anyone know about simmental x angus cows ?

[fishermanswoman]

My question is does this cross do well all around for calving and generally I was wondering about body size etc. We are going to a ranch tomorrow to look and the reason is we are trying to get rid of a few bad apples from the herd and came across these today.. So if anyone out there in cattle land has any answers could you please let me know asap

 

[Beefy]

Simmental x angus is one of the better crosses of cattle out there, in my opinion. great mothers. growthy calves.

once in a while you might get a rat-tail though. big deal.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

The "rattail" is a "mute" issue. Been proven they don't perform any differently than non-rat tails. Just a feedlot issue to pay less for something.
Simm x Angus are about the hottest crosses around today.
As far as size -just depends on the parents. There are Angus cattle out there lots bigger than Simmental and visa-versa.
Best of both worlds - British & Continental. Great moms - great carcasses.

 

[Frankie]

The "rattail" is a "mute" issue. Been proven they don't perform any differently than non-rat tails. Just a feedlot issue to pay less for something.
Simm x Angus are about the hottest crosses around today.
As far as size -just depends on the parents. There are Angus cattle out there lots bigger than Simmental and visa-versa.
Best of both worlds - British & Continental. Great moms - great carcasses.

Would you show me the "proof" that rattails perform as well as their "normal" siblings? I remember reading an article years ago in the The Cattleman magazine that they didn't perform as well in the feedlot. I'd be interested in reading anything that counters that.

 

[MikeC]

The "rattail" is a "mute" issue. Been proven they don't perform any differently than non-rat tails. Just a feedlot issue to pay less for something.
Simm x Angus are about the hottest crosses around today.
As far as size -just depends on the parents. There are Angus cattle out there lots bigger than Simmental and visa-versa.
Best of both worlds - British & Continental. Great moms - great carcasses.

Would you show me the "proof" that rattails perform as well as their "normal" siblings? I remember reading an article years ago in the The Cattleman magazine that they didn't perform as well in the feedlot. I'd be interested in reading anything that counters that.

I believe that study on rattails was done by Clemson Univ.

They used cattle that was in their "Pasture to Plate Program" that went to the feedlot and the rattails performed as well as the others.

There is a difference between "rattails" and "elephant hided" calves, which some get confused.
**************************************
Rat-tail Syndrome

Rat-tail Syndrome is mentioned by ranchers more often than in the scientific literature. It is described in O'Brien et al. (1996) as a "short, charcoal-coloured hair coat and an abnormal, crooked, shortened tail switch". They further say it usually occurs in crossbreds of Angus and Simmental or Hereford. The jury is still out on whether this condition causes other than cosmetic problems.
O'Brien, M., A. Eggen, B. T. Murkve, Jurgella G, L. K. Doud, M. Pfister-Genskow, G. Hawkins, R. R. Schalles, D. Troyer and M. D. Bishop. 1996. Genetic investigation of the 'rat-tail' syndrome in Bos taurus cattle. Anim. Genet. 27 (Suppl. 2):104.
Schalles RR, Cundiff LV (1999) Inheritance of the "rat-tail" syndrome and its effect on calf performance. J. Anim. Sci. 77, 1144-1147.

 

[BRG]

Rat Tail, so what??????!!!!!!????????

It is on good year $50 a head discount and on poor years when they are really picky over $100 a head discount. I guess it isn't that big of a deal. ;-) I know, you are going to come back and tell me that the black hide will make them sell more and overcome the discount. But we are getting to a point where the good even cattle, don't matter what color they are, sell at the top.

I don't really agree with them not performaing as well. When a calf don't have much hair and the calves in the the feedlot over the winter in the Dakotas, MN, IA, and NE where the winters get tough, they are cold and shivering in a corner. I was told by the manager from Winter Cirlce Feedlot, that he put together a load of these calves because they were cheap. The winter of 1996 & 97 rolled through and he lost 55% of these calves because they could not handle the cold.

But, beside the rat tail issue, this is a good cross. I prefer Hereford over Simmi but to each his own.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

The "rattail" is a "mute" issue. Been proven they don't perform any differently than non-rat tails. Just a feedlot issue to pay less for something.
Simm x Angus are about the hottest crosses around today.
As far as size -just depends on the parents. There are Angus cattle out there lots bigger than Simmental and visa-versa.
Best of both worlds - British & Continental. Great moms - great carcasses.

he could use a black simm. bull and eliminate the rat tail. ive got a couple rats now on my red simbrah cows from a angus bull. the simm breeders have brought that frame way down lately.

 

[bullpeddler]

I am biased since I raise both but the Simmental X Angus cross is hard to beat unless you need some ear. Then just replace the Angus with Brangus and you have the ear. The SimAngus calves are the first ones that get noticed first and always seem to outperform the straightbreds. We have never had any rat tails but our cow herd is 90 percent black and the few reds are non-diluted.

 

[Stocker Steve]

My question is does this cross do well all around for calving and generally I was wondering about body size etc.

Alot of the guys in my area have them. They look great but they are pretty big cows. I am not sure I would want to hay them.

I buy some Simmi x angus calves, and they blow away the straight angus.

 

[fishermanswoman]

Thanks cowhands ;-) the info helped but i am a little confused :?: about the rattail and what it exactly means.. We dont show our cattle or anything and to be honest i think in this small town auctions these good ol boys wouldnt know a rattail cow unless it really had a rat on it..speaking for myself mostly. ha ha :cboy:

 

[mnmtranching]

The Auctioneer at our local sale, now has better manners. He started calling them rope tails. Still their separated and will bring about $20 per hundred less than their herd mates. A trained eye will pick them out right away. The cattle buyers I know want nothing to do with them. But folks buy them thinking their getting a bargain.

My only experience with them is. I bought 6 heifers cheap, this was about 20 years ago, didn't know a thing about em. They became a nightmare. Just bad luck? I doubt. For me never again.