Club Calves?

[RisingCreekHerefords]

I have been playing with the idea of breeding some of my commercial girls to I-80, a Maine Anjou bull. I think he may give these potential calves more of a showy look and I may be able to market them to club calf breeders/showmen instead of just to commercial farmers. These girls that are to be bred are 7/8 Hereford. They are Legend 242 and Robin Hood bred on the Hereford side. The other 1/8th is Angus or Shorthorn depending on the cow. Any thoughts from anyone with clubby experience?

 

[Jessica06]

If your cows have enough bone and muscle, it could work. The only problem would be what are they going to class as? More than likely they'll be black baldies or brockles...maybe AOB? We have some original Ali in the tank. We had one steer about 8 years ago. Lots of look and a nice hip, but Ali didn't add much bone or muscle to speak of. What would your plans be for the heifers?

 

[VCC]

Ali followed the cow pretty much, but the calves did come small and take off at about 8 months, I80 is supposed to be a little better at changing the cow some. You might get a decent steer out of the breeding, you could get some real good cows for breeding club calves out of I80 and your cows.

Ali cow

 

[LLBUX]

I 80 will usually produce a better quality female than steer.
I'm told he doesn't add a huge amount of muscle.

The club calf market is flooded right now with sale averages way down.
Too many folks have the dream of producing and selling a champion calf out of their average cows.
Too many on-line auctions and many calves do not get a bid.

I have seen club calves also take a big hit at the sale barn, both fat cattle and feeders.
As a rule they don't grow that fast. OF course there are exceptions!!!

 

[RisingCreekHerefords]

My plan for the heifers would be to keep them back for production. I may end up putting them for sale, but if no one will pay the price then ill just keep them. I would be using him on heifers so my main concern is to get a live healthy calf on the ground while still playing with genetics a little bit to see what I get. My girls are moderate boned and fair on muscle. That is something I will be working to improve on when they become cows. I would like to put more of a showy look on my calves. I wanted to start with my crossbreds and see how I do with them before committing my registered stock to the clubby looking bulls.