Anyone on here have much experience with the Braunvieh breed? They were at Ft. Worth the same time we were, and I watched most of the sale they had there Sunday night. They were going for pretty good prices eventhough there wasn't many folks there. I liked the looks of 'em pretty good. Some pretty wide-made cattle.
Braunvieh?
- Thread starter Ryan
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
Braunviehs took the industry by storm a decade or so ago, when many of their bloodlines showed promise for superior carcass traits. I can remember seeing carcass data on a lot of Braunvieh steers that graded Prime, Yield Grade 1s and 2s. I think the breed has been hindered somewhat by politics within the breed and its association. I believe there may be two Braunvieh associations today, so it's pretty hard to expand market share when you've got squabbling for control to the degree that they've had. The cattle definitely have a place, however, especially if they can perpetuate those really great carcass genetics.
Aubracusa
http://www.aubracusa.com
Aubracusa
http://www.aubracusa.com
Yes. The word Braunvieh means "Brown Cow." But I'd be careful in saying milking Brown Swiss and Braunvieh are the same "beast." Braunviehs are most definitely beef animals, with great muscle development, etc., while Brown Swiss are popular dairy animals, with excellent milk-production attributes. At one time they were a dual-purpose animal, but the two strains of the same breed have taken different paths and fulfill different purposes now.
Aubracusa
aubracusa.com
Aubracusa
aubracusa.com
Ryan-
I have been breeding braunvieh for the past 5 or so years. The braunvieh cattle exhibit a lot of natural thickness which is what caught my attention. In my own experience, they typically will yield grade 2 with some 1's and 3's. I've never had a yg 4 as of yet. Ribeyes are typically large and IMF is quite good. Backfat is generally 0.25 or less. Feed conversion on my calves has been very acceptable. Very little problems with foot rot, bad eyes or flies. Full bloods are horned and will look similar to the brown swiss (in color only), while the purebreds can be black and polled. Disposition and mothering ability of my cows is excellent. Contrary to Dun's experience, I have had very few calving problems. My biggest problem was taking the beating at the salebarn for off colored cattle. Had to find alternative marketing plan or turn my cattle black.
ROB
I have been breeding braunvieh for the past 5 or so years. The braunvieh cattle exhibit a lot of natural thickness which is what caught my attention. In my own experience, they typically will yield grade 2 with some 1's and 3's. I've never had a yg 4 as of yet. Ribeyes are typically large and IMF is quite good. Backfat is generally 0.25 or less. Feed conversion on my calves has been very acceptable. Very little problems with foot rot, bad eyes or flies. Full bloods are horned and will look similar to the brown swiss (in color only), while the purebreds can be black and polled. Disposition and mothering ability of my cows is excellent. Contrary to Dun's experience, I have had very few calving problems. My biggest problem was taking the beating at the salebarn for off colored cattle. Had to find alternative marketing plan or turn my cattle black.
ROB
Hey, Rob --
What are you typically seeing for quality grades?
Thanks,
aubracusa
http://www.aubracusa.com
What are you typically seeing for quality grades?
Thanks,
aubracusa
http://www.aubracusa.com
Aubracusa-
The last bunch of butchers graded choice and choice + YG2. I have not had all calves graded over the past few years...but I do visually inspect all carcasses at the locker. It gives me a good comparison to other carcasses in a side-by-side comparison. I can compare ribeye, backfat, marbling, hot weight, etc. to the other breeds hanging at the same time. It's usually pretty amazing the difference you will find. It also helps me out in my feeding rations. The braunvieh have a very low backfat by nature. Feed the animal the wrong way and you can lose fat cover all-together. If the ribeye seems smaller than usual I will look at bumping up the protein intake prior to going on full feed. Has helped me make better management decisions.
