CharX bred to ?

[MoGal]

Hi All,

Have a ? for all you knowledgeable people.
I am just starting out again (raised bottle calves about 25 years ago) with charolais cross cows.

I need advice on what to breed to in order to get replacement heifers... I have access to Brangus, Red Limo, Angus and Charolais bulls.
I'm leaning towards the Brangus.... what do you all think and what would you recommend?

Thank you for your replies.

 

[1848]

Brangus

 

[SF]

Angus

 

[greatgerts]

For this area MoGal, I would go with the Angus bull. Maybe you can get in with the other breeders in the area that are sending out to feelots for those that you do not keep.
Good luck in your endeavor!

 

[Farmhand]

Angus. Participated in a study a while back. CharXAngus kicked butt.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Of the bull choices listed, Angus would be my first choice then Brangus.

Katherine

 

[jerry27150]

brangus will definately give you better & more profitable heifers, you should also have calves that are more vigorous than the others. one old guy claims they will be on a teat before their hind feet hit the ground. they will also stand the mo. heat & fescue better. more disease resistance & less pinkeye & exceptional growth rate crossed with the char

 

[Beefy]

brangus, then angus. forget the other two.

 

[dun]

Are these replacements you're wanting to generate for your operation or to market to others? The first thing you need to determine is what you're going to market and how you plan to market them. If the replacements are to sell, what types of replacements are in demand in your area? If for your own operation, how will you market the offsrping? If you're going the sale barn route, check your local auctions and see what is in demand. If you are going to market through some sort of alliance, see what specifications/types they require.
We're in SC MO and Brahman influence cattle are docked at the sale barns and aren't really required for the usual summers.
What is your frage base? Typically it's high endophyte fescue and that doesn;t point to any specific breed or cross, it's individual animals that are tolerant to it or not.
All of that said, what breeds really blows your dress up? If you really like Herfords, and black Angus are ugly in your eyes, you'ld do better with Herefords. You gotta like what you raise. It just makes it easier in the long run to manage them when the weather is crappy and something should be done and you don;t really feel like it. That's human nature.
Missouri has several marketing alliances, the link will take you to the information from U of MO that address' it.

http://agebb.missouri.edu/commag/beef/premierbeef/

dun

 

[MoGal]

My pasture is mostly orchard grass, clover and about 1/3 fescue. Over the years I've been planting other grasses to get rid of the fescue as I have horses.

The reason I started buying cattle is because there's too much grass for the horses and I have to bushhog the grass off about every 10 days in the summer as they pick out their favorite and leave the rest go.

I've been picky about what I buy. I want quality cattle and I do like the charolais cross. I like their conformation, stockiness and of course I want gentle cattle. My friend has been in cattle all his life and he knows exactly what kind of cows I'm looking for.

The bulls are either registered or out of a registered sire, non registered dam or the ones I own are and they are used in a lease program. Leased by other area farmers.

I firmly believe if I buy the best quality I can afford and breed to the best quality bull I can afford then I should have a quality calf.
The replacement heifers would be to add to my group of cows to raise offspring from.

My reasoning behind breeding the brangus to the charx would be a bigger heifer and then breed that heifer back to an angus (to get rid of the longer ear and to bring in the balance of continental/english cross). Perhaps its not feasible (cost wise) to raise up my own heifers and I would be better off to just buy replacements. Perhaps some of you could shed some light on that.

My friend buys and sells enough cows (and ships for other area farmers) that the truck comes up at least twice a month for shipping cattle to West Plains auction. So as far as market, any I sold would either be sold privately or else shipped there.

There's no doubt this is a black/black baldy or char/charx area but I've not seen a baldy I like as yet. They just don't impress me.

 

[buckaroo_bif]

Hi All,

Have a ? for all you knowledgeable people.
I am just starting out again (raised bottle calves about 25 years ago) with charolais cross cows.

I need advice on what to breed to in order to get replacement heifers... I have access to Brangus, Red Limo, Angus and Charolais bulls.
I'm leaning towards the Brangus.... what do you all think and what would you recommend?

Thank you for your replies.

Angus no doubt :cboy:

 

[buckaroo_bif]

There's no doubt this is a black/black baldy or char/charx area but I've not seen a baldy I like as yet. They just don't impress me.

:shock: you don't like black baldies!?
but really it's a matter of personal preference I guess in your situation and whatever may sell the best in your area. But seeing's how you may not be selling that many that may not be an issue. So, whatever strikes your fancy?
bif

 

[buckaroo_bif]

.
What is your frage base? Typically it's high endophyte fescue and that doesn;t point to any specific breed or cross, it's individual animals that are tolerant to it or not.


dun

dun we have fescue as native forage in my area, i've never seen an endophyte problem as yet that i have noticed. what would you consider the most tolerant breeds to endophytes?
we did lose a cow last summer i never did get to see her, my son did when she was sick he figered she was about daid then. i went down and rode and rode looking for her couldn't find her, probably crawled off in a plumb thicket or cedar grove and died. i was just always curious as to what really happened to her. she was a red limousin. son said she was bug eyed had the scours bad, dehydrated something fierce acting a little whacky. but like i said i never seen her so i don't know...
bif

 

[MoGal]

I wouldn't be opposed to buying a baldy if I could find one that had the length, height, conformation like a solid black angus or charx has. I'm sure they are out there. Just the ones I've seen seemed short bodied, smaller type cow.

I do not have anything against a hereford as I think that's what my charx cows are (they are a golden/red color) and I'm very pleased with them.

 

[buckaroo_bif]

yes i would agree with you mo gal most black baldys we see are smaller framed cattle. they do make good cows though.

 

[dun]

dun we have fescue as native forage in my area, i've never seen an endophyte problem as yet that i have noticed. what would you consider the most tolerant breeds to endophytes?
bif

I persoanlly don;t think any "breed" is more tolerent, just individuals whithin a breed. Neighbor has gerts and gerts crosses. Some do well others alwasy look wormy, i.e. rough coat, gaunt, etc. But I'll pretty well gaurentee they're not wormy. We have a couple of cows that never shed out and gaunt up pretty bad come calf feeding time. But they regain condition after weaning (I figure they're heavy milkers) but never shed out, alwasy look ratty.
Our fescue is pretty well diluted with clovers and other grasses so it isn;t significant here. Other folks around have straight fescue and some of the cows never look as thrifty as others. I've only seen for myself one herd that lost tails and hooves from fescue. 47 head of registered cattle brought down from NE, within a year they were down to only a couple and they were sore footed all of the time. That's why we only get heifers from herds that run predominantly fescue pasture. And even then there are some that just don't perform as well as others.

dun

 

[buckaroo_bif]

ok thanks i see what you were getting at now...
bif