Lucky Mike Fever

The expectations for the number 1 Type bull in the Netherlands were very high, but the quality group of Lucky Mike daughters presented at the Alta Dairy Day was higher. Many people from Europe and from North America agree on this point: Lucky Mike is as unique a bull as his own sire Lucky Leo was was in his day. And that’s saying a lot. Where else in the Netherlands do you find a bull that so consistently makes these black framey beauties? Bred to the variety of cows a young sire gets used upon the resulting Lucky Mike daughter is uniformly the same: tall, long-bodied, hard-topped with excellent feet and pleasing udder shape. They are stylish, they are strong and it’s predictable that Lucky Mike fever - already an epidemic in the Netherlands - will infect North American breeders too.

Lucky Mike Fever set to reach Epidemic levels

So how do you best use Lucky Mike? Use him on smaller, weak-loined, high-pinned cows that need additional frame, that need some added substance of bone, that exhibit more angularity than is healthy. Lucky Mike will correct foot shape and he will leave cows that walk easily, tracking extremely straight, especially for the large cows that they are. Udder shape is excellent, however, rear udder attachment could be higher with a more defined cleft. In addition, while thurls are typically wide, pins are more narrow. Suggested bloodlines that will benefit from Lucky Mike’s Type and Component improvement pattern are Marshall, Hershel, Aaron and Bellwood lines. Lucky Mike will become an icon for Alta in the Netherlands, but with the many Alta lines that have been propagated in North America, one could argue his successes could be even bigger on this side of the ocean!

Posted Dec 6th

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