Brown Swiss Bull vs Other Dairy Breeds

[Hereford2]

Hi, does anyone have any experience with Brown Swiss Bull's and their temperament vs other dairy breeds?

 

[MurraysMutts]

I do not.
But Jersey bulls can be down right temperamental.

I have given thought to a braunvieh bull tho!
Biggest obstacle I've encountered there is buyers dont really want the calves. Gotta raise em big yourself

 

[farmerjan]

Bigger and heavier than any other dairy breed. Not as "volatile" as a jersey perhaps... but Brown Swiss in general are a much more moody, stubborn breed. They are big boned and not a good breed to cross on anything except maybe a holstein....
They are also slower growing. They grow size/frame, before they put on meat/muscle. I have had to raise them to nearly 3 to get a good finish on them.... and I have had more tough meat from a swiss than from any other breed at any age....
Braunvieh are not as tempermental from my experience which has been limited to 2 different bulls that we used on our beef cows years ago. But the brown and white/gray around the muzzle is dominant and they get discounted at the stock yards because every thinks they have brown swiss in them instead of the braunvieh.
I have had a few jersey bulls that were not mean, or tempermental... and they respected my space as I respected theirs... I never turn my back on a dairy bull EVER..... and am always aware of the beef bulls but not quite as hyper aware since they are less likely to crowd you.

I have 2 dairies that have reg swiss.... and neither has a bull except in a 1/2 cc straw....and not one that I am aware of has bred a swiss to a different dairy breed... lots of jerseys used on first calf heifers of most every other dairy breed for ease of calving...but they are mostly all in straws too.

Are you thinking of acquiring a swiss bull and what would you hope to accomplish?????

 

[Ky hills]

No dealings with Brown Swiss bulls, but have seen enough Jersey and Holstein bulls to come to the conclusion that those can too aggressive for me to want around.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

We had two Brown Swiss bulls at two different times we used with the dairy cows. The first one was a reasonable guy to handle. The second one we got, did you want to keep an eye on him? You wanted to keep both eyes on him. I don't know as he was "mean", definitely young and cocky. He lacked respect and he was always looking for something to wrestle with. He got out into a field he wasn't supposed to be in, so I took a horse to bring him back, he wasn't going to move away from the horse and the horse was smart enough not to crowd him. I wound up using grain to get him back where he belonged. We didn't keep him very long.

The Jersey x Brown Swiss were pretty calves. I don't think I would care for a Swiss x Holstein. These bulls were not confined to a small pen in a barn, they had a 2 to 3 acre pasture they were turned out in and turned in with a cow when needed.

 

[Bignick50]

My dad told me from experience some 60 years ago that you can NEVER trust any "Dairy" breed bull, just not normally in their nature to be docile around HIS cows!!

 

[Hereford2]

I was just curious, because all the other breeds of dairy bull's I have been around turn mean. So I was curious about them. You can fatten a Brown Swiss steer out in 16/18 months and it's fork tender, and the steaks are Huge. I know a guy who has a market for his Swiss meat, he feeds them a silage grain mix. People come from all over to buy it. The Swiss Calves I sell most people buy them because they love the how the Swiss meat has a buttery taste, is how they describe it. The rest buy them for oxen.

 

[Lucky_P]

IDK if 'dairy' breed bulls are inherently more dangerous than 'beef' breed bulls, but when we take them away from the dam and hand-rear them, unlike most 'beef' bulls that are raised on pasture on their dam... they have no inherent fear or respect of humans, unlike that pasture-raised beef bull. Once they reach sexual maturity, they regard humans as potential rivals, or at least another herd member to subjugate so that they are at the top of the pecking order. The strongest man alive is no match even for an 1100-pound Jersey bull, much less a 2400 lb Holstein or Brown Swiss. Would a Hereford or Shorthorn(breeds noted for docility) bull raised in this manner be as dangerous as a Jersey bull? I just don't know...
We see this same sort of behavior in hand-reared stallions and llamas... they even call it 'berserk male syndrome' in llamas...vicious b@st@rds.

 

[Hereford2]

Jersey steers take 2/3 years to get big enough to make it worth my while to butcher, so I don't bother with jersey or Holstein anymore, it's funny how different of experiences people have with different things.

 

[Hereford2]

From what I have heard, the man killing stallion's were hand raised.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

I remember seeing Jersey bulls with a ring in their nose with a chain attached that they were dragging along.. Put a ring in my nose and attach a chain to it, I think I would be more than a little bit cranky.

 

[BFE]

We never dairy'd, but Grandpa had trucks and hauled stock. Dad still trucks, no livestock now though, but he hauled a lot of stock in his youth. He tells stories about the big stockyards in East St Louis, you could here the yard men yelling down the alley and everyone would scramble for the fence. Here in a minute would come a big old Holstein bull a barrelling up the alley, wild eyed and snorting, looking to stomp anything in it's path.

 

[Son of Butch]

You can fatten a Brown Swiss steer out in 16/18 months and it's fork tender, and the steaks are Huge. I know a guy who has a market for his Swiss meat, he feeds them a silage grain mix. People come from all over to buy it.... most people buy them because they love the how the Swiss meat has a buttery taste, is how they describe it.

It's all Puffing... hot air and b.s.
Every minor breed, Aubrac, british white, galloway, highland and on and on all similar bragging. The fact is all beef raised properly, Tastes Great.
All of the breeds have been eaten for 100 years.
IF all the puffing were true they would bring a premium like Wagyu.
Have you ever heard of a French Chef demanding Brown Swiss beef?

