Friday, August 28, 2009

Gilt Edged Senegus

This is Whine Not El Dorado, another fine Senegus calf out of my good Red Angus cow, Sandstone X804. Pictured here at 8 weeks of age, "Eldo" is by Whine Not Efficiency 052. Eldo was named in acknowledgement of his maternal grand sire, Gapco Red Bonanza and great grand sire, Gapco Red Gold Stryk. You can see Eldo's maternal pedigree here.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Update On Debbie, Criss & Chainy

Wingham is at present enjoying a very good Spring. Pasture is plentiful and the cattle are showing the benefit of the conditions.

Whine Not Debutante is now 9 1/2 months old and presenting pretty well at about 220 kgs. She's responded well to halter training and seems to enjoy it but she doesn't lead with much grace!


Whine Not Criss Cross will be 1 year old in 2 or 3 weeks' time. At around 270 kgs she is starting to express the quality of her pedigree. Her docility is exemplary and I anticipate that she has a long and distinguished breeding career ahead of her using the best AI sires I can source.


Whine Not Chain Store will be 1 year old in 4 weeks time. The combined blood lines from RAB Mr Efficiency S126A and AMI 635E (Flor de Mayo) seem to have worked well and allow plenty of freedom for him to be used by most Australian Senepol herds without concern for inbreeding. He's doing very nicely at about 340 kgs. (P.S. Chainy was sold early in 2009 to an organic beef producer at Moorland who has renamed him "Windsor".)

Monday, August 04, 2008

Update On Crikey & Billabong

These two heifers are the product of embryo implants performed in the first quarter of 2006. They are flush sisters by WJ Wizard out of DOH Jewel 1L.

Here's Whine Not Billabong at 21 months of age, due to have her first calf (by Whine Not Efficiency 052) in about 5 months time.



Whine Not Crikey at 19 months of age, in calf to TNT Prosperity 12L, and due to calve in 3 1/2 months time. Like Billabong, she is developing very nicely.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Other calves by Fish

As well as the main drop of calves at Whine Not, Fish has three calves living elsewhere.
Patricia (above) is out of a neighbour's Jersey cross Angus cow that was brought to Fish for joining. Two others are out of Hillary (heifer calf, Jana) and Alliance (bull calf, Axel), two females that I sold last year to a friend at Lorne. Axel is 3/4 Senepol and his owner plans to use him as a herd bull in due course. Jana was Fish's first calf, conceived on 28Dec06 when Fish was 14 months and 3 weeks of age.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Fish's 2007~2008 calves at "Whine Not"

Summer brought a very satisfactory first drop of calves by Whine Not Efficiency 052 (aka Fish). Six bull and three heifer calves arrived with no calving difficulties. Apart from a minor scouring episode with Clancy, all the calves and their mothers have done and are doing very well.


Registered Fullblood Senepols
Criss has an impressive pedigree that includes WJ Wizard (MGS), RAB Mr Efficiency S126A (PGS) and a double cross of CN 5480 (Hercules). A nice confident heifer, she was named "Criss Cross" in recognition of the double cross.



His name might suggest a future in the rodeo ring but I have other plans for this fellow at Whine Not.


Debbie is a pretty special heifer with no close relationship to any of the AI sires that have been widely used in Australia. When she and Criss are ready, they'll both be AI'd to introduce fresh genetics to the herd.

Boney is the youngest of the drop. He's coming along nicely and his mother is doing a pretty commendable job for a heifer on poor quality pasture.


Registered Senegus
Rancy is my third good Senegus calf out of an excellent Red Angus cow, Sandstone X804 (aka Sandy). By three different Senepol sires, all these calves have demonstrated pleasing general quality as well as the high growth attributed to hybrid vigour.



Registered Cross-bred (Senepol A grades)

The cross-bred calves are particularly gratifying as they demonstrate the potential of a Senepol sire to improve a herd while adding hybrid vigour, heat tolerance and tick resistance.

Cathy is out of a nice Foundation Brangus cow and she's destined to be a great breeder. She's inherited some nervousness from her Mum but has a pleasant temperament nonetheless.



Airy is out of an honest Enrolment Brangus cow who impressed me with her growth and trouble free qualities. It will be interesting to see how he develops.



Unregistered Cross-bred
  • Cashew.
Cashew is out of an angular Jersey cross Angus cow (Hazel) that acted as an embryo recipient the previous year to produce Whine Not Billabong. There's nothing angular about Cashew!


Cashew is shown again below, several months later in early August, now 7 1/2 months old and coated up for Winter.

  • Clancy
Clancy's mum (centre) is a Murray Grey cross Brangus cow that was previously used as an embryo recipient to produce Whine Not Crikey. It is interesting to note that the Senepol cross by Whine Not Efficiency 052 has knocked out the grey (diluter gene?) to allow the Angus blackness to dominate. Cow and calf are busy here making the best of a poor paddock.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Happy New Year - Whine Not Crikey

What a great start to 2007! Crikey arrived at lunch time on New Year's Day; very civilised. 15 days later, here she is a picture of health and a credit to her recipient mother, Zebulous, in the background. Crikey is a flush sister to Billabong (see previous post) and, not surprisingly, they are very similar. Naturally, I was very pleased to receive two heifer calves from the two ET pregnancies. They will be very suitable mates for Whine Not Efficiency 052 in due course.

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.

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.

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.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Boys will be boys - Dappy & Fish

Dappy (SEA05051) and Fish (SEA05052) needed to renegotiate terms when they were reunited after a few weeks apart. It's interesting to note the Angus influence in Dappy (left) who is a Senegus, compared with Fish, a fullblood Senepol.


Dappy - 314 kg @ 237 days


Fish - 263 kg @ 200 days

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.