Black Herefords

[Murry]

I'm looking at bringing a Black Hereford bull into a small herd of young Black Angus crosses.

I want to get more baldies for the market and some Hereford into replacement cows.

These cows are all young, from heifers to 2 & 3rd calf cows, Black Angus crosses (Black Angus - Limousin - and some traces of Gelbvieh).

Does anyone have experience or an opinion about Black Herefords?

Thanks

 

[R-E]

I didn't know there was such a thing. If you want baldies put a brangus bull on your herford cows.

 

[dun]

See what percentage Hereford he actually is. I think they are supposed to be homo black, if he isn;t you may get some reds in the bargain. You won;t get near the heterosis as you will using a REAL Hereford bull.

 

[Ryan]

As far as heterosis goes, you would be better off with a straight Hereford, instead of a crossbred.

Breeding your Angus cows to the Hereford you would still get the black baldies you are looking for. Maybe a stray red now and then if any of your cows are heterzygous black (carry the recessive red gene).

Your potential replacements would then have more hereford in them.

Plus, I have yet to see one of these "black herefords" that impresses me. Most seem lacking.

Ryan

 

[Murry]

I don't have any experience with Brangus. At one time we did have a black bull which looked to have some Brahman in him, but truthfully he wasn't a good one.

We used to have all Herefords but then gradually switched towards Black Angus.

My primary concern is calving-ease, especially as these are all young cows.

Also our calves are getting a bit too black and the market around here really prefers black with white face. We used to have problems with Pink Eye during the summers, but since moving to dark hided animals and some other improvements Pink Eye only very rarely shows. Also, I'd like a bit more height on the cows. We've been keeping as many baldie heifers for replacement as are suitable but there's a definite shortness to the cows that show strong Black Angus. In the past we've had a Limousin-cross bull, but he's since been replaced by a purebred Black Angus. I'd go with a good Hereford, but I want the more consitent black hide.

I don't exactly know what sort of advice I'm looking for here, but I'm catching some flak for pushing for a Hereford bull rather than another Black Angus.

I want to keep medium framed cows. We've had some Gelbvieh crosses in the past and weren't real impressed by them.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

your problem is simple use a angus.. you can still get 7 frame angus bulls if you want to bring your replacements off the ground some. get some consistentcy built in your herd then go with a real "true too life" hereford bull

 

[farmwife]

I don't have any experience with Brangus. At one time we did have a black bull which looked to have some Brahman in him, but truthfully he wasn't a good one.

We used to have all Herefords but then gradually switched towards Black Angus.

My primary concern is calving-ease, especially as these are all young cows.

Also our calves are getting a bit too black and the market around here really prefers black with white face. We used to have problems with Pink Eye during the summers, but since moving to dark hided animals and some other improvements Pink Eye only very rarely shows. Also, I'd like a bit more height on the cows. We've been keeping as many baldie heifers for replacement as are suitable but there's a definite shortness to the cows that show strong Black Angus. In the past we've had a Limousin-cross bull, but he's since been replaced by a purebred Black Angus. I'd go with a good Hereford, but I want the more consitent black hide.

I don't exactly know what sort of advice I'm looking for here, but I'm catching some flak for pushing for a Hereford bull rather than another Black Angus.

I want to keep medium framed cows. We've had some Gelbvieh crosses in the past and weren't real impressed by them.

There is not enough black Herefords out there to have reliable data on calving ease. Either go with a low birthweight Hereford or a low BW bull from another breed.

 

[Ryan]

I don't exactly know what sort of advice I'm looking for here, but I'm catching some flak for pushing for a Hereford bull rather than another Black Angus.

You are not catching flack for pushing a Hereford at all. Its just that there is not enough known about these "black herefords" and they are crossbred at that. If your cows are black your calf crop should be majority black. By going with a purebred Hereford you can find exactly what you want. Size, birthweight, growth, milk, etc... A lot more options and a lot more quality by going with purebred Hereford versus a "black hereford"

 

[alexfarms]

I'm looking at bringing a Black Hereford bull into a small herd of young Black Angus crosses.

I want to get more baldies for the market and some Hereford into replacement cows.

These cows are all young, from heifers to 2 & 3rd calf cows, Black Angus crosses (Black Angus - Limousin - and some traces of Gelbvieh).

Does anyone have experience or an opinion about Black Herefords?

Thanks

Go to www.blackhereford.com and read about the balck herefords. They do have epds, the person keeping the files is the widow of a former AHA breed imporvement director. The first black herefords were done pretty thoughtfully, by an experienced cattleman. Personally, I think you would be better off with a Hereford bull, but that is your choice. Some of the black herefords are high percentage and some are full black and high percentage hereford, which is surprising to me. I have heard good reports that they are well received by commercial producers because, even though they are black, they have alot of good Hereford characteristics.

 

[Murry]

"You are not catching flack for pushing a Hereford at all."

Just a clarification, as my statement about "catching flak" wasn't very precise.

I didn't mean to imply that the flak was coming from persons on the board.

I really appreciate the responses.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

"You are not catching flack for pushing a Hereford at all."

Just a clarification, as my statement about "catching flak" wasn't very precise.

I didn't mean to imply that the flak was coming from persons on the board.

I really appreciate the responses.

the biggest reason that black baldies sell well,, "color aside" is performance from the hybrid vigor that you get from crossbreeding, from a hereford to the angus thats what the buyers want,,, not a facsimle.....like a ol' man told me once it's hard to beat a true f1 baldie