Breeds Progression

[TheBullLady]

For those of you that have been doing this for awhile (raising cattle) and for those of you that didn't "inherit" a breed from family, what breeds did you go through to get to where you're at today? What things made you change?

Our first cows where Holstein/ Simmental crosses.. in Illinois, a beef cow was considered anything that was less than 1/2 Holstein! I got into raising bottle calves, so we had quite a few Holstein and Jersey's which we'd breed and sell as springers.

We had other cross breds, primarily Simmental based, and ran an Angus bull on them. The calves were small and we didn't particularly care for them, so we switched to a Limousin bull. Great bull, so we got a couple of Limousin cows. Good dispositions, but we had one get mastitis and lost her, but the calves out of the cross breds were really good. Very uniform from a bunch of different bred cows.

My husband always liked Brahmans (I had never seen cows except off the road) so he went to Tennessee and bought a group of grays, along with a gray bull. I liked the Simmentals, so did some shopping around over the years and picked up some registered Simmentals over the years.

We moved to Texas, took 100+ head with us, and got a few Herefords here. They were good cows, but very poor milkers. In the meantime we had run the Brahman bull on the Simmental cows, and loved the calves, which got us into Simbrahs. We had two places, and on the heifer place we ran a easy calving Angus bull, because everyone said the black hided cattle would sell better. Not a bad little bull, but the calves where much smaller than any of the percentage Simbrahs. We did take a "hit" for the "earred" calves, but the weight difference made up for it.

Funny how person always experiments with new things to see if they can improve on something!

 

[greenwillowherefords]

I let my uncle do the experimenting while I was a boy, and watched and tasted the results of his experiments. He started with my grandfathers straightbred Hereford herd, added a Limi bull in the eighties, had some impressive calves from that cross, but pulled a lot of calves some of them dead. No offense to you Limi breeders, and I know they have been improved, especially with the addition of Angus genetics to produce the black hide, but there was a distinct drop in beef quality on the cross-breds as compared to the purebred Herefords.

The next step was a Brangus. I don't recall a calf ever being pulled sired by him, and they were super baldies. I had a solitary registered Hereford back then, and got a super baldie out of him. On the down side, he was not the most aggressive breeder in the world, and liked to herd the cows in a tight bunch and go stand off by himself.

The uncle went back to a polled Hereford then to put on his cross-bred herd. He says to this day his heaviest weaning calves ever were out of that bull. The bull never got out of the fence. He was eventually sold because he threw too many red-hided calves out of the black cows that still had red genetics in their back ground.

They have been through three Angus bulls in a row. The last one was sold after about five or six months. Every single one of them was sold because he wouldn't stay home, but leaped the fence. I don't know what he will do now. No offense to the Angus breeders out there.

One other note; there are Herefords that milk well, and I own some.

 

[Beefy]

Dad bought a herd of hereford cows (maybe a few angus) and some charolais bulls when he got started. when the brahman craze was going on in the 70s he got about 3 brahman bulls and used those until he decided they were crazy. his grandfather convinced him to try some limousin bulls so he bought about 5 red limousins and a black *gasp* limousin next. He always preferred charolais cattle though and eventually went back and got a few charolais and got a good deal on some "red" charolais, one of which was 1/4 brown swiss. so when i came along we had predominantly charolais cross cows and were using charolais and limousin bulls. my grandma and i got charged by a limousin when i was about 4 or 5 and i never have liked them much since. got away from the charolais because of calving problems and dad got a few angus bulls after that and decided he didnt like them b/c they kicked , the calves were a little nutty, and one of the bulls threw some humpbacked calves. (he is still a little prejudiced against angus to this day). when i was about 11 i got a golfcart for christmas and started checking on cows after school everyday. i spent so much time with them that i could identify them individually, learned all their tags, who belonged to whom, etc and it worked out well for dad b/c he was more focused on row crops. suddenly i would be out of the house from the time school was out until dark checking on "my" cows. when it came time to tag calves that year dad stickered them and then drove around for hours observing which calf went to what cow and making a note. that weekend i helped tag calves and i would say "here comes #whatever's calf" each time we ran one in and dad would check his notes and sure enough i'd be right. after about the 140th calf he thought i was a pretty smart kid. i soon started predicting due dates and making cull lists and it all came so naturally to me. most of the cows at the time were less than 1/4 brahman, mostly charolais with either limousin or angus thrown into the mix. a little hereford blood still showed up from time to time but most were gone b/c of age and eye problems. one of the limos got struck by lightning so we needed a bull asap and so a fellow dad knew called him and told about a man who had beefmaster cattle who had just died and his wife was having a herd dispersal. this was like 90-91.. We got the bull not even knowing what a beefmaster was really and the next year had the prettiest calves we had ever seen and it was always a surprise when they were born b/c we never knew what they were going to look like. we liked that. we retained a lot of the angus cross heifers and most of the beefmaster heifers to replace the aging herd and were very impressed with the beefmaster mothers we got. we've been using beefmaster bulls ever since to get replacements but mostly breed the beefmasterXcharolaisand/orangusx cattle with something to stretch them out and get some ear out. have used charolais, simmental and black limang bulls with much success. now whatever i say pretty much goes, dad has finally decided that i might know a thing a two about cattle, he just tells me when he needs some money and i pick out a few guys and girls to take to town. i've alwyas had a sort of preference for black or black white face cows with a little ear and dad still likes the charolais but we both like beefmasters and we've found a cross that works that we both like so we will continue to cross beefmaster and angus with either charolais or simmental from now on. i just started my own herd in may by buying our 82 yearling commercial heifers but i' culled those down to 56 while prices were high and they are bred to a beefmaster bull now. more than you wanted to know...

