RbarJ
Active member
What are your thought on using cross breeding to Brangus heifers in a club calf breeding operation? What would be your suggestions as for what to breed to the Brangus?
Thanks,
Robby
Thanks,
Robby
I live up in the North, so we don't have any brahman influenced cattle around here, but I think club calves and heat tolerance are pretty much polar opposites... I have never seen a brahman with much hair, so if you're going to be in the commercial ring I wouldn't suggest brahman influence because you could lose all your hair (both on the animal and on yourself if you're fighting the calf to grow hair for a show over summer). My first time showing a beef steer I had a holstein X angus steer, and he looked absolutely awesome, he had lots of muscle, the right amount of frame, and just plain looked like the kind of steer you wanted to put on the grill for the 4th of July... Unfortunately I didn't do any work on his hair (I was accustomed to showing holstein heifers/steers) so he was pretty slick. Got beat up pretty badly by all the clubby guys with 2 inch long hair all the way around their legs and fluffed up bodies. That being said, I have seen other people (branguscowgirl) who say that brangus are shown slick-sheared, so if that's the type of show you're going into, go for it! I've never been good at judging american classes, but I think Maine sounds like a good mix with brangus. I-80 seems to be really popular right now, and I've seen a lot of really nice calves out of him in the past year, plus he's calving ease so you can breed to him without worrying about calving difficulties.RbarJ":2iut3pjh said:Thanks. Around here it's not a huge deal to see some ear if you're at a smaller show. At the larger shows, though, it is frowned upon a little bit, simply because it's not "showy". I like the idea of using Brangus, though because of their heat tolerance, ect. You see a lot of Brangus in commercial herds, usually your show herds are Sim, Maine, Angus, and sometimes Chi or Shorthorn.