Black & White Speckle Brahman

[Brahma Bull]

Just got a pretty good deal on a small herd of Black & White Speckle Brahma Heifers.Will be few years before I will have some to sell.So just want to test the market and get all your you input.Right now I saw some cows skin and bones,wild, rough and salty commerical grays sell from .52c t o .70 per pound at Cuero last week.Market looks pretty good for brahmans.Looking to have a nice herd of both B&W and Red Speckle in a few years.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

not to discourage you but ive seen in the ala. cattleman magazine where the brahman has dropped to over half on pedigree registrations over the last 20 year's what was a bigger suprise was hereford had a 60% drop. i like brahman cattle. but you might be better to go the crossbred route.

 

[Horticattleman]

not to discourage you but ive seen in the ala. cattleman magazine where the brahman has dropped to over half on pedigree registrations over the last 20 year's what was a bigger suprise was hereford had a 60% drop. i like brahman cattle. but you might be better to go the crossbred route.

The crossbreds still need the seedstock, right?

 

[gerardplauche]

Brahma's tear everything up. Too hard to work with...

 

[brahma_show_girl]

My family and I run a small Registered Brahman opperation. We also belong to the ABBA, as far as I know the Brahman's future is very bright. We took 4 brahman cows to a sale last weekend and they brought an average of $1,100.00 We took a yearling brahman heifer and she brought $1500.00 the rest of the calves averaged at 75 cents a lb. The F-1 market is very good too and if you are kind to your brahmans they will be kind to you Good luck!

 

[gerardplauche]

I'm not sure what's going on in those Brahman's heads. I just know that every calf I pick up that has a trace of Brahman in it is more difficult than others. They are typically flighty, uncooperative, bullying other calves, etc. I actually have a Brahman-mix heifer now that I did not sell last month because I could not get her to come near the catch pen... It's just the breed. No offense to Brahman-lovers. ;-)

 

[ALACOWMAN]

not to discourage you but ive seen in the ala. cattleman magazine where the brahman has dropped to over half on pedigree registrations over the last 20 year's what was a bigger suprise was hereford had a 60% drop. i like brahman cattle. but you might be better to go the crossbred route.

The crossbreds still need the seedstock, right?

right..if im understanding you,IM talking about using a bos taurus bull on them. for F1'S. i think hereford dropped due to the popularity of angus/ charolais rise. but will gradually start rising again.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

My family and I run a small Registered Brahman opperation. We also belong to the ABBA, as far as I know the Brahman's future is very bright.

• >>>We took 4 brahman cows to a sale last weekend and they brought an average of $1,100.00<<<<

We took a yearling brahman heifer and she brought $1500.00 the rest of the calves averaged at 75 cents a lb. The F-1 market is very good too and if you are kind to your brahmans they will be kind to you Good luck!

that's not a good indicator..those special sales are going to bring the long money out.

 

[dun]

I'm not sure what's going on in those Brahman's heads. I just know that every calf I pick up that has a trace of Brahman in it is more difficult than others. They are typically flighty, uncooperative, bullying other calves, etc. I actually have a Brahman-mix heifer now that I did not sell last month because I could not get her to come near the catch pen... It's just the breed. No offense to Brahman-lovers. ;-)

Brahman and Brahman influenced cattle need to be worked differently then other cattle. Slow and easy, make them think it's their idea. If you rowdy them once it will only be that much worse the next time.
BTW, it also works better with other cattle too.

 

[gerardplauche]

I agree dun, but they get mixed into the herd and start trouble during the round-up. There is not always to time to accomodate the Brahmans on the morning before sale. I started feeding inside my trailer to help out. The Brahmans do this fine except on the morning when it is time to load up. They can sense that something is up and they will not go into the trailer on that day. Eventually we get the best of them, but it is a battle of the wits - to say the least.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I agree dun, but they get mixed into the herd and start trouble during the round-up. There is not always to time to accomodate the Brahmans on the morning before sale. I started feeding inside my trailer to help out. The Brahmans do this fine except on the morning when it is time to load up.

• >>They can sense that something is up<<

and they will not go into the trailer on that day. Eventually we get the best of them, but it is a battle of the wits - to say the least.

brahman got a keen sence for trouble
e

 

[texast]

Brahma bull good luck with them.At least you got them cheap enough.I wish I could find some like that. I priced reg. Brahmans and it may just be the ranches I went too but didn't find anything under 2000.00. But these were the more popular breeders.
I would cross them with a Hereford or Angus and sell the calves to make a little change on them the first year. I personally want to raise purebred Brahmans. But if you are going purebred get the best bull you can for them. Good luck either way.
As far as Brahma's being hard to work with. Yes they can be a challenge. You can't handle them like any other breed.They are very smart, and have their own personality. I've heard all sorts of stories on how they are fence jumpers, man killers and so on and so on. The ones I've been around were very gentle almost to a fault.
Its all a part of how you manage them.
Good Luck!!

