Hello!
We have a small farm in Europe and right now we're transitioning from dairy to beef cattle. One of the most important things is to choose the right breed of cattle. Since my father will mostly work with them alone, it's important that they are docile and calving is as easy as possible. So Angus and Hereford breeds seem to be most suitable for that. At the same time here in my country these are not the most popular breeds, so it's going to take quite a long time to build a purebred herd. Charolais and Limousine are much more popular breeds here.
So I wanted to ask You, is it smart to buy a purebred bull of Angus or Hereford breed and cross it not only with Angus or Hereford heifers, but also with Charolais, Limousin or Simmental heifers and cows? Usually when I read about crosses between maternal and terminal types of cattle, it's between maternal cows and terminal bulls, for example Charolais bull on Hereford cows.
How crosses the other way usually work out? I assume that calving should be much more easier using Angus bull on Charolais heifers, than purebred Charolais on Charolais, is it like that in reality? And also how much do crosses like that are going to (I assume negatively) influence weight gain of calves?
We have a small farm in Europe and right now we're transitioning from dairy to beef cattle. One of the most important things is to choose the right breed of cattle. Since my father will mostly work with them alone, it's important that they are docile and calving is as easy as possible. So Angus and Hereford breeds seem to be most suitable for that. At the same time here in my country these are not the most popular breeds, so it's going to take quite a long time to build a purebred herd. Charolais and Limousine are much more popular breeds here.
So I wanted to ask You, is it smart to buy a purebred bull of Angus or Hereford breed and cross it not only with Angus or Hereford heifers, but also with Charolais, Limousin or Simmental heifers and cows? Usually when I read about crosses between maternal and terminal types of cattle, it's between maternal cows and terminal bulls, for example Charolais bull on Hereford cows.
How crosses the other way usually work out? I assume that calving should be much more easier using Angus bull on Charolais heifers, than purebred Charolais on Charolais, is it like that in reality? And also how much do crosses like that are going to (I assume negatively) influence weight gain of calves?