Balancer\ Gelbvie\Angus cross
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novaman
Well-known member
You make the most with a commercial herd when you crossbreed. I have a lot of Gelbvieh/Red Angus influence in my herd and it's made a world of difference over any straight breed.
I think that the Balancer is a good idea, but not sure they the breeders have fixed the genetic yet...I mean a Brangus is a fix and selected 3/8 brimm/ 5/8 angus.. that is a breed . At this point a balancer is just a cross breed...often a f-1 cross..
With that said I think a Balancer bull on my f-1 black baldies , would be a great cross.
With that said I think a Balancer bull on my f-1 black baldies , would be a great cross.
When the term balancer first came about they were F1 Gelbvieh X Angus (red or black). The Gelbvieh folks changed that after just a couple of years to allow any percentage of either. Supposedly it wa to allow more "flxibility" in using balancers to jibe better with different herd compositions. Personally I think it was just a way for the gelbvieh association to make more money.alftn":2c8tar1n said:
We used the F1s before the term balancer was even thought of and really liked the mix. Still have one of th original old cows left from that cross and several of her daughters and grandauthers
HOSS
Well-known member
alftn":1l52yplp said:
alftn,
I run a Balancer bull and I have two cows that are Angus x Hereford. Their calves from last spring weaned close to 675 pounds. This was at 205 days of age. Both were bull calves and looked great. I don't have pics as they were sold at a feeder calf sale back in October. My steer crop overall averaged 53 pounds per head heavier than when I used a straight angus bull with similar epd's. My heaviest calves sired from the Balancer bull were from Angus x Limi cows. Another good 3 way cross.
HOSS
Well-known member
dun":2il5xs53 said:
That may be correct but it sure improved my calves. Next year I will be going with a pure Gelbvieh bull.....if I get better and faster growth than I got with the Balancer I might not be able to stand it
Unlike some on this board a Black angus base, I think is very good and keeping 5/8 %angus or close to that, in my herd, is a good place to be. yes I am losing some hybrid vigor, but I think you are good... I mean how much difference is a 1/4 hereford , 1/4 gelbvie, 1/2 angus obtained by crossing a F-1 black baldie with a 50/ 50 balancer bull versus a 1/4 hereford , 1/4 b. angus , 1/2 gelbvie obtained by crossing a F-1 black baldie with a 100% gelbvie bull...And as with most of my cows I had reather have a larger % Black Angus than anything else...
I agree Balancer bred back to Angus wouldn't be bad, but why not take a Balancer cow and breed her back to a Hereford bull? Then you get the full effect of heterosis, becuase that Hereford side will add feed efficiency, if you breed back to an Angus bull you're not maximizing heterosis to the full effect, youre backcrossing, backcrosses yield maximum maternal heterosis but only 50 percent of your maximum individual heterosis, so youre really not capitalizing on the full effect that you could be getting with the terminal cross of Balancer x Hereford. If you breed that Balancer to the Hereford bull, its gonna be a terminal cross anyways so you wont have to worry about replacements, ideally you would breed Angus x Hereford to a Gelbvieh bull to make a true terminal three way cross, but in this case you're starting with a Balancer cow so its a moot point.
I've worked with Balancers for several years and I have to say its a great cross, still run by the Gelbvieh Association, but they really know what they're doing there, they even have calf marketing program and other types of programs available for both Balancers and Smartcross (Balancer + % of another breed)
And just a little tidbit, a backcross is best to use when a particular breed works well a certain environment such as brahman type breeds in tropical areas
Best of luck to you, once again Balancers make some great commercial cattle!
I've worked with Balancers for several years and I have to say its a great cross, still run by the Gelbvieh Association, but they really know what they're doing there, they even have calf marketing program and other types of programs available for both Balancers and Smartcross (Balancer + % of another breed)
And just a little tidbit, a backcross is best to use when a particular breed works well a certain environment such as brahman type breeds in tropical areas
Best of luck to you, once again Balancers make some great commercial cattle!
AngusLimoX
Well-known member
HOSS":3b43yaxp said:
Nope, never work in a million years!! :lol: :lol:
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
Sounds like your friend didn't have the right Top Bloodlines!
