breeding crossbreds to purebred

[texaslonghorns]

Hi

I have 8 longhorn cows without registration papers.
I would like to purchase a reg longhorn bull. I would like to know how many generations it takes until you have a purebred.
I've heard 4 generations. Any info?

 

[Rustler9]

Do you know if the Longhorn cows that you have now are purebred (commercial-no papers) or are they crossed with something else? It doesn't matter if they are pure or not, with out having papers on the cows you aren't going to be able to register the offspring, if that is indeed what you are aiming for. If the cows are from a registered herd and you can get the pedigrees on them you can get them registered but it will cost more since they are already fully grown. They will also have to be branded. I'm not sure if this is what you are asking. You may just have to buy some registered cattle to start out with if that's your goal. Hope this helps.

 

[texaslonghorns]

Hi,

This is what I've heard.
If you breed a non reg beef to a purebred the first calf is a 1/2 bred if a hiefer. That heifer grows up and gets bred to a reg bull and that resulting calf would be 3/4 bred,if you are lucky enough for it to be a hiefer again. Would the next one be 7/8 or 1/16 etc. until ... you get to purebred status?
help..

 

[jkwilson]

Hi,

This is what I've heard.
If you breed a non reg beef to a purebred the first calf is a 1/2 bred if a hiefer. That heifer grows up and gets bred to a reg bull and that resulting calf would be 3/4 bred,if you are lucky enough for it to be a hiefer again. Would the next one be 7/8 or 1/16 etc. until ... you get to purebred status?
help..

You still can't get to 100%, even in a million generations. Some breeds allow less than 100%, some don't.

 

[Rustler9]

If you breed a non reg beef to a purebred the first calf is a 1/2 bred if a hiefer. That heifer grows up and gets bred to a reg bull and that resulting calf would be 3/4 bred,if you are lucky enough for it to be a hiefer again.

It doesn't matter if the first cross is a heifer or a bull, it's still going to be a half blood. The next cross of pure onto the half blood would result in a 3/4 and so on. I still don't know exactly what you're getting at. What are you trying to breed up? Some breed associations do allow breeding up. The Longhorn Associations does not, if that's what you have in mind.

 

[texaslonghorns]

Yes, that is what I wanted to do breed my cattle up until reg was possible.
They are already Longhorns with the horn length, coloring, body type etc. but no papers. They were roping cattle at one time so were probably sold just as they were.
I will still keep them even if I can't take them to a reg process.
I am going to buy reg females and a reg bull, so they will get bred right along with the rest. I can buy the non reg at a more reasonable price at markets.
We plan to have teampennings at our place this summer, and when hiefers are older breed them and use them for cattle drives.
It would also be great if our last boy at home could show a Longhorn at local shows.
The 4-H has a motto Learn To Do By Doing
This is very true.
We always had our kids in the horse part of the 4-H it was great.
This all takes time but we plan to have fun on the way.
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions

 

[Frankie]

I'd check with the 4-H and see if you can show a horned animal. You can't at our local fairs. I think only in breed shows are horns allowed and you need at least two animals to have a breed show, sometimes more.

 

[Rustler9]

Our local 4-H club allows horned animals. They won't let the kids show the bulls though, just heifers or steers.