Belgian Blues

[talldog]

Wife just said: We ain't crossing nothing to NO Belgian Blue !! :nod: :nod: :nod:

but she'll let you raise longhorn?

The wife loves the Longhorns and some others. My family enjoys AMERICAN cattle-- We here in my neck of the woods, like cattle flying AMERICAN flags !!!!!!!!!!! :wave: :wave:

 

[alftn]

Like White People, THERE ARE NO CATTLE NATIVE TO AMERICAS. They came with the spanish....I do not care much for Longhorns because of there small gene pool. (Meaning 60 years ago or less there were only a few in some park in OK.) That what save the breed . And a little Big horn Afraican Genes....It is hard for me to vision the LH with a american flag, just western movie hype. If there is a true American breed it would be herefords (THE GREAT IMPROVER)


The B.B. that I have seen at state faire in Ok. and Ks. were small to med frams with lot of meat...I have seem bull that were really huge...

 

[Rustler9]

alftn wrote:

Like White People, THERE ARE NO CATTLE NATIVE TO AMERICAS. They came with the spanish....I do not care much for Longhorns because of there small gene pool. (Meaning 60 years ago or less there were only a few in some park in OK.) That what save the breed . And a little Big horn Afraican Genes....It is hard for me to vision the LH with a american flag, just western movie hype. If there is a true American breed it would be herefords (THE GREAT IMPROVER)

Actually, the Longhorn has a large gene pool. There were other breeders scattered around who had Longhorn cattle besides those that were stocked on the Wichita Refuge. The seven families of Texas Longhorn cattle include WR (Wichita Refuge), Peeler (Graves Peeler), Phillips (Jack Phillips), Yates (Cap Yates), Wright (M.P. Wright), and Butler(Milby Butler). There are some lesser known lines that were around as well. One is the Woods line (Grady Woods). Old time twisty horned cattle. The Texas Longhorn cattle are the original American breed of cattle, cattle descended from Spanish cattle brought over with the first Spanish explorers. They roamed here almost 500 years. With cattle being bred from all of these lines there is a very wide gene pool available.

The History channel had a segment on the Texas Longhorn last week on the show called "Life After People". Larry Smith, president of the ITLA (International Texas Longhorn Assoc.) talked about the history of this breed. The show is giving examples of what the earth will be like after we have killed ourselves off and what animals will remain and thrive. The Texas Longhorn is the breed of cattle that they speculate will still be around due to their foraging ability, easy calving and little to no maintenance. They did show traditional beef and dairy breeds and how they won't make it due to their dependence on man for help in calving and their need for being fed as they have been shaped by man.

There have been some infusions of Watusi blood in some cheaters cattle who have tried to get bigger horns, I assume that this is what you are referring to. This would not include ths breed as a whole just as there have been infusions of of beef breeds from some cheaters for bigger, beefier bodies.

 

[alacattleman]

alftn wrote:

Like White People, THERE ARE NO CATTLE NATIVE TO AMERICAS. They came with the spanish....I do not care much for Longhorns because of there small gene pool. (Meaning 60 years ago or less there were only a few in some park in OK.) That what save the breed . And a little Big horn Afraican Genes....It is hard for me to vision the LH with a american flag, just western movie hype. If there is a true American breed it would be herefords (THE GREAT IMPROVER)

Actually, the Longhorn has a large gene pool. There were other breeders scattered around who had Longhorn cattle besides those that were stocked on the Wichita Refuge. The seven families of Texas Longhorn cattle include WR (Wichita Refuge), Peeler (Graves Peeler), Phillips (Jack Phillips), Yates (Cap Yates), Wright (M.P. Wright), and Butler(Milby Butler). There are some lesser known lines that were around as well. One is the Woods line (Grady Woods). Old time twisty horned cattle. The Texas Longhorn cattle are the original American breed of cattle, cattle descended from Spanish cattle brought over with the first Spanish explorers. They roamed here almost 500 years. With cattle being bred from all of these lines there is a very wide gene pool available.

