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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 12:25 am
by Kathy Millar
My friend and I have purchased 10 straws of Saltaire Platinum and I have so far had 2 bull calves from that bull. We werer wondering if anyone had more info on him. I do know he is a red-factored, non-short, polled black.
Thanks 
Kathy
Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 11:40 am
by Mark Bowles
Hi Kathy,
2 of our first cows are by Platinum.
His father is Migh Poldark(polled) if i remember right he was a good sized bull.
His mother is Knotting Sarahdale 7th, she was red and short legged and had done qiute well in the showring. Laterly they were both owned by Lisa Bell ( Bottura), i think they both finished their days with her.Her breeding is pure Sarum and Knotting, (the cow not Lisa!)
Maybe someone else can comment that knows them better.
Mark
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 3:36 am
by Kathy Millar
So Mark, did you actually see Platinum in person? I was wondering what he is known for passing on to his progeny besides polledness.
Kathy
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:18 am
by Inger
Mark, our NZ Herd Book has the Dam listed as Saltaire Pedrilla ADCA10243. Saltaire Platinum was born 29/09/90. Our senior bull, Klondyke Salty Pioneer has Saltaire Platinum as his paternal grandsire, through Hiyu Salty Rambler 4th.
This line was known for its ability to throw a consistant line of calves. Salty's calves all have a similar look to them, whatever cow he is mated to. They are born small and grow well. Very good for putting over dairy heifers I should imagine.
It looks like the polling came through Migh Poldark, from his dam Godstone Esmeralda F10531P. Migh's sire was Westfield Merlin M2280. They were both black. Do you want to go further back than that?
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:14 pm
by Mark Bowles
OOpps!
My cock up, i misread my info. Inger is correct in all she says.
I did see Platinum and i thought he was a good size and very verbal when i saw him. It was in our early days with dexters, when i wouldnt have spotted a brilliant bull even if it had bit my bum!!
I am sure other people could enlighten us further.
Mark
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:32 pm
by Inger
Was he above average in height Mark? Our bull is around 46inches high, which is over the breed limit, but he's a nice bull, so we use him. :D His temperament is fairly good as well.
Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 5:12 am
by Kathy Millar
One of the bull calves from him grew very fast and large and the other was born small and grew very slowly but now looks pretty good. I sold the growthy calf for breeding and will eat the smaller one but too bad, as he is red. Both were horned. I wondered if Platinum put good udders or legs or something on his progeny.
Kathy
Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:19 am
by Inger
We've had some lovely heifers out of Salty and the first one is due to calve this month. We sold last year's steers at an average of 170kgs live weight. They were around 11 months old. We've had 2 red calves out of Salty. One is a polled heifer.
This year our Dexter Society is getting breeders to record birth weights and growth rates of each calf, so that we can work out the breeding value of the bulls we are using. Last year I used someone else's bull and the average birth weight so far is 26.9kgs. With another 5 calves from that bull to come. We've got 2 calves from another bull weighing 27.8 and 30.2kgs. There are 2 more calves to comes from that bull. He was an Australian import.
I'll have to wait another year before I can work out the average birth weights of Salty's calves. I didn't record the birth weights in previous years because we didn't have any animal scales at that stage. It'll be interesting to verify my feeling that Salty throws smaller calves than some other bulls. The scientific side of breeding is quite interesting to me and adds another facet to producing calves. :D