Cattle trends- Black to Red?

[TexasBred]

Dont you think it's time to give up? You keeps post same crap again and again. :deadhorse:

Taurus he will always get around to "color" and heat stress. Most of us don't operate feedlots so are not concerned with it. A good black calf will always bring more money around here than a good red one, whether you like it or not. Just a fact. Pastured animals seldom die from heat stress if there is adequate water available.

I agree TB but if an animal is stressed it is stressed and that can cause a lot of problems that fall short of death but are still costly!

3way, it's pretty common knowledge that stress in cattle can begin at temps 77-78 degrees but what degree of stress is it?? Feed consumption "may" fall of some and milk production do the same but seldom is it enough in most breeds of cattle to make a substantial difference. Certain breeds of cattle also handle heat much better than others, color having little to know bearing whatsoever on their performance. Probably half or more of the cattle in Texas are black and are in some stage of heat stress 7 months of the year yet they perform. The live long lives, they breed back timely and they raise great calves regardless of when they breed and calve.....Israel has some of the highest producing dairies in the world and have developed a "heat resistant" holstein for a country that is not that condusive to high milk production. All I'm saying is that too much of a deal is made out of "black --vs-- white". All stockyards have losses and once you leave "white" you're talking some stage of "dark". Call it black and whatever you want. Heat may aggravate or add to stress and existing illnesses but I'll bet you a drink of your choice that even in a feed lot few animals of any color die as a direct result of "heat stroke" unless they are totally denied adequate water. Again I'm not denying the existence of heat stress nor the fact the black absorbs light and thus heat more than lighter colors. Only that the results of it are not nearly as severe as many would want you to think unless there is a gross absence of management.

 

[cow pollinater]

We lose tons of dairy cattle out here every time the temps get over a hundred degrees and that happens about forty times a year. For some strange reason it's always wet cows on a high ration and almost always the best producers that die. Almost never low producers or dry cows or young stock... Yet they're all the same color...
It's almost like it's their motabolism runs faster or something. :dunce:
Pretty elementary, but wear a dark maroon shirt out on a sunny day and then put on a black one and see if the differance is enough to make you want to die(it isn't).

That being said, I don't expect a shift to red cattle but it really wouldn't surprise me if there was more acceptability of red cattle in the near future.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I think as conventional feeding gets more and more expensive, cattle that can do well on less are gaining in popularity.

There are some really large hungry hereford cows, and there are the small wooly coated ranch cows...

 

[TexasBred]

Pastured animals seldom die from heat stress if there is adequate water available.

I agree TB but if an animal is stressed it is stressed and that can cause a lot of problems that fall short of death but are still costly!

Hear! Hear!

Just what I need....a Swede telling me about heat stress. :cowboy:

 

[3waycross]

What the heck you think they don't know about heat stress. They go into a meltdown everytime it gets over 59 degrees and they are white.(REALLY WHITE) :mrgreen:

 

[Isomade]

I have black cows, it's over 100 here the majority of the time in July, August and part of September. I have never had a problem. In fact I even asked my cows this past year if the 112 deg temps were too hot and they said "You must be jokin' white boy, we just hang in da shade and go swimmin'. Now get your cracker azz back to da house in da AC before you get yourself a sunburn."

 

[3waycross]

I have black cows, it's over 100 here the majority of the time in July, August and part of September. I have never had a problem. In fact I even asked my cows this past year if the 112 deg temps were too hot and they said "You must be jokin' white boy, we just hang in da shade and go swimmin'. Now get your cracker azz back to da house in da AC before you get yourself a sunburn."

Well that does it for me. No more color prejudice i got it from the horses mouth!