The History channel had a segment on the Texas Longhorn last week on the show called "Life After People". Larry Smith, president of the ITLA (International Texas Longhorn Assoc.) talked about the history of this breed. The show is giving examples of what the earth will be like after we have killed ourselves off and what animals will remain and thrive. The Texas Longhorn is the breed of cattle that they speculate will still be around due to their foraging ability, easy calving and little to no maintenance. They did show traditional beef and dairy breeds and how they won't make it due to their dependence on man for help in calving and their need for being fed as they have been shaped by man.

There have been some infusions of Watusi blood in some cheaters cattle who have tried to get bigger horns, I assume that this is what you are referring to. This would not include ths breed as a whole just as there have been infusions of of beef breeds from some cheaters for bigger, beefier bodies.

if we were killed off why would we care which one survived, while were still here, we have a need for beef and dairy cattle..

 

[talldog]

Like White People, THERE ARE NO CATTLE NATIVE TO AMERICAS. They came with the spanish....I do not care much for Longhorns because of there small gene pool. (Meaning 60 years ago or less there were only a few in some park in OK.) That what save the breed . And a little Big horn Afraican Genes....It is hard for me to vision the LH with a american flag, just western movie hype. If there is a true American breed it would be herefords (THE GREAT IMPROVER)


The B.B. that I have seen at state faire in Ok. and Ks. were small to med frams with lot of meat...I have seem bull that were really huge...

You need to do a little homework before you start your lecture---I certainly have done mine on the so call--- The Great Improver !!! :cowboy:

 

[alacattleman]

Like White People, THERE ARE NO CATTLE NATIVE TO AMERICAS. They came with the spanish....I do not care much for Longhorns because of there small gene pool. (Meaning 60 years ago or less there were only a few in some park in OK.) That what save the breed . And a little Big horn Afraican Genes....It is hard for me to vision the LH with a american flag, just western movie hype. If there is a true American breed it would be herefords (THE GREAT IMPROVER)


The B.B. that I have seen at state faire in Ok. and Ks. were small to med frams with lot of meat...I have seem bull that were really huge...

You need to do a little homework before you start your lecture---I certainly have done mine on the so call--- The Great Improver !!! :cowboy:

and what were your findings?

 

[Rustler9]

If we're killed off, we certainly won't need any type of cattle. I was simply relaying what the show said about this breed; meaning that they are hardy and can survive unlike some other breeds. They talked about how these cattle would number into the millions within 200 years of running free as they did before they were almost all slaughtered and bred out by the European breeds that were brought over to replace them. I don't generally get on here and knock other breeds. I still love a Horned Hereford, Brahmans and Beefmaster cattle. I don't care for the Angus either color or really any of the other black breeds but don't knock them or the people who raise them. There was a comment made about the small gene pool of the Longhorn breed and that simply isn't true. There is line breeding going on in the breed-we do it ourselves but not to the extent of some other breeds. Or at least I don't think so. We haven't had some of the problems crop up in this breed that some of the other popular breeds of the day have.

 

[alacattleman]

If we're killed off, we certainly won't need any type of cattle. I was simply relaying what the show said about this breed; meaning that they are hardy and can survive unlike some other breeds. They talked about how these cattle would number into the millions within 200 years of running free as they did before they were almost all slaughtered and bred out by the European breeds that were brought over to replace them. I don't generally get on here and knock other breeds. I still love a Horned Hereford, Brahmans and Beefmaster cattle. I don't care for the Angus either color or really any of the other black breeds but don't knock them or the people who raise them. There was a comment made about the small gene pool of the Longhorn breed and that simply isn't true. There is line breeding going on in the breed-we do it ourselves but not to the extent of some other breeds. Or at least I don't think so. We haven't had some of the problems crop up in this breed that some of the other popular breeds of the day have.

really that small gene pool,, is one of the bigger reasons they are survivors the years they ran free and breeding only the strong survived to make it through all types of weather,drought, poor forage. deseases

