Charolais

[Ky hills]

Used to raise them till about 25 years ago. Thought there wasn’t anything like them until got a hold of a bull that was a calving nightmare. He actually had smaller calves than some others I used they just came a lot harder. After that experience I got an Angus bull and never had another Charolais bull and over time got rid of all my Charolais cows. Swore I’d never have another one. Since then ever once in while I get nostalgic about them and wonder about trying a bull again as I haven’t had anything that consistently weighed close to those Charolais calves. Always talk my self out of it though. Saw a group of Charolais cross calves at the stockyards the other day when we unloaded ours and those cross calves looked real good. Got me thinking about taking a chance on one of those bulls again. I haven’t watched many sales lately to see any sizable groups sell. For those that have Charolais cross calves, how do they sell now a days in comparison to black calves? How is the calving? and growth?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Used to raise them till about 25 years ago. Thought there wasn’t anything like them until got a hold of a bull that was a calving nightmare. He actually had smaller calves than some others I used they just came a lot harder. After that experience I got an Angus bull and never had another Charolais bull and over time got rid of all my Charolais cows. Swore I’d never have another one. Since then ever once in while I get nostalgic about them and wonder about trying a bull again as I haven’t had anything that consistently weighed close to those Charolais calves. Always talk my self out of it though. Saw a group of Charolais cross calves at the stockyards the other day when we unloaded ours and those cross calves looked real good. Got me thinking about taking a chance on one of those bulls again. I haven’t watched many sales lately to see any sizable groups sell. For those that have Charolais cross calves, how do they sell now a days in comparison to black calves? How is the calving? and growth?

The top cattleman in our county runs Charolais bulls on Angus and Angus cross cows in one large herd and in another he runs Angus bulls over Charolais cows. Raises some darn fine calves out of both groups.

 

[sstterry]

Used to raise them till about 25 years ago. Thought there wasn’t anything like them until got a hold of a bull that was a calving nightmare. He actually had smaller calves than some others I used they just came a lot harder. After that experience I got an Angus bull and never had another Charolais bull and over time got rid of all my Charolais cows. Swore I’d never have another one. Since then ever once in while I get nostalgic about them and wonder about trying a bull again as I haven’t had anything that consistently weighed close to those Charolais calves. Always talk my self out of it though. Saw a group of Charolais cross calves at the stockyards the other day when we unloaded ours and those cross calves looked real good. Got me thinking about taking a chance on one of those bulls again. I haven’t watched many sales lately to see any sizable groups sell. For those that have Charolais cross calves, how do they sell now a days in comparison to black calves? How is the calving? and growth?

I still have a few Charolais cows. They raise nice calves and have little problem calving for the cows. I can't tell you about the Bulls though. Mine are now crossed with a Simental Bull and the calves just pop out, but they grow really fast. I attributate that to the bull which weighed 1199 on his one year birthday.

Here they will get docked a few cents if they aren't black. The same way with any calf that is not black.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Good Smokes get murdered here. My 5wt blk strs have topped the sale I take them to the last 3years in a row. There Char brothers out of the same blk bull bring .10-.15 cents back. Basically my smoke strs bring the same per pound as my blk hfrs. It's a crying shame, those smoke strs will out finish straight blks any day.

 

[Dave]

Neighbor has about 40 bulls. I would guess 25 Chars and 15 Angus. He doesn't keep any of the char cross heifers. The cows are mostly black or red but there is just about one of every breed. The char calves will be back a penny or two but the char crosses are by far the heaviest calves. The extra pounds more than make up for that penny.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Selling depends on lot size and location. Here, you need to put together a nice size char x group and truck them west into the Dakotas.

 

[Little Joe]

Good Smokes get murdered here. My 5wt blk strs have topped the sale I take them to the last 3years in a row. There Char brothers out of the same blk bull bring .10-.15 cents back. Basically my smoke strs bring the same per pound as my blk hfrs. It's a crying shame, those smoke strs will out finish straight blks any day.

I was at our local sale barn Monday and was talking to 2 older gentlemen, we were discussing what a sham the black hide deal is. It makes no sense whatsoever. I also seen them selling some groups of bred heifers, had 2 groups of registered Charolais heifers that were bred to Angus bulls and they brought over 1400 each weighing 1200-1300. They ran some lighter weight BWF heifers in weighing 900-1000 and they were bringing around 1100, ran a single BWF heifer with horns from the sme group and I think she brought 700 only difference being the horns. 2 RWF heifers bred to same bull as BWF and better looking heifers to me brought around 800. A guy I know bid on the charolais heifers and didn't get them but ended up buying all the other heifers I think except the horned BWF, I told him after the sale that I thought he was getting more bang for his buck with what he ended up with.

