East Bound and Down was last week’s Featured AI Sire. I commented on the tremendous slope in his hip. You will never see that with status quo AI sires. That reminded me of an article I wrote several years ago about level hips. I decided to dust it off and share it again.
Let me begin by saying, every land mammal God created has a sloped hip – from rabbits to elephants. Level hips were not created by God. Level hips were created by men in their ridiculous attempt to improve on God’s creation. The pelvis has two protruding bones on each side – the hip bone and the pin bone. There should be a significant downward slope from the hip bones to the pin bones.
The pelvic opening (birth canal) lies between the hip bones and the pin bones. The greater the slope the easier it is for the baby to get out. The drawings below came from the late Jan Bonsma’s Man Must Measure book. This isn’t rocket science! As you level the hip by raising the pin pones, you reduce the pelvic opening.
Unfortunately, most of the so-called “improved” breeds of beef animals around the world have been selected and bred for level hips – simply because some thought it looked better. I cringe when I hear a 4-H or FFA showring judge place one breeding animal over another because he likes the animal’s level hip.
Out of curiosity, I googled “Level Hipped Cattle.” I was shocked and angered to discover that many (perhaps most) beef extension people at the university level are touting the benefits of a level hip in cattle. Stupid is as stupid does!
It has become very difficult to find cattle with the proper slope from the hip bones to the pin bones. Compare the level-hipped status quo bull to PCC East Bound and Down below. Notice the high tail head on the status quo bull. Steve Campbell, with Tailor Made Cattle, refers to this as the anti-fertility bone.
Although Pharo Cattle Company™ does not evaluate and score hip structure on the bulls we sell, we pay special attention to this trait because we know how important it is. Most breeders, unfortunately, have totally ignored this trait for many decades. If you purchase and use level-hipped bulls, it won’t take long to create calving problems in your cowherd.
Quote Worth Re-Quoting
“Challenge conventual wisdom. There is almost always a better way.” ~ Ziad K. Abdelnour