 

[Frankie]

If we're killed off, we certainly won't need any type of cattle. I was simply relaying what the show said about this breed; meaning that they are hardy and can survive unlike some other breeds. They talked about how these cattle would number into the millions within 200 years of running free as they did before they were almost all slaughtered and bred out by the European breeds that were brought over to replace them. I don't generally get on here and knock other breeds. I still love a Horned Hereford, Brahmans and Beefmaster cattle. I don't care for the Angus either color or really any of the other black breeds but don't knock them or the people who raise them. There was a comment made about the small gene pool of the Longhorn breed and that simply isn't true. There is line breeding going on in the breed-we do it ourselves but not to the extent of some other breeds. Or at least I don't think so. We haven't had some of the problems crop up in this breed that some of the other popular breeds of the day have.

Don't feel so smug. There are black Longhorns showing up around here. How did they get black? My guess is Angus cross. So any Angus genetic defects can easily move into the Longhorn (or any other black) breed. Keep them white and spotted.

 

[Ryan]

If we're killed off, we certainly won't need any type of cattle. I was simply relaying what the show said about this breed; meaning that they are hardy and can survive unlike some other breeds. They talked about how these cattle would number into the millions within 200 years of running free as they did before they were almost all slaughtered and bred out by the European breeds that were brought over to replace them. I don't generally get on here and knock other breeds. I still love a Horned Hereford, Brahmans and Beefmaster cattle. I don't care for the Angus either color or really any of the other black breeds but don't knock them or the people who raise them. There was a comment made about the small gene pool of the Longhorn breed and that simply isn't true. There is line breeding going on in the breed-we do it ourselves but not to the extent of some other breeds. Or at least I don't think so. We haven't had some of the problems crop up in this breed that some of the other popular breeds of the day have.

Don't feel so smug. There are black Longhorns showing up around here. How did they get black? My guess is Angus cross. So any Angus genetic defects can easily move into the Longhorn (or any other black) breed. Keep them white and spotted.

There have been black longhorns for decades. Even before 1964 when the registry was founded. Not all of the spanish cattle were red or red/white.

Ryan

 

[talldog]

There's NO breed I know of that could make it on their own like a Longhorn !! Americas Cattle from the start !!! :wave: :wave:

 

[Rustler9]

Frankie, not being smug. Maybe you've seen Spanish Fighting bulls? No, not all are black, but most are. The Texas Longhorn descends from the some of same stock. There are several Spanish breeds that make up the Longhorn. Andalusian Blacks, Reds and the Retinta are some that come to mind. Sorry, no Angus in them though.

 

[ANAZAZI]

They are a fine terminal breed, with easy calvings when the bb is the father.
These cattle are very sensitive to being overfed, because they muscle up so easily, and become so heavy on their feet. And also overfed females have problems calving, as the calves easily get to big if the cow is on feed, and the birth canal gets narrow when there are exessive muscle and fat around it. The belgian breeders know this, but instead of keeping the cattle in a decent body score, they order cesarian in advance, and carry feed to the pregnant cow with both hands.
My friend Roger breeds a hundred cows to bb bulls and this year he lost three calves, and last year only two. He feeds his cattle only hay, or silage mixed with straw.

This thread is not about longhorns ( they cross well though)

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

Funnily enough I went to Spain last year. I can kind of see some resemblance now...

 

[Rustler9]

Yep, some of their kin folks. How was Spain? I kinda always wanted to go.

 

[chippie]

We have owned Belgian Blue. Our only calving difficulty was when we bred a pure BB cow to an imported bull. The bull calf was enormous and the cow had to have a ceasarian section. The calf was double muscled and had to be euthanized when he was about 4 months old because the DM gene affected his heart.

We have crossed American Belgian Blue on Brahman/Jersey cows without any problems for a terminal calf. The BB meat is delicious and the dressing percentage is high.

The BB does not seem to tolerate our heat and humidity very well. The summers were tough on them.