 

[Dsth]

I keep one Charolais rack of semen in my tank and breed at least one red angus cow to him every year. I have kept the heifers each time and the youngest is definitely the biggest in my group of 6 replacements. My remaining calves go to the same buyer the last couple of years and he doesn't dock for the cross steer in the bunch. I am planning on using more Charolais semen the next couple of years since I really like the charXRA calves. Have not had any calving problems but use calving ease bulls.

 

[Dave]

I know that the neighbor and his brothers have been buying a lot of bulls from Debruycher Charolais in Montana for a lot of years. I take care of his fall pairs for him. I have yet to have to pull a calf. Of course these are cows not heifers. I do hear an occasional calving story from him and the spring pairs. But calf out 1,100 head you are going to have an occasional story.

 

[Ky hills]

When I was running registered Charolais, calves consistently weaned at or over 800#. Haven’t come close to that since with any other breed except for maybe one or two individual calves.
My thinking is if I use a Charolais that was CE on mature cows, the hybrid effect would up the growth. I think the cows we have could raise heavier calves at weaning.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Good Smokes get murdered here. My 5wt blk strs have topped the sale I take them to the last 3years in a row. There Char brothers out of the same blk bull bring .10-.15 cents back. Basically my smoke strs bring the same per pound as my blk hfrs. It's a crying shame, those smoke strs will out finish straight blks any day.

I was at our local sale barn Monday and was talking to 2 older gentlemen, we were discussing what a sham the black hide deal is. It makes no sense whatsoever. I also seen them selling some groups of bred heifers, had 2 groups of registered Charolais heifers that were bred to Angus bulls and they brought over 1400 each weighing 1200-1300. They ran some lighter weight BWF heifers in weighing 900-1000 and they were bringing around 1100, ran a single BWF heifer with horns from the sme group and I think she brought 700 only difference being the horns. 2 RWF heifers bred to same bull as BWF and better looking heifers to me brought around 800. A guy I know bid on the charolais heifers and didn't get them but ended up buying all the other heifers I think except the horned BWF, I told him after the sale that I thought he was getting more bang for his buck with what he ended up with.

Interesting. Just the opposite here. Blacks rule until they run baldies in the ring. Baldies of the same quality always seem to bring $50-150 more than straight bred blks.
The guys that by yearling hfrs to breed and sell will maybe take a high quality red, but they won't touch a char.
See an awful lot of 6-8+yr old char x bred cows sell. They just bring what they weigh.

 

[Stocker Steve]

When I was running registered Charolais, calves consistently weaned at or over 800#. Haven’t come close to that since with any other breed except for maybe one or two individual calves.

Was your farm more profitable while weaning 800# calves?

 

[Little Joe]

Good Smokes get murdered here. My 5wt blk strs have topped the sale I take them to the last 3years in a row. There Char brothers out of the same blk bull bring .10-.15 cents back. Basically my smoke strs bring the same per pound as my blk hfrs. It's a crying shame, those smoke strs will out finish straight blks any day.

I was at our local sale barn Monday and was talking to 2 older gentlemen, we were discussing what a sham the black hide deal is. It makes no sense whatsoever. I also seen them selling some groups of bred heifers, had 2 groups of registered Charolais heifers that were bred to Angus bulls and they brought over 1400 each weighing 1200-1300. They ran some lighter weight BWF heifers in weighing 900-1000 and they were bringing around 1100, ran a single BWF heifer with horns from the sme group and I think she brought 700 only difference being the horns. 2 RWF heifers bred to same bull as BWF and better looking heifers to me brought around 800. A guy I know bid on the charolais heifers and didn't get them but ended up buying all the other heifers I think except the horned BWF, I told him after the sale that I thought he was getting more bang for his buck with what he ended up with.

Interesting. Just the opposite here. Blacks rule until they run baldies in the ring. Baldies of the same quality always seem to bring $50-150 more than straight bred blks.
The guys that by yearling hfrs to breed and sell will maybe take a high quality red, but they won't touch a char.
See an awful lot of 6-8+yr old char x bred cows sell. They just bring what they weigh.

That's what I didn't understand, charolais and char X calves are .10-.20 cheaper here than black or bwf, so why would you pay more for a heavier cow that'll eat more and produce cheaper calves. Now I'll have to say those char heifers were nicer looking cattle, was just surprised with the char calf dock that they'd sell higher than bwf. The charolais heifers were definitely a bigger framed cattle and they were registered, not that it would make alot of difference in a commercial herd. I definitely didn,t understand the bwf with horns selling that much cheaper. If I'd been in the market for a heifer I'd bought the one with horns, you'd almost had your money back first calf, same with the 2 rwf heifers.

