commercial Charolais momma cows?

[Post Oak]

I have noticed all my life the large numbers of commercial Charolais momma cows in cattle herds in the South Carolina Piedmont where I live. They do not outnumber the black cows, but they are probably second in numbers. The Charolais are not supposed to be a maternal breed. I see the Charolais cows in the herds of people who run a lot of cows and make a living off of them as much or more than I do in hobby herds. Using Charolais cows as commercial brood cows goes against every thing the extension and university boys preach and teach.

 

[M-5]

I have noticed all my life the large numbers of commercial Charolais momma cows in cattle herds in the South Carolina Piedmont where I live. They do not outnumber the black cows, but they are probably second in numbers. The Charolais are not supposed to be a maternal breed. I see the Charolais cows in the herds of people who run a lot of cows and make a living off of them as much or more than I do in hobby herds. Using Charolais cows as commercial brood cows goes against every thing the extension and university boys preach and teach.

Obviously you've never been around Char's

 

[JMJ Farms]

It's all about marketing. Angus has simply done a better job marketing. While not all Charolais momma cows are great milkers, when crossed right most will do an excellent job. Even purebred does a good enough job in most cases. What is raising that purebred registered Charolais bull calf? A registered Charolais momma cow. Only thing Ive noticed is that some of my Charolais momma cows don't clean their calf up as good as most of the other cows. But it's never been a problem.

 

[Post Oak]

I have noticed all my life the large numbers of commercial Charolais momma cows in cattle herds in the South Carolina Piedmont where I live. They do not outnumber the black cows, but they are probably second in numbers. The Charolais are not supposed to be a maternal breed. I see the Charolais cows in the herds of people who run a lot of cows and make a living off of them as much or more than I do in hobby herds. Using Charolais cows as commercial brood cows goes against every thing the extension and university boys preach and teach.

Obviously you've never been around Char's

I've been around Charolais cows all my life(44 years) and they are good momma cows. You just hear all the "experts" saying they are "too big" and terminal only.

 

[M-5]

You gonna listen to so called experts or reread your statement that you see cattle men with large herds of Char's . that's a testament to what the truth is.

 

[Post Oak]

You gonna listen to so called experts or reread your statement that you see cattle men with large herds of Char's . that's a testament to what the truth is.

I don't listen to the experts much, I just like reality proving them wrong.

 

[Bigfoot]

I have my fair share of char cows. I like em. I'd say my highest weaning weights are off of my char cows. If I'm buying stockers to put on grass, you can bet I'm looking for char, and char cross calves.

 

[Aaron]

It would probably be a race between Hereford and Char-cross mommas in this area. Lots of guys love Char and Char/RA cross cows. Few guys with black cows, but many learned years ago that black can be had with a black bull alone. Also a lot of guys here that don't care for the look of black cattle.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Bwf cows sell for a small premium here. Char cross cows do not sell well, so money making color blind cattlemen love to pick them off at the sales barn. This cross costs less and raises a big calf...

 

[cotton1]

Well I typed up a nice post on this subject and lost my internet connection just as I was about to submit. Lost it.

Condensed version: Yes Charolais can milk, raise a big enough calf, and be a very good contributor in a commercial herd. She will likely add some length and frame to her calfs, which can mean more pounds at weaning.

Any breed can have good or bad in any given area. Breeder selection is the big ticket. You may get a cow that doesnt milk enough, milks just right, or milks too much etc.

It does seem to me that the Charolais are more willing to be very docile when treated kindly/handled properly. Again that is subject to proper selection. I believe that many commercial breeders buy a Charolais bull as a terminal bull, then get some heifers that grow out well and wind up keeping them back in the herd. I just hope if thats right, that they rethink the terminal stigma that is stuck on the Charolais breed by folks that want to sell you replacement females of a different color.

As far as the "experts" opinions, they are entitled to their own just as I am mine. They are human like we all are and many are friends with the breeders they work around. Its easy to be more friends with the breeder that provides the greatest contribution to their friendship when giving advise to potential customers, especially new or inexperienced ones.

You might like the Charolais in your herd, but you wont know if you dont try them. I like mine.

Cotton1

 

[Post Oak]

Well I typed up a nice post on this subject and lost my internet connection just as I was about to submit. Lost it.

Condensed version: Yes Charolais can milk, raise a big enough calf, and be a very good contributor in a commercial herd. She will likely add some length and frame to her calfs, which can mean more pounds at weaning.

Any breed can have good or bad in any given area. Breeder selection is the big ticket. You may get a cow that doesnt milk enough, milks just right, or milks too much etc.

It does seem to me that the Charolais are more willing to be very docile when treated kindly/handled properly. Again that is subject to proper selection. I believe that many commercial breeders buy a Charolais bull as a terminal bull, then get some heifers that grow out well and wind up keeping them back in the herd. I just hope if thats right, that they rethink the terminal stigma that is stuck on the Charolais breed by folks that want to sell you replacement females of a different color.

As far as the "experts" opinions, they are entitled to their own just as I am mine. They are human like we all are and many are friends with the breeders they work around. Its easy to be more friends with the breeder that provides the greatest contribution to their friendship when giving advise to potential customers, especially new or inexperienced ones.

You might like the Charolais in your herd, but you wont know if you dont try them. I like mine.

Cotton1

I have had a few Charolais cows and I have liked them.

 

[midTN_Brangusman]

In my area a black nosed Charolais cross calf will bring as much as blacks any day of the week. Those cross calves will pass the black