 

[brahma_show_girl]

that's not a good indicator..those special sales are going to bring the long money out.

We did not take are cattle to a special sale. It was just a regular every Saturday run of the Mill sale. The Special Registered Brahman Sale we were going to take them to got canceled and we had way to many on the small piece of property and we just had to get rid of them.

 

[TexasBred]

Here's some tips from the Commerical Brangus Newspaper about working cattle in general. Everyone is probably aware of them but never hurts any of us to be reminded.

DO CALM DOWN Remain Quiet. Loud voices and yelling scares animals more than clanging gates and chains.

Animals are sensory thinkers. They have great memories, but they don't store words. They store sounds and pictures. Working crews need to get away from language and make it a quiet and calm experience for the cattle.

Do make first experience pleasant: make the animal's first experience with a new place, piece of equipment or person a favorable one. "They don't forget". An initial experience that is averse can create a permanent fear memory in that animal. New things are both scary and attractive to an animal. The experience is scary if it is forced or suddenly introduced. But the experience can be made attractive, if the animal is allowed to investigate it on his own.

Introduce new steps gradually. If cattle are use to seeing a horse and rider, slowly introduce them to a person walking through the herd on the ground and vice versa. Don't introduce that person on the ground the very day you try to move the animals.

Don't keep animals penned alone: One of the most dangerous animals is the lone animal. Being alone is highly stressful, so bring some other animals in with it.

Don't select for tempermament: Single trait selections is never a good idea. If you select only for calm cattle, you'll likely get cows who aren't good mothers in caring for their calf. That said...wild animals don't habituate, but jst get more scared and probably need to be culled so seek some middle ground in selecting for disposition.

Do not move animals at a walk or trot: Getting animals too excited and moving too fast can agian negate health and performance.

Don't use a hot shot:

Don't fill the crowd pen too full: When working animals through a chute, fill the crowd pen only half full. Don't "squish" them in there. Animals have to be able to move freely and see where they are going.

 

[gerardplauche]

Nice tips. I agree 100%

 

[ALACOWMAN]

that's not a good indicator..those special sales are going to bring the long money out.

We did not take are cattle to a special sale. It was just a regular every Saturday run of the Mill sale. The Special Registered Brahman Sale we were going to take them to got canceled and we had way to many on the small piece of property and we just had to get rid of them.

well in that case i'll tip my hat. and say they did right the opposite..when they bring good money at a regular sale its a good sign ;-)

 

[novatech]

Good tips TB
Brahman have especially good memories. Mine are easy to work through the chutes at my place. I loaded 2 today and took them to the vet. All went well until I went to unload them. They would not budge. They absolutely remembered their last experience at the vet. The first thing the help wants to do is get the hotshot out. I don't allow it. It took me 30 minutes to get them off the trailer and into the crowding tub. All the vets now know how I want my animals treated. Maybe the next time I take them they will unload a little faster.
I found that training is the easest way to get cattle to work properly in the pens. Let them go through the chuts when you have no reason to do so. Then when you need them to go through it is easy. The one thing I wish I had done is put a curve in the chute so they could not see a trailer backed up.
Always have your corral fences higher than they can jump over. Once they make it over you have just trained them to escape.
I do not know why but F1's are far more hyper than purebred Brahmans. All the more reason to train them to be docil at a young age.

 

[Brahma Bull]

One thing for sure about brahma calves.They start eating grass 1 week old and hay and feed at 2 weeks.It their mom ma ain't got enough milk they will find some from another cow.Angus and herford from my past experience.The calves were 3 months old before they would even try feed.The brahmas I am getting are as gentle as a pet.Not many angus or hereford I seen that gentle.
So it depends on your cattle.I also feed mine in the cow pen too.Think I will try putting feed on the trailer,see how that goes.I got 3 crossbred heifers out of my black and white bull.At little over 2 now,they are already some very big girls.

 

[dun]

One thing for sure about brahma calves.They start eating grass 1 week old and hay and feed at 2 weeks.It their mom ma ain't got enough milk they will find some from another cow.Angus and herford from my past experience.The calves were 3 months old before they would even try feed.

Too bad there isn;t an icon for the BS FLAG. If other breeds, particullarly Angus and Hereford aren;t eating grass till they're 3 months old, why are they chewing thier cud when they're 10 days to 2 weeks of age?

 

[Brahma Bull]

Well throw that BS Flag,don't make a bit of difference to me.My brahma calves are nibbling at beef builder at 2 weeks old and eating hay.Yeah I know everyone has their own likes and dislike on every breed in the book.So no need to saying any more about all you'alls herefords & angus.But I sure bet my brahma heifers are way more gentle out in the pasture than any other breed,easier to handle, grow faster too.Now more money than some others.Those others simply do nothing for me.That ain't a bunch of BS.