What is angus bull confirmation?

Answer 1

Conformation in Angus bulls or in any breeding bulls for that matter is the ideal body structure that makes that bull enable to travel, breed, and efficiently maintain his body condition and convert feed to muscle and/or fat.

Cattle producers judge conformation according to breeding ability, body structure, masculinity, scrotal circumference, leg and feet structure, depth in the barrel, heart girth, and hip/loins, and overall balance.

A bull that appears well balanced has equal amount of muscle on his forequarters as his back quarters, in other words if you draw a rectangle around the bull (when you are facing him sideways), the rectangle should be just that: a rectangle, not a tetrahedron some other irregular shape.

A bull with good depth (roundness in the rib-cage, gut and loin area) is the sign of a bull that will sire daughters with the ability to hold large or average-size calves. Depth is also a sign of siring sons that will flesh out easily and have carcasses with plenty of meat on them. A bull also that has a lot of depth is able to have good lung and heart capacity, as well as gut capacity when consuming forages to maintain his condition. A bull that does not have good depth tends to not flesh out easily, and looses condition quickly.

Feet and legs are the most important things a producer looks for. Sound feet indicate a bull that can bear his weight on his back legs and feet without wearing them out quickly. Hocks and cannon bones and pasterns that are in their natural positions indicate good leg structure; all four feet should be facing forward, not sideways or turned in. Back legs should be straight, not have the feet being pigeon-toed or splay-footed. They shouldn't be post-legged either, with the hocks at a straighter angle than naturally intended. The pasterns are also important: weak pasterns make the bull's back feet appear sickle-hocked because the angle from the base of the hoof to the dewclaw is too great. The angle of the pasterns should be in line with the hocks, not angled outwards. The angle of the hooves are important too: too flat-footed has the bull walking flat footed; too tippy-toed is also bad. Front legs should have the knees straight and not buck-kneed or calf-kneed, nor bow-legged. A bull with good feet should be able to have the back foot print land neatly in the front foot print, with no waddling or clicking of the back hooves to the front hooves, legs swinging out or in too much, or anything like that.

Scrotal circumference indicates the amount of sperm a bull is able to produce and ejaculate into the cow. Testicles that are too small will not produce enough sperm to produce viable offspring. No fat goblets should be found in the scrotum nor in the epididimus tract running from the testicles into the body cavity. Any fat in the scrotum warms up the testicles to the point where sperm are endangered: sperm that are too warm end up either dead or with abnormal structures, which prohibits their ability to travel to the egg of the cow in the uterus.

Masculinity is an indicator of several things: fertility, libido, and ability to sire feminine daughters. Masculinity is indicated by the hump grown on the neck of the bull, as well as the muscle in the shoulders and the bully-look of the head. Good muscling all over the body of the bull is also an indication of good masculinity. A bull should look like a bull in order to be deemed able to service a producer's cows. Any bull that looks like a cow or steer but has testicles and a penis is never advised to be used: the best use for a bull like that is for filling the freezer.

Body structure of a good bull should meet the following: good top-line (straight and long, not roach-backed or curved in), good depth, good feet, small head, good sheath (not hanging down or pendulous), good loin area, and overall balance and masculinity.

Breeding ability is determined by a breeding soundness exam (BBSE) by a qualified veterinarian and scrotal circumference.