ROB
The last bunch of butchers graded choice and choice + YG2. I have not had all calves graded over the past few years...but I do visually inspect all carcasses at the locker. It gives me a good comparison to other carcasses in a side-by-side comparison. I can compare ribeye, backfat, marbling, hot weight, etc. to the other breeds hanging at the same time. It's usually pretty amazing the difference you will find. It also helps me out in my feeding rations. The braunvieh have a very low backfat by nature. Feed the animal the wrong way and you can lose fat cover all-together. If the ribeye seems smaller than usual I will look at bumping up the protein intake prior to going on full feed. Has helped me make better management decisions.
ROB
ROB,
You said you didnt have problems with foot rot, but how well do yours travel? How are the feet and legs? I think it could have been because of the condition they were carrying and they were more "show" bred, but i did notice many of them in the sale walked awkwardly off their back legs. looked very stiff moving. Not all of them, but enough to notice.
There were also 3/4 and 7/8 bloods in there, the other 1/4 and 1/8th were angus. Looked like a pretty good cross. Moderate framed, lots of pounds.... nothing there was overly larged framed, but the weights shown were impressive. Anyone have any experience crossing with braunvieh?
You said you didnt have problems with foot rot, but how well do yours travel? How are the feet and legs? I think it could have been because of the condition they were carrying and they were more "show" bred, but i did notice many of them in the sale walked awkwardly off their back legs. looked very stiff moving. Not all of them, but enough to notice.
There were also 3/4 and 7/8 bloods in there, the other 1/4 and 1/8th were angus. Looked like a pretty good cross. Moderate framed, lots of pounds.... nothing there was overly larged framed, but the weights shown were impressive. Anyone have any experience crossing with braunvieh?
We bred Braunvieh to some black crossbred cows. The calves weighed like lead.
Aubracusa
http://www.aubracusa.com
Aubracusa
http://www.aubracusa.com
I bred a few Gelbvieh and Gelbvieh/Angus cows to the Braunvieh bull Polled Plus. Overall really nice calves.
One of the bull calves was so good that we kept him intact and sent him to a bull test where he did really well. However, when he went through the sale ring I didn't get a bid on him. I got the impression at the sale that no one wanted a "Brown Swiss" bull in their pasture. Ended up bringing him home. A week later someone who had seen him at the sale bought him and took him 200 miles away to his new home...dang nice bull.
One of the bull calves was so good that we kept him intact and sent him to a bull test where he did really well. However, when he went through the sale ring I didn't get a bid on him. I got the impression at the sale that no one wanted a "Brown Swiss" bull in their pasture. Ended up bringing him home. A week later someone who had seen him at the sale bought him and took him 200 miles away to his new home...dang nice bull.
Ryan-
I don't show cattle and go to very few shows to know whats what, but I do know that on my calves the hind feet fall into the fronts track. Most of the calves that I have seen that were not free moving were over-fed and fat.
We also raise braunvieh X angus cross. They seem to do good. What we have found with our calves: Fullblood braunvieh steers wean off 40-50 lbs. heavier than our fullblood angus. 1/2 bloods wean off 20-30lbs. heavier than our fullblood angus. It hasent seemed to matter if it was an Angus sired or Braunvieh sired calf, the braunvieh influence has made a difference consistently over the last three years with the same cows and same bulls.
ROB
I don't show cattle and go to very few shows to know whats what, but I do know that on my calves the hind feet fall into the fronts track. Most of the calves that I have seen that were not free moving were over-fed and fat.
We also raise braunvieh X angus cross. They seem to do good. What we have found with our calves: Fullblood braunvieh steers wean off 40-50 lbs. heavier than our fullblood angus. 1/2 bloods wean off 20-30lbs. heavier than our fullblood angus. It hasent seemed to matter if it was an Angus sired or Braunvieh sired calf, the braunvieh influence has made a difference consistently over the last three years with the same cows and same bulls.
ROB
Shorthornguy
Well-known member
Here in dairy country, Brown Swiss feeders bring pretty good.
At slaughter almost half will be choice or prime. A few years back a Brown Swiss won the carcass contest at the fair. Top out of 17 beef animals.
