Homozygous Poll Sires at RUPARI
Rupari Generale d'Poll
At Rupari Blondes we began by using two AI sires that are Homozygous poll: they were :- West Winds Rainier 11R and West Winds Gershwin 147G. Gershwin has offered us some excellent, thicker set, females and bulls with plenty of muscle. We have retained an industry standout, heavily muscled, homozygous poll son of Gershwin - Rupari Generale d'Poll (in pic). Generale is pictured at 17 months of age in January 2013; and then below again as a 3 year old in October 2014. He has excellent conformation and very heavily muscled. His first 2 sons (2013 drop) are both out working in other Blonde herds. Progeny of Generale are very promising.
Generale as a 3 year old.
Rupari Henri d'Poll
Rainier has produced very well structured and productive females with great fertility and milk production. We have retained an excellent homozygous poll son of Rainier - Rupari Henri d'Poll (see his pics below).
Henri is pictured below at 16 months of age in October 2013, and then below again as a 2+ year old in October 2014. Henri is very well structured, with smooth lines, softness and great weight for age.
Henri as a 2+ year old
Since then we have introduced another two new homozygous polled AI sires: they are :- Arshas Polled Trooper and West Winds Workman 94W.
Arsha’s Polled Trooper 67T (PP) (Can) Trooper is a new semen import to Australia. His make and shape are attractive and he has Canadian breed average performance data. We have a few calves born in late 2013 and the progeny are promising.
West Winds Workman 94W (PP) (Can) Workman is a serious curve bender: low birth weight, high growth, and heaps of muscle and high milk genetics. Workman offers the potential to safely increase size without bigger calves. Workman sons have excellent growth. There is a 2013 drop son working in a commercial herd in NSW.
Other Poll sires in use by AI are West Winds Herdsman, Banya Alexthegreat, and Amaroo Polled Extra.
Banya Alexthegreat (ATG) (P) ATG has been described by a few prominent Blonde breeders as the best Blonde Poll bull seen to date. ATG is owned and working at Elite Blondes, Castella, Vic. Grown progeny are available for viewing; have a chat to Shirley Phillips at Elite Blondes.
Amaroo Polled Extra (P) APE is a well credentialed AI polled sire. He is from Amaroo’s top female, ‘Vogue’, and he retains a lot of her EBV power. Breeding well at Rupari.
We are currently breeding and selling almost exclusively, Polled Blonde d'Aquitaine cattle that we believe are equal to or above breed standard for muscling, growth, milk production and easy calving attributes. However, we do believe it is very important to continue to build the genetic diversity of polled cattle. To achieve this, each year we utilise by AI a number of industry standard horned sires over selected poll cows. The aim is to get some quality Poll progeny from horned sires. Some of the horn sires in use are Nicodeme, Drop, Passo, Anis, Aneto, Beef Master, and Baudin Xavier.
Successes To Date
Rupari Polled Blondes have bred, and sold, the first Australian homozygous polled (identified by DNA test) bull - Rupari Eric d'Poll. Eric is out of Magara Shannon by West Winds Rainier. Eric's semen rights have been retained by Rupari, but a 3/4 share and possession has been sold to Keldi Blondes, Pittsworth, Qld. Congratulations to Heidi Sullivan (nee Loveday) on an excellent purchase. Eric is 'on-duty' at Keldi, hopefully producing a great line of polled Blonde calves ideally suited to the Queensland market.
NEWS FLASH - New Homozygous Poll Sire at RUPARI
The bull pictured below was 13 months old when the photo was taken in October 2014. We liked the look of him. Thick, deep and well balanced. And photogenic! Interestingly, a few other Blonde breeders also liked this bull. We tried to keep him to ourselves, but Bob & Jan Andrews of Old Kentucky Blondes combined with Chris McIlroy of Agri-Gene, Wangaratta, to make an offer to purchase this bull via a Facebook Auction. The sale was completed in March 2015, possibly a world record price for a Blonde Bull at auction - $50,000. (+gst). The rest is history. The bulls name is Rupari Joiner d'Poll and his semen is now available world wide. This is an exceptional animal, and we guess, we could never have kept him to ourselves. Congratulations to the purchasers, who may be heartily thanked by all Blonde breeders for releasing this fellow to all.
