McCumber Angus Ranch has always bred cattle with the female in mind. It is the cow that is most important to any cattle operation. We at McCumber have always selected sires that have outstanding, proven females as their dams. The dams of our herd bulls must be fertile, have excellent udders, and be feminine through their heads and necks with deep powerful bodies, which allow them to keep their flesh through the cold winters and hot summers.
Two of the females that have these desirable traits are Miss Wix 365 of McCumber and Miss Wix 235 of McCumber. It is in these females that we are concentrating the genetics of our herd through the use of their sons and grandsons. It is proven females such as these that allow us to breed McCumber 054 Rito 5009 to daughters of McCumber 124 Traveler 212; both bulls are sons of Miss Wix 365 of McCumber. The son of Miss Wix 235 of McCumber, McCumber Foundation 701, can then in turn be mated to many of the granddaughters of Miss Wix 365 of McCumber to stack these great females into the pedigree. The resulting progeny are among the most promising and most consistent for type and performance of all that we have produced.
The cows and heifer calves at McCumber are maintained on a high roughage ration through the winter months that consists of corn silage, alfalfa hay and straw which is ground, mixed together and fed in a fence-line bunk. Feed samples are taken in the fall and the resulting analyses are used to balance a ration that will maintain the older females and allow the heifer calves to develop without getting fat.
The bull calves are also fed at the ranch on a high roughage ration that consists of corn/oats mix, corn silage and alfalfa hay. This ration is balanced, mixed together and fed in a fence-line bunk to allow the bull calves to grow and develop at the rate of 3 lbs./day. The grain in the ration is held to around 1% of the bullÕs body weight, never to exceed 12 lbs. of grain in the ration. These bulls can then go out and breed cows for our customers while maintaining their health and soundness.