At slaughter almost half will be choice or prime. A few years back a Brown Swiss won the carcass contest at the fair. Top out of 17 beef animals.
Biggest problem I've found with Braunvieh is, they'll breed at 4 mos. Had a heifer last yr. give birth at less than 13 mos. to 70 lb. heifer, unassisted. This yr. I lutalysed all heifers at weaning and found 2 little buggers few days later laying on ground. Other than that I've not had 1 problem with them. Used Angus on half my herd, for 2 yrs. and Braun on other half, and this yr all Braun, cause there is no comparison as far as I'm concerned. Plus I got a dime over market for them, and that's no Bs.
Hi, Cowboyup --
I looked on the Braunvieh website, did a word search, but wasn't able to locate the reference to Aubracs.
True, Aubracs and Braunvieh share a similar genetic heritage (as do many European cattle), but if you compared them side by side today, you would see some pretty distinct differences. They also come from entirely different areas of Europe.
Gary Volk is a good friend of mine, and he's raised both Braunvieh and Aubracs. He had a good Braunvieh bull around for three or four years and used him extensively. The breed's carcass characteristics were interested him the most.
He has small number of Aubracs, but loves his Salers cattle more. Both breeds work perfectly for his mountainous terrain (elevation 7500 to about 10,000 feet). He's been a leader in the Salers business since the early 1980s. I think he runs about 450 cows, which would make him one of the biggest breeders in North America.
Best,
Aubracusa
http://www.aubracusa.com
I looked on the Braunvieh website, did a word search, but wasn't able to locate the reference to Aubracs.
True, Aubracs and Braunvieh share a similar genetic heritage (as do many European cattle), but if you compared them side by side today, you would see some pretty distinct differences. They also come from entirely different areas of Europe.
Gary Volk is a good friend of mine, and he's raised both Braunvieh and Aubracs. He had a good Braunvieh bull around for three or four years and used him extensively. The breed's carcass characteristics were interested him the most.
He has small number of Aubracs, but loves his Salers cattle more. Both breeds work perfectly for his mountainous terrain (elevation 7500 to about 10,000 feet). He's been a leader in the Salers business since the early 1980s. I think he runs about 450 cows, which would make him one of the biggest breeders in North America.
Best,
Aubracusa
http://www.aubracusa.com
I always got a kick out of Harlan Doeschot claims to be the first to introduce them into the USA in 1983. He is a good cattleman though, and better promoter.
My neighbor had them and was marketing locker beef from them when I was a kid in the 70's. He refered to them as Beef Brown Swiss because that is what they looked like colorwise and everyone thought "Braunvieh" was some sort of Brahman cross, so he didn't keep the original moniker.
Badlands
My neighbor had them and was marketing locker beef from them when I was a kid in the 70's. He refered to them as Beef Brown Swiss because that is what they looked like colorwise and everyone thought "Braunvieh" was some sort of Brahman cross, so he didn't keep the original moniker.
Badlands
kids_horses_cows_momtoall
New member
Hello Fellows!
I know this seems to be a male gendered topic of conversation, but I was so impressed with what I've read, I had to sign up just so I could put my own 2 cents worth in!! Go figure, coming from a female!! LOL!
My sweetheart of 12 years used to raise Braunveih with his daddy in NW Missouri for several years before they lost the farm due to "the little farmer syndrome". They got all of their bulls from a very knowledgable man in Firth, Ne. They crossed those bulls with Simmental cows and had some of the finest, easy calving due to average birth weight, but rapid rate of gain, calmest dispositioned, easy to handle/doctor calves I have ever seen in my life! They ran 200 head of cows with 6 bulls and had very few come up open--NO KIDDING! They throw beautiful light grey babies with black noses and let me tell you....THAT is so much prettier to see than all that BLACK!! No offense gentleman, just my personal preference--once the hide is off, the marbling looks just as good, if not better than "certified angus beef"! I've found that the flavor is richer, not tougher and I've not eaten or grilled a better steak! As far as browning the hamburger, very little fat left in the pan!! Now, don't all of you angus fellers get your dander up, I don't mean any disrespect--just that unfortunately, the hide color DOES make a difference in the market nowadays, whereas back then it did not! So, the market is off for the "colored breeds" and I can't blame a guy for not wanting to take it in the shorts just because he prefers better meat/weight as compared to "black", like so many guys have everyone in charge of the market fooled and getting top dollar for black culls with a perfectly good colored steer with better conformation/weight standing in the next pen!! It irritates me just SLIGHTLY!! LOL!