 

[TLCfromARK]

My Dad ran Reg. Brahmans & Brahman crosses since the mid 50's, I still have a soft spot in my heart for them long ears & dew laps. He would switch Bulls every few years, Herford, Brangus, Simbrah, Charolais & even a Santa Gertrudis once but he always returned to the Brahmans.

Now my Dad's sold out now ( last year at the age of 80 ), he said the first time in over 50 years he didn't have any cows on the place. He was so depressed that my brother and I moved 20 replacement heifers down there so he'd have something to look at. We keep the place cleaned up ( brush hog as needed, fences mended, odds & ends fixed, etc. ) for him and he enjoys telling us what needs to be done and we enjoy having him interested in something again.

Right now we run a Brahman/Hereford/Simmental cross for momma cows with a Angus bull and a black Limousin Bull on them ( we just switched last year, had two Braford bulls ). The heifers have a young Angus bull running with them.
;-)

 

[Campground Cattle]

Always had the Hereford influence, never liked the European breeds. Always ran the tigers and Brangus with a Polled Hereford bull . Tigers were for a younger man, sold out and went to the Herefords never regretted it .

 

[Craig-TX]

Grew up around Herefords like everybody else down here did. Not any particular breed or color nowadays. Bulls tend to be black or red and cows anything without much ear and no hump or horns.

Craig-TX

 

[mbdear]

Dad and Granddad had Angus. We added Brahman in the mid sixties. Santa Gertrudis in the 70's, Beefmasters in the 80's, back to Brahman's in the 90's, and recently made a move back to using Angus bulls on the Brahman=cross cattle. Still have a herd of purebred Brahman just because I like them.

 

[Rustler9]

Grew up with Shorthorn, Hereford and Angus cows-alternated between Angus and Hereford bulls. Dad kept cross bred heifers from these breeds. He got a Charolais bull when I was about 12. So then we started having tan and yellow heifers that stayed in the herd. I bought a Beefmaster bull and two heifers in the ninth grade as my FFA project. My parents loved them and have had a herd of Beefmaster cows ever since. Dad did use a black Beefalo bull for a while and there are still several big black cows in his herd.
I still have a couple of Beemaster cross cows because I've always liked them but I now have a herd of registered Texas Longhorns. Six years ago I went to the next county to set up a booth at the fair for the company that I work for. I went out to the cattle barns to see the different breeds and there was about 30 head of Longhorns there, all haltered and cleaned up and standing around calm as could be. I went back to work the next day and told a friend that I worked with about them. He lived in town and had no livestock although both he and his wife had grown up on a farm-his dad had raised Herefords.
Larry asked if I would go back to the fair with him to see the Longhorns so after work we went back and paid to get in just to see them. We got to talking to a man and his wife who were only about an hour and a half away. Two weeks later we went to the man's farm and I picked out a heifer so Larry aksed could he keep one at my place if he bought one-so I figured that we might as well buy a Longhorn bull too. Today we have over a hundred head and I'm still talking about Longhorns and dispelling the myths and rumors that everyone in this area has heard about them and how mean they are.

 

[Cole Cattle]

My Grandpa and my Dad had wild cattle that were mostly Longhorn and Bramer. They would sick the dogs on them and rope them in the brush. When I was a teenager we mostly had Longhron cross cattle, I think for sentimental reasons. We broke a few Longhorn cross steers to work and made a few parades with a covered wagon. I am still partial to horns and a little ear, although I don't have any Longhorn blood in my herd. I have a Bramer bull that I am crossing with Hereford cows and a few other English type cows. I have a couple of Beefmaster cows and may go with a Beefmaster bull down the road as I really like them.

