3 Way Cross

[Hoser]

I have a herd of mostly Angus Hereford cross cattle and I'm getting close to the numbers I can handle so I'd like to introduce a third breed and sell all the calves.

 

[Hoser]

I would buy black baldy replacement heifers. I am leaning towards Charolais. Does anyone have pictures of this 3 way cross?

 

[Dave]

I don't know that I have any pictures. But the neighbor only keeps blacks, reds, or baldies as replacements. His bull pasture has about 40 bulls in it. About 25 of them are Charolais. So I am sure there are baldies bred to a char bull.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I've got some. They'll grow. They're the wrong color to sell as feeders around here. That's why I voted Simmental. They will stay bwf where the char crosses will be gray white face or mottled smoky.

 

[Hoser]

I've got some. They'll grow. They're the wrong color to sell as feeders around here. That's why I voted Simmental. They will stay bwf where the char crosses will be gray white face or mottled smoky.

Chars have been topping the sales around here lately.

 

[Hoser]

Simmental/Fleckvieh and Angus (Black or Red) do well too. Anything feather neck, spotted painted or roaned does not.

 

[Dave]

I looked through my pictures. I didn't find any where I can identify a BWF cow with a Char calf.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Chars have been topping the sales around here lately.

If chars aren't discounted, then by all means I'd run Char bulls. It's a $0.20 dock on my smoky strs vs their blk hided siblings. So in my personal herd I'm down to only 2 char cows left.

 

[Dave]

Last fall B's calves topped the sale in every weight class they were sold in that day. You can see from the pictures he has lots of Char cross calves. Here you bring in a bunch of assorted colored calves they just sort by size and sex. And they sell the mixed groups as a single lot.

 

[Hoser]

Last fall B's calves topped the sale in every weight class they were sold in that day. You can see from the pictures he has lots of Char cross calves. Here you bring in a bunch of assorted colored calves they just sort by size and sex. And they sell the mixed groups as a si

Here as well. They call them Presort sales. Thanks for the pictures of the nice cattle!

 

[Hoser]

@gcreekrch Where do you get your charolais bulls if you don't mind me asking?

 

[coachg]

I'm in the south and out market is black cattle . I would use an ultra black bull for my 3rd cross . In our area that might be a brangus crossed bull . A little hint of ear isn't bad but not too much .

 

[Hoser]

I'm in the south and out market is black cattle . I would use an ultra black bull for my 3rd cross . In our area that might be a brangus crossed bull . A little hint of ear isn't bad but not too much .

I'm seeing a surprising amount of Brahmans up in Alberta. I think they're mostly used for rodeo stock though.

 

[Dsth]

I do keep a Charolais bull in my semen tank and usually breed one or two of my black/red angus cows to him. each year they are some of the biggest calves in the group at sale time. so far, they are more profitable even if they get docked a little because of the added weight.

 

[andybob]

I'm in the south and out market is black cattle . I would use an ultra black bull for my 3rd cross . In our area that might be a brangus crossed bull . A little hint of ear isn't bad but not too much .

You could also look into Mashona to keep the herd Taurus but bring in heat and parasite tolerance without any ear.

 

[andybob]

I'm seeing a surprising amount of Brahmans up in Alberta. I think they're mostly used for rodeo stock though.

You also have the best herd of Bonsmara in North America in Alberta - Thornbush Bonsmara belonging to Dr Gordon Strick.

 

[Hoser]

I've decided to start transitioning to charolais bulls. The next question is should I keep any of these 3 way cross heifers? I thought I wouldn't but I bought a few angus charolais cross cows a year ago from a neighbour who passed away and they've made great mama's who fit in frame wise to the rest of the herd.

 

[gcreekrch]

Charolais bulls on black or black baldy cows need lots of hair or you will get the slick haired greys that will be discount. A certain percentage of the calves will be tan or tan wf. Douglas Lake Ranch breeds about 5000 baldy cows to white bulls every year. The calves are really good.
I don't recommend keeping Char x cows but many do.

 

[Travlr]

Sadly... the fact is that black calves get more money just based on their color, so high quality animals of any other color are getting reamed at the sale barn.

But you don't have to sink to being a victim of the CAB program because there are now plenty of black options from breeds that were red/white in the past. I don't know why Limousine isn't mentioned more on this forum as a great herd improver and calf maker. There are great Limo bulls and some are homozygous black. I'd use one of them before I used a Char that would give me mouse colored calves that would take a hit at the point of sale.

 

[Ky hills]

If color is not a concern and calving ease is maintained, then Charolais would be the best growth in my opinion
If black hide is desired then I'm going to say black Simmental might give some growth.
I feel like you sacrifice growth with Angus, but I've often used Angus bulls back over BWF cows and like the calves, and the heifers if out of good cow making stock can be kept back for some pretty good replacements.