Seriously though, the gentleman was right about more pounds to sell--even with a Braun cross! My sweetheart has proved that to his friend a couple of times after he sold his Braunveih bull (since he was keeping back too many heifers)--bred those and his other cows to angus, and that year's calf crop was not near as good weight/bulk as the year before, so he didn't make as much per head as he did the year before with the Braunveih Bull! Now, he has a Braunveih/Angus cross bull and an Angus bull---who do you think pushes who around the pasture??? LOL! He does make me proud!!
It just makes good "cow sense" to breed braunveih because there are NO drawbacks! The bulls we had were a dark chocolate brown with silverback on the topline and around a black nose--GORGEOUS!! Thick EVERYWHERE, but are like the gentle giant of the cattle breeds! We could walk up to all of them and scratch them on the back--of course, I'm intelligent enough to know that if you spend a bit of time with them, most breeds will calm down--you just don't have to work so hard with the Braunveih! LOL! The bulls are of thick, sturdy legs, with no foot rot, just as you've mentioned--not many hurt during breeding season and a braunveih bull can outdo an average bull by breeding a few more cows. Sperm count was never an issue and we banded all the bull calves at birth so they didn't lose much weight later during castration. To me, color gives each one it's own personality, and easier to do a head count!! And, they are easy keepers!! It doesn't take much to put the weight on them because it's already bred into 'em!
I'm not professing to know all there is to know about them--just what I've observed! And, I like what I've seen, tasted, sold and watched calve! Not many late nights needed to watch these calve out--they do it on their own--which really does not make sense as big headed/muscled as they are when they hit the ground! But, it sure is nice!
Happy Trails Gentlemen...Thanks for putting up with my sass!!
Your Outspoken Missouri Gal! ;-)
I know this seems to be a male gendered topic of conversation, but I was so impressed with what I've read, I had to sign up just so I could put my own 2 cents worth in!! Go figure, coming from a female!! LOL!
My sweetheart of 12 years used to raise Braunveih with his daddy in NW Missouri for several years before they lost the farm due to "the little farmer syndrome". They got all of their bulls from a very knowledgable man in Firth, Ne. They crossed those bulls with Simmental cows and had some of the finest, easy calving due to average birth weight, but rapid rate of gain, calmest dispositioned, easy to handle/doctor calves I have ever seen in my life! They ran 200 head of cows with 6 bulls and had very few come up open--NO KIDDING! They throw beautiful light grey babies with black noses and let me tell you....THAT is so much prettier to see than all that BLACK!! No offense gentleman, just my personal preference--once the hide is off, the marbling looks just as good, if not better than "certified angus beef"! I've found that the flavor is richer, not tougher and I've not eaten or grilled a better steak! As far as browning the hamburger, very little fat left in the pan!! Now, don't all of you angus fellers get your dander up, I don't mean any disrespect--just that unfortunately, the hide color DOES make a difference in the market nowadays, whereas back then it did not! So, the market is off for the "colored breeds" and I can't blame a guy for not wanting to take it in the shorts just because he prefers better meat/weight as compared to "black", like so many guys have everyone in charge of the market fooled and getting top dollar for black culls with a perfectly good colored steer with better conformation/weight standing in the next pen!! It irritates me just SLIGHTLY!! LOL!