You want buttery tasting steak?
Finish it with Real Butter, the same for a burger.
I prefer swiss cheese, but if you want, you can use a buttery tasting cheese.

 

[Hereford2]

It's all Puffing... hot air and b.s.
Every minor breed, Aubrac, british white, galloway, highland and on and on all similar bragging. The fact is all beef raised properly, Tastes Great.
All of the breeds have been eaten for 100 years.
IF all the puffing were true they would bring a premium like Wagyu.
Have you ever heard of a French Chef demanding Brown Swiss beef?

You want buttery tasting steak?
Finish it with Real Butter, the same for a burger.
I prefer swiss cheese, but if you want, you can use a buttery tasting cheese.

This may surprise you, but I Agree with you, I've tried 10 different breeds of cattle meat and I think it's funny how different people swear by different meat, I posted what I did about the brown Swiss meat, because most Everytime I mention brown Swiss, people say how it's inferior to jersey Holstein ECT. I'm just saying it can taste good and it's promoted by people who love the breed. I personally have raised dairy mix steers and purebred dairy steers and my personal preference is an All Beef animal, Hereford, Angus, or a mix of the two or about any other beef breed, I just like how they grow with how I feed them. Also I do put Butter on my steak lol. But I Don't raise brown Swiss for meat. I like how docile the cow's are for milking, but I also have a Jersey also. I'm Not stuck on any one breed, our beef herd is colorful, and I Don't have any Longhorns, Highlanders, or any of the other hobby farm Breeds.

 

[AvisBrasil]

Hi, does anyone have any experience with Brown Swiss Bull's and their temperament vs other dairy breeds?

Aloha, they are the most friendly bulls I have ever met.
Call him by name and he comes, slow steady.
I love brown Swiss - gentle giants and best cheese in the world.
IMHO - best milk fat to protein ratio-
Heritage breed-
Top cheese winner in the entire world -
And yes the meat is DELISH!
Brown Swiss all day long- with many options not just milk, cheese and meat !
Diversity in options will help future farms

 

[AvisBrasil]

Aloha, they are the most friendly bulls I have ever met.
Call him by name and he comes, slow steady.
I love brown Swiss - gentle giants and best cheese in the world.
IMHO - best milk fat to protein ratio-
Heritage breed-
Top cheese winner in the entire world -
And yes the meat is DELISH!
Brown Swiss all day long- with many options not just milk, cheese and meat !
Diversity in options will help future farms

We have had a bit of problem with flies and ticks- with pure breeds. We have crossed with hollandaise, gyr to get some better resistance.
Even crossed with Jersey- but must be careful on delivery - of first calf of Jersey - calf may be to big to pass the jersey. Better wait until 2nd or 3rd calf before putting jersey with Brown Swiss Bull.
They love cool weather and altitude above 3.000ft or better -
Heat takes some strength from them.
The heifers have the best easiest teats to milk- smooth.
We have enjoyed 100% Brown Swiss bull with cross 3/4 Hollandaise and 1/4 Gyr
Called "3x" or Three Cross down here and they sell well-
"3x"
Good milk-
very reaistance-
Docile

 

[AvisBrasil]

Hi, does anyone have any experience with Brown Swiss Bull's and their temperament vs other dairy breeds?

Brown Swiss Association

Welcome to the homepage of the Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders' Association of the USA. BSCBA is engaged in promoting the breed and providing services to breeders of Brown Swiss cattle, including: registration, type classification, production testing, and parentage verification. Brown Swiss...

www.brownswissusa.com

 

[Hereford2]

Brown Swiss Association

Welcome to the homepage of the Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders' Association of the USA. BSCBA is engaged in promoting the breed and providing services to breeders of Brown Swiss cattle, including: registration, type classification, production testing, and parentage verification. Brown Swiss...

www.brownswissusa.com

Thank you for the info!

 

[Double R Ranch]

We have had a bit of problem with flies and ticks- with pure breeds. We have crossed with hollandaise, gyr to get some better resistance.
Even crossed with Jersey- but must be careful on delivery - of first calf of Jersey - calf may be to big to pass the jersey. Better wait until 2nd or 3rd calf before putting jersey with Brown Swiss Bull.
They love cool weather and altitude above 3.000ft or better -
Heat takes some strength from them.
The heifers have the best easiest teats to milk- smooth.
We have enjoyed 100% Brown Swiss bull with cross 3/4 Hollandaise and 1/4 Gyr
Called "3x" or Three Cross down here and they sell well-
"3x"
Good milk-
very reaistance-
Docile

Good information. I was debating putting Brown Swiss in our jersey. I'll wait a few more years.

 

[Warren Allison]

We have had a bit of problem with flies and ticks- with pure breeds. We have crossed with hollandaise, gyr to get some better resistance.
Even crossed with Jersey- but must be careful on delivery - of first calf of Jersey - calf may be to big to pass the jersey. Better wait until 2nd or 3rd calf before putting jersey with Brown Swiss Bull.
They love cool weather and altitude above 3.000ft or better -
Heat takes some strength from them.
The heifers have the best easiest teats to milk- smooth.
We have enjoyed 100% Brown Swiss bull with cross 3/4 Hollandaise and 1/4 Gyr
Called "3x" or Three Cross down here and they sell well-
"3x"
Good milk-
very reaistance-
Docile

Where are you located, Avis?