A new face temporarily resides at Medicine Spirit Ranch. No, Curly, our white Charolais bull didn’t get a black dye job nor did he lose 800 pounds. The Black Angus bull in the picture belongs to our good neighbors, Steve and Carla Allen and goes by the politically questionable name of “Sambo.”

The bull is staying for three months to breed with my heifers. Since they are first time heifers, we needed a small bull. Hope to sell the bred heifers for a good price in the spring.

The vernacular calls Sambo a “working” bull. Now guys, how much work can it really be? He has five heifers to breed and plenty of time in which to do it. No pressure here!

Lets see- he has plenty of grass or hay, range cubes, clean water, and five heifers. Does this really sound like work to you? And we refer to it as the “Life of Riley” but in reality it’s the “Life of Sambo.” He seems happy in his work.

We’il see how this breeding experiment works out next spring when the heifers are pregnancy checked. Meanwhile they will frolic in the most gorgeous weather we have seen in awhile.

I did a little research on Black Angus. They originally came from the shires of Aberdeen and Angus in northern Scotland. The cattle from Aberdeen were affectionately referred to as “hummlies” and those from Angus were called “Doddies.”

The transfer of Angus to the States began in 1873 when four Angus bulls were imported to Kansas. Over the next 12 years some 1,200 Angus beef cattle were imported and they have become one of the most popular breeds of cattle in the USA. They are especially prized in Japan.

They are naturally polled (meaning they have no horns) which for anyone like me who’s been bonked by a Longhorn’s horn sounds like a real plus.

Tagged: Black Angus, Cattle breeding, Cattle Ranching