was 3 weeks old, Billabong's present age. The Senepol calves are wonderfully intelligent, calm and sensible right from the start. Billabong's coat is so slick that you can see each rib and every detail of muscle expression but she is gaining weight at a very satisfactory rate (17 kg in the last 18 days). She is by WJ Wizard out of DOH Jewel 1L, and is a product of some embryo transplants performed last February. Her recipient mother, Hazel, is a trusted Jersey cross Angus cow that I bucket reared nearly five years ago. She has been and continues to be a great asset and a pleasure to own.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Whine Not Bindii at 8 weeks - 94 kg
Whine Not Bindii is making excellent progress, much
to the credit of her dam, Caribbean Y34, who has displayed impressive maternal qualities.
Heifers now joining
Eaglehawk Normette A08 - 16 months old, 386 kg
Eaglehawk CN 5662 A45 - 16 months old, 350 kg
Eaglehawk WC6061 A132 - 14.5 months old, 345 kg
Monday, November 20, 2006
Whine Not Adaptable 051 - Status Update
Dappy has been piling on the kilos for the last couple of months after spending a tough Winter in the top paddock. He will be 15 months old next week and now weighs 400 kg. 
His halter training has worked out very satisfactorily, helped along, no doubt, by his inately docile nature. When on the halter he gets a little confused occasionally but there is no rebelliousness in his behaviour. Although he has never seen a nose ring, his respect for the halter gives a great sense of confidence that he is completely under control at all times. See his details here.
His halter training has worked out very satisfactorily, helped along, no doubt, by his inately docile nature. When on the halter he gets a little confused occasionally but there is no rebelliousness in his behaviour. Although he has never seen a nose ring, his respect for the halter gives a great sense of confidence that he is completely under control at all times. See his details here.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Outstanding Senepol meat results
Recent slaughter results have confirmed the promise that Senepol infused cattle can handle tough Australian conditions whilst improving meat results markedly.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Welcome to Whine Not Bindii
Senepol calves have a reputation for "jumping up and nursing" very quickly after birth. Well Bindii's arrival today was exemplary in this regard. Pictured here just 45 minutes after being born, she had already had a walk, a drink and a clean-up and she'd been introduced to her herd mates. You can see how unconcerned they all are about the close proximity of the photographer so soon after birth .... truly wonderful cattle.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Ribbie shows her hand
3 weeks ago I couldn't convince myself that she was springing and consequently I was concerned about her reproductive soundness however, she has clarified matters now. 292 days into her gestation according to the AI records, she's about a week past full term so she could and should start calving any time and I'm quite happy with her preparation for that purpose. Once she's calved I'll be pleased to put a bit of extra flesh on her bones and see how she scrubs up.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Consolidating recent gains
Eaglehawk Normette A08, 13 1/2 months old and 310 kgs, is now starting to look like the WJ Wizard daughter that she is. On arrival 9 weeks ago she and Looey were in wretched condition so I embarked on a remediation program, building up over a period of several weeks until I was feeding them about 1.5% of their body weight equivalent in Rumevite Grow & Show pellets daily. Over the last 40 days, Normie & Looey have each gained about 50kg so I now consider their condition to be satisfactory and have begun a consolidation program aiming at a more modest rate of weight gain in preparation for joining. They will receive the same size ration but only once per day instead of twice.
Flor will be included in this program too and I am confident that she will respond very well. She missed out on the remediation because she was not in such need of it. Instead, after a short welcoming period she was put with the main mob in the top paddock, just holding her own, while Normie & Looey were being coddled and gaining 1 kg/day or so. Now, Flor has some catching up to do but there is no hurry. It seems a bit unfair but for me it was important to see how she would cope with the tough conditions; unpalatable old dry grass with little or no nutritional value helped along by dry lick blocks. She did very well, comparatively.
Flor will be included in this program too and I am confident that she will respond very well. She missed out on the remediation because she was not in such need of it. Instead, after a short welcoming period she was put with the main mob in the top paddock, just holding her own, while Normie & Looey were being coddled and gaining 1 kg/day or so. Now, Flor has some catching up to do but there is no hurry. It seems a bit unfair but for me it was important to see how she would cope with the tough conditions; unpalatable old dry grass with little or no nutritional value helped along by dry lick blocks. She did very well, comparatively.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Looey starting to show her promise
After nearly 8 weeks of supplementary feeding with Rumevite Grow & Show pellets, Eaglehawk WC6061 A132 (nicknamed "Looey", WC = loo, right?) has gained over 50kg and is starting to look like the sort of female I'll be happy to breed from. I expect her to have no trouble in reaching a critical joining weight of 325 kg before Christmas when she'll be 15 months old.The rightmost heifer, Eaglehawk CN5662 A45, (nicknamed "Flor") is recovering from a ringworm infection that was in the very early stage when she arrived. So far the infection has spread to 3 other animals, all heifers.
The bony rump in the background belongs to Eaglehawk Normette A08 (nicknamed "Normie"). She's coming along nicely having gained 50 kg since arrival but, being a very framey heifer, I reckon she'll need another 40 or 50kg before she looks as though she is properly fleshed out. It just shows what a huge deficit she was carrying when she arrived.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Coming Attractions
"Fish" doesn't know it yet but life is about to become a whole lot more interesting. Today I was lucky enough to secure some terrific genetics from the Eaglehawk stud near Glen Innes. Three heifers and a cow should arrive in 10 days or so.