 

[Gale Seddon]

Now my Dad's sold out now ( last year at the age of 80 ), he said the first time in over 50 years he didn't have any cows on the place. He was so depressed that my brother and I moved 20 replacement heifers down there so he'd have something to look at. We keep the place cleaned up ( brush hog as needed, fences mended, odds & ends fixed, etc. ) for him and he enjoys telling us what needs to be done and we enjoy having him interested in something again.
;-)

What a nice thing to read...good to know you and your brother care enough to do this...thanks for warming my heart this evening!

Gale in VA

 

[PATB]

Dad has had cattle for the past 60 years on variaous types and breeds. We had registered Guernsey's, jerseys, holsteins and various crosses. Sisters had Reg Angus as 4 H projects on the west coast. Dad started the beef herd with dairy/beef cross day old calves. These were bred ai to beef bulls. He added the first registered angus in the late 70 here in maine. We have had about every cross you can think of for beef critters. When I joined the operation in 94 we started moving more into the Registered angus business. We still have a few desendants from his original animals. We have had charlais, Gelbveigh, Saler, Pinzguaer, Simmi, Limi, herdford, shorthorn x angus cattle. I might have forgot a few breeds.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

My grandfather apparently wasn't a big fan of cattle. He usually had one jersey milk cow to supply milk for the house. There's a story I heard as a kid that shortly after he moved to the farm at about age 14, he was out milking and apparently this milk cow they had at the time kind of liked to take the odd kick at the person doing the milking. Apparently, the cow caught him right upside the head one day while he was milking, and he grabbed a pipe and dropped that cow right where she stood. His Dad came in, took one look, and walked away, didn't even say a word. Fortunately, my father developed a love for cattle from his mother's side of the family. They always had a good herd of hereford cattle and my father followed in that tradition. We had registered herefords on the farm well into my teens until one winter when the winter came early and the snow was deep and my father struggled all winter to bring the square bales in from the field 1 1/2 miles away. After that he downsized quite a bit and kind of lost interest in the whole thing. In the late seventies and eighties, I spent some time at the Bar 5 ranch where my aunt and uncle worked. That was back when those huge simmentals were popular. They had a couple of those bulls that were well over 3000 lbs. Now I have a variety of different breeds including a few Highlands, Galloways, and Shorthorns. But most of my cattle now would be at least half black angus only because they seem to be popular right now and I get a bit of a premium for them. Good Luck.

 

[Longshot Cattle Co]

We started with a half dozen Hereford cows we traded for hay. When we had a dozen, we found a Pinzgauer bull and after much research, we decided to cross them. We were so impressed with the results, we started buying up Pinz heifers wherever we could find them. We just sold the last of our cross heifers and now have 90 head of Purebred and Fullblood Pinzgauers. Can't beat them for tenderness and docility! No regrets!

 

[sidney411]

I was not around cattle much but my husbands family have had cows for a long time. His dad had a holstein dairy and his grandfather had registered herefords. Most of the cattle we have today are decendants of the holsteins bred to angus and the reg. herfords. We have bought some gelveih/angus cows and have been happy with them. We have retained heifers from both sets of cows and have used angus, hereford, red limo, black limo, and a synagus bull on these cows. Now we have a reg red brangus on the black cows and a reg black brangus on the herford/red cows.

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Now my Dad's sold out now ( last year at the age of 80 ), he said the first time in over 50 years he didn't have any cows on the place. He was so depressed that my brother and I moved 20 replacement heifers down there so he'd have something to look at. We keep the place cleaned up ( brush hog as needed, fences mended, odds & ends fixed, etc. ) for him and he enjoys telling us what needs to be done and we enjoy having him interested in something again.

Good for you!! ;-) :cboy: :heart:

 

[TLCfromARK]

Now my Dad's sold out now ( last year at the age of 80 ), he said the first time in over 50 years he didn't have any cows on the place. He was so depressed that my brother and I moved 20 replacement heifers down there so he'd have something to look at. We keep the place cleaned up ( brush hog as needed, fences mended, odds & ends fixed, etc. ) for him and he enjoys telling us what needs to be done and we enjoy having him interested in something again.
;-)

What a nice thing to read...good to know you and your brother care enough to do this...thanks for warming my heart this evening!

Gale in VA

Thanks Gale & Springer Farms also. Dad is one of those special people that there are too few of. He taught us how to work hard ( sometimes more than what we wanted to do :lol: ), to put family first, gave us a love for cattle, ( 3 of 4 brothers have cows ), hunting & fishing & most of all a love & respect for God.

;-)