Seriously though, the gentleman was right about more pounds to sell--even with a Braun cross! My sweetheart has proved that to his friend a couple of times after he sold his Braunveih bull (since he was keeping back too many heifers)--bred those and his other cows to angus, and that year's calf crop was not near as good weight/bulk as the year before, so he didn't make as much per head as he did the year before with the Braunveih Bull! Now, he has a Braunveih/Angus cross bull and an Angus bull---who do you think pushes who around the pasture??? LOL! He does make me proud!!
It just makes good "cow sense" to breed braunveih because there are NO drawbacks! The bulls we had were a dark chocolate brown with silverback on the topline and around a black nose--GORGEOUS!! Thick EVERYWHERE, but are like the gentle giant of the cattle breeds! We could walk up to all of them and scratch them on the back--of course, I'm intelligent enough to know that if you spend a bit of time with them, most breeds will calm down--you just don't have to work so hard with the Braunveih! LOL! The bulls are of thick, sturdy legs, with no foot rot, just as you've mentioned--not many hurt during breeding season and a braunveih bull can outdo an average bull by breeding a few more cows. Sperm count was never an issue and we banded all the bull calves at birth so they didn't lose much weight later during castration. To me, color gives each one it's own personality, and easier to do a head count!! And, they are easy keepers!! It doesn't take much to put the weight on them because it's already bred into 'em!
I'm not professing to know all there is to know about them--just what I've observed! And, I like what I've seen, tasted, sold and watched calve! Not many late nights needed to watch these calve out--they do it on their own--which really does not make sense as big headed/muscled as they are when they hit the ground! But, it sure is nice!
Happy Trails Gentlemen...Thanks for putting up with my sass!!
Your Outspoken Missouri Gal! ;-)
chippie
Well-known member
Our son, Eddie, has a Braunvieh heifer and he was at the Fort Worth Show. He and his dad really enjoyed the show and the people there. Eddie's heifer is a Houston Livestock Show scramble heifer.
He chose to get a Braunvieh heifer. We really like her. The breed is gentle and she has good size and bone. She is 15 months old in the picture. My husband bred her (AI) to an Angus bull around Jan. 1 for her first calf.
He didn't choose her so much as to be a show heifer, but to use for breeding.
We have Belgian Blues and Jerseys, and now Braunvieh. The Belgian Blue crosses have the best tasting meat. I really like the Braunvieh cattle and am looking forward to raising a Braunvieh cross calf for the freezer.
This is Eddie's first show heifer. It has been a good learning experience for him.
He chose to get a Braunvieh heifer. We really like her. The breed is gentle and she has good size and bone. She is 15 months old in the picture. My husband bred her (AI) to an Angus bull around Jan. 1 for her first calf.
He didn't choose her so much as to be a show heifer, but to use for breeding.
We have Belgian Blues and Jerseys, and now Braunvieh. The Belgian Blue crosses have the best tasting meat. I really like the Braunvieh cattle and am looking forward to raising a Braunvieh cross calf for the freezer.
This is Eddie's first show heifer. It has been a good learning experience for him.
chippie
Well-known member
Eddie is about 5'11. He may be 6 feet now. He has really long legs and wears a 36 to 38 inseam. The heifer is a nice size. Really broad from the rear and wide through her pin bones.
He didn't pull the hair on her legs at the show, which hurt him in the class. He knows better now, and will be better prepared for San Antonio and Houston.
Duchess stays turned out with the other cows. He doesn't keep her stalled all of the time. His dad wants her out and walking. She isn't as straight through the hocks as most show cattle - which is good to me. She won't have hock problems and will stay sound.
Sorry about rambling.....
He didn't pull the hair on her legs at the show, which hurt him in the class. He knows better now, and will be better prepared for San Antonio and Houston.
Duchess stays turned out with the other cows. He doesn't keep her stalled all of the time. His dad wants her out and walking. She isn't as straight through the hocks as most show cattle - which is good to me. She won't have hock problems and will stay sound.
Sorry about rambling.....