Caribbean Y34 has been used as an ET donor cow (see Eaglehawk WC6061 A132 below) and comes pregnancy tested in-calf to a very special sire, SHQ53D (Thunder). She's due to calve on 22Sep06 so that will be an exciting time for all three of us.
Eaglehawk Normette A08 AI ET is by WJ Wizard out of a well credentialed Hercules daughter which places her near the top of the pile for Senepol genetics.
Eaglehawk CN5662 A45 AI ET brings together a great genetic package from Honey Bee Creek and Castle Nugent.
Eaglehawk WC6061 A132 AI ET carries terrific bloodlines from Annaly Farms, Honey Bee Creek and the outstanding marbling sire, Braveheart.
The above heifers should be ready for joining this Summer by which time the cow (Y34) should have recovered from calving and will hopefully be looking for a bull and "Fish" will have reached sexual maturity. His genetics should combine very nicely with these females to produce some wonderful calves.
Caribbean Y34 has been used as an ET donor cow (see Eaglehawk WC6061 A132 below) and comes pregnancy tested in-calf to a very special sire, SHQ53D (Thunder). She's due to calve on 22Sep06 so that will be an exciting time for all three of us.
Eaglehawk Normette A08 AI ET is by WJ Wizard out of a well credentialed Hercules daughter which places her near the top of the pile for Senepol genetics.Eaglehawk CN5662 A45 AI ET brings together a great genetic package from Honey Bee Creek and Castle Nugent.
Eaglehawk WC6061 A132 AI ET carries terrific bloodlines from Annaly Farms, Honey Bee Creek and the outstanding marbling sire, Braveheart.
The above heifers should be ready for joining this Summer by which time the cow (Y34) should have recovered from calving and will hopefully be looking for a bull and "Fish" will have reached sexual maturity. His genetics should combine very nicely with these females to produce some wonderful calves.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Boys will be boys - Dappy & Fish
Allie - not a mongrel!
Alliance is 50% Senepol, by CN5825C "Braveheart" out of Hazel (behind) a Jersey cross Angus house cow that I bucket reared from 1 week old. Pictured here at 5 months of age (168 kg), Allie's a beaut friendly heifer with a terrific temperament and probably the best marbling potential this side of a Wagyu. Now there's a thought ....
"Zane Grey" - an interesting experiment
"Zane Grey" is out of a plain Murray Grey cow by the Senepol Multi Trait Leader, CN5825C, nicknamed "Braveheart" and best known for his outstanding marbling EPD. Zane inherited the characteristic Senepol slick coat and great temperament so I decided to let him cover some plain Murray Grey cows and a good Brangus cow to see what he could produce. Well, his first calf was born two days ago (4Apr06), 585 days after Zane's birth day (27Aug04). That's a pretty convincing demonstration of early maturity! Zane had a very short but spectacular career with me. By the end of his 11th month he had put in calf the 5 cows I had for him so I sold him for twice his ear tag ($812 , why not?) but lent him to one of my neighbours to cover 2 more females before his departure. These promptly went in calf and Zane departed just after he turned 13 months old! As far as I know he did and is doing a good job in the John's River area of NSW.
"Bluebottle" (Dob 4Apr06) is Jeanette's bonza heifer - not slick. Nearly 3 weeks old here, she continues to impress.
"Bladey Grass" (Dob 18Apr06) was so named because he concealed himself so well in the bladey grass. Joanne's calf, although only 25% Senepol, he has the slick gene that is believed to enhance heat tolerance and resistance to some parasites. This is what the Zane Grey experiment was about.
"Barbie Doll" (DoB 20Apr06) is Jodi's heifer calf - not slick but what an amazing colour!
"Braniff" (DoB 21Apr06) is Quantas' beaut heifer calf - not slick. She'll get a sunburned bottom if she doesn't put that tail down!
Stunning Senegus - Sensational Senepol
Stunning Senegus
This is Whine Not Adaptable 051 AI (SEA05051) pictured at 182 days of age & 260 kg. I'm pretty proud of "Dappy". He's out of a very nice Red Angus dam (RMCX804) from the now dispersed Sandstone stud. She has some excellent North American genetics including the famous Buf Crk Chf 824-1658 (Canyon). Dappy's by the premier Senepol sire, WJ Wizard, so there's great genetics on both sides of the pedigree. His temperament is outstanding.
Here's Dappy with his mum, "Sandy"; both doing a terrific job on ridge country unimproved pasture near Wingham NSW. Sandy was AI'd on 3rd April using Kansas Kidman V30 so I'll be expecting another special Senegus calf in mid January. Sandy's details can be viewed here.Sensational Senepol
This is Whine Not Efficiency 052 ET (SEA05052) pictured at 145 days of age & 204 kg. "Fish" brings together the bloodlines of two outstanding Senepol trait leaders. His sire, RAB Mr Efficiency S126A, is a Trait Leader for Yearling Weight. His maternal grandsire is the outstanding CN5480 (Hercules), a Trait Leader for Milk & Growth, Weaning Weight and Yearling Weight.
This is Whine Not Efficiency 052 ET (SEA05052) pictured at 145 days of age & 204 kg. "Fish" brings together the bloodlines of two outstanding Senepol trait leaders. His sire, RAB Mr Efficiency S126A, is a Trait Leader for Yearling Weight. His maternal grandsire is the outstanding CN5480 (Hercules), a Trait Leader for Milk & Growth, Weaning Weight and Yearling Weight.
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