Charolais bull on crossbred cows

[Caustic Burno]

Times have changed for sure, but 25yrs. ago I put a char bull on my Angus cows and buried 3 good cows and had to pull most of the calves on the rest. Charolais bulls are good, but you better have big cows.

My calves average 78#. I'm sure there are some of those old bloodlines out there but I have never pulled one unless it was backwards or had a leg back with Char bulls.

Neighbor uses a Hereford bull get's small calves but those Char momma's can raise one heck of a calf.
IMO it is as good for growth as Hereford/Brahman.

 

[Brute 23]

Not a Charolais fan but the put the bulls on good heavy Bradford, Tigerstripe, F1 cattle and get some pretty nice calves.

How did you come to this mix? Isn't putting a Char bull on LonghornX cattle like two steps foward one step back. If you were trying to ring the bell... wouldn't you leave the Longhorn out completly.

 

[TXBobcat]

How did you come to this mix? Isn't putting a Char bull on LonghornX cattle like two steps foward one step back. If you were trying to ring the bell... wouldn't you leave the Longhorn out completly.

Most of our Longhorns are registered cattle. For the last 8 or so years, we had run nothing but registered Longhorns. Then as the recession hit home and people had less disposable income to spend on jet skiis, boats, and Longhorns, the private treaty customers dried up. ;-) The owner of the ranch then began to look for other alternatives. I knew he loved his Longhorn cows, and didn't want to disperse the herd completley, but he always complained when we took calves to the sale barn. As I had told him many times before, Longhorns may have their place, but the feedlot ain't looking for straight Longhorn calves. So after some discussion, we decided keep the best longhorn cows and also start a herd of Angus and black cross-bred cattle. We aquired a pretty good Angus bull, and crossed that on all the Longhorn cows. All the calves from that cross were either black or black/white and mostly polled. Some do have small scurs. Those calves didn't sell all that well either, in my opinion because of a light frame, and in some cases the black/white color.

We have kept several of the 50% Angus X 50% Longhorn heifers, and I believe they will be some good mothers. These are the ones I wanted to run a Charolais bull on to get some terminal calves that would hopefully weigh good at weaning, have good muscling, and feed out well. I don't like the idea of trying to 'fool' order buyers, and that's not what I am trying to do here. I think this cross of 50% Char x 25% Angus x 25% Longhorn would make good feedlot calves.

 

[Brute 23]

That makes sense. Thanks

 

[bigbull338]

you dont have to worry about fooling the order buyers.most can tell what the crosses are,an they will buy at a disscounted price.an then make a nice profit on them.i know they make a nice profit on our beefmaster cross calves.

 

[TXBobcat]

you dont have to worry about fooling the order buyers.most can tell what the crosses are,an they will buy at a disscounted price.an then make a nice profit on them.i know they make a nice profit on our beefmaster cross calves.

Yes, I believe sometimes calves are discounted just because they can get away with it. But then again, if I am buying, I sure like to get'em as cheap as I can too!

To me, it all boils down to raising an animal that has demand, in the market where you plan to sell. That is, if you're in the business to try an make a little money. If not, I say raise what breed you want, and don't worry about the bottom line or what anyone else says about your operation.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Should have used a Char or Red Limousin on the Longhorn cows first.

 

[circlew]

You take a charxLH cross to the barn here and you'll go home with a good check. Almost everyone around the house that run LH run a char bull on them and you can't tell the calves apart from other char crosses. :2cents:

 

[rockridgecattle]

Charlois bull on heifers...never again. Unless those genetics have changed in the last 10 years, calving Char bulls on heifers always increased the chance of problems due to the big boys. Angus and herfords on heifers have less risks.
Char bull on cow...good idea
Now the type of angus you did not mention...black angus x charlois = a grey calf a good amount of the time. Don't know about the states, but in Manitoba, greys get minimum 10 cents dockage due to color.
Red angus x char = sweet
limo x char = sweet

No comment on the long horn...no experience on the breed...

 

[bcarty]

You have gotten yourself into a mess. Those longhorns have everything screwed up. I would cut my losses and sell the heifers. Breed the cows to a terminal bull (Simmental, Charlois, or Limousin) and then cross those calves with a good low BW angus bull. If your cows are open now you will still be almost 4 years from getting those good beefy calves to sell (25%LH 25%Terminal 50%Angus). If you cant do that then start breeding your cows to a terminal bull and breed the LH X AN heifers to a good Angus bull this year. That will give you 75% angus in your calves and they will do better at the sale for you. They still wont top the sale, but they will do better. Whatever you decide to do, I would be VERY CAUTIOUS about breeding any heifers to a Charlois bull. That is basically asking for problems. You might get away with it, but is it worth the risk? You lose a calf or two and maybe a heifer and you have just lost all your profits. A live calf is worth a few dollars more than a dead one.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

His only mistake was ever using the angus bull on the longhorn cows. Should have went straight to either the Char bull or a Red Limousin Bull. Calve from either cross will sell good.

 

[CCRanch]

Put a Beefmaster bull on them. Small calves that will put on weight.

 

[bigbull338]

Put a Beefmaster bull on them. Small calves that will put on weight.

i agree a beefmaster will be easy calving.an their calves will grow like weeds.

 

[cross_7]

i agree with the beefmaster growth but when we had one we always had a few colored/paint calves and they were docked at the sale.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Not that hard to find a calving ease Red Limi bull, that will take care of most of the color problems.