 

[Ky hills]

When I was running registered Charolais, calves consistently weaned at or over 800#. Haven’t come close to that since with any other breed except for maybe one or two individual calves.

Was your farm more profitable while weaning 800# calves?

It’s hard to compare as those Charolais were registered and the current cows are commercial so different expenses and marketing, although overall nutritional management is probably better currently than back then. When I changed breeds to Angus and Herefords it effectively reduced mature weight but not as much as I had previously thought. These current cows are still maturing at 14-1500 on average as opposed to 1500-1600. Yet the the weights of the calves at comparable times are as much as 250lbs lighter now. My thinking is that if I crossbreed these cows to a breed like Charolais that some of that drop could be recouped as I don’t think the cows are able to maximize there calf raising potential with using same breed bulls.

 

[Bigfoot]

I spect 1/3 or more of my cows are half charlois or better. Take a few cents dock on a calf, and haul a much bigger calf off. I usually keep my calves til they are yearlins. Hard to beat the growth of a charlois cross calf. Especially at that size when your growing frame anyway. IMHO, the char breeders have brought the frame and birth weight down. Maybe down too far.

 

[Stocker Steve]

There are a number of outfits marketing smaller and more efficient cow maker bulls. I am good with that for replacements and for grass fed beef. But these cow maker bull studs never seem to acknowledge putting a terminal bull, like Char, on their efficient cows for commodity beef.

 

[Ky hills]

There are a number of outfits marketing smaller and more efficient cow maker bulls. I am good with that for replacements and for grass fed beef. But these cow maker bull studs never seem to acknowledge putting a terminal bull, like Char, on their efficient cows for commodity beef.

If the cows are very small I wouldn’t be comfortable putting a terminal type bull on them especially a Char.

 

[hangna]

Used to raise them till about 25 years ago. Thought there wasn’t anything like them until got a hold of a bull that was a calving nightmare. He actually had smaller calves than some others I used they just came a lot harder. After that experience I got an Angus bull and never had another Charolais bull and over time got rid of all my Charolais cows. Swore I’d never have another one. Since then ever once in while I get nostalgic about them and wonder about trying a bull again as I haven’t had anything that consistently weighed close to those Charolais calves. Always talk my self out of it though. Saw a group of Charolais cross calves at the stockyards the other day when we unloaded ours and those cross calves looked real good. Got me thinking about taking a chance on one of those bulls again. I haven’t watched many sales lately to see any sizable groups sell. For those that have Charolais cross calves, how do they sell now a days in comparison to black calves? How is the calving? and growth?

We raise Charolais and sell bulls to mainly commercial cattlemen. The Charolais breed has done a good job of eliminating the old hard calving bloodlines from the past. If you are thinking about buying another bull, talk to the breeders. Let them know the make up of your herd and they will match you with the bloodlines work best for your situation.
There are several bloodlines out there now that work well on virgin British heifers.

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

We have recently started buying up some Chars. I prefer them registered with a really good maternal background just like any cow I bring onto the ranch. The purebred Chars are selling higher per animal than anything else registered that I am selling off the ranch currently. Trying to buy females at a price that makes sense on the bottom line is nearly impossible with my quality standards. Most of them are selling for $4-6k each (or more).

Lucked out on one sale this spring and got a moderate, maternal yearling registered heifer that is sure turning out nice. She didn't turn out show pretty but she is sound and gentle. I am hoping to breed her to some show bulls and see what she produces. She is due to calve 1 week before her 2nd BD to a calving ease Charolais bull. They have come a long way in improving the breed in the last 20 years. Bought some embryos on the cheap and some ET receips at butcher cow price so might just end up raising them that way. Receips are mature red angus cows (and one yellow baldy) and I haven't had any of those on the place in 5 years or so.

 

[hangna]

We have recently started buying up some Chars. I prefer them registered with a really good maternal background just like any cow I bring onto the ranch. The purebred Chars are selling higher per animal than anything else registered that I am selling off the ranch currently. Trying to buy females at a price that makes sense on the bottom line is nearly impossible with my quality standards. Most of them are selling for $4-6k each (or more).

Lucked out on one sale this spring and got a moderate, maternal yearling registered heifer that is sure turning out nice. She didn't turn out show pretty but she is sound and gentle. I am hoping to breed her to some show bulls and see what she produces. She is due to calve 1 week before her 2nd BD to a calving ease Charolais bull. They have come a long way in improving the breed in the last 20 years. Bought some embryos on the cheap and some ET receips at butcher cow price so might just end up raising them that way. Receips are mature red angus cows (and one yellow baldy) and I haven't had any of those on the place in 5 years or so.

What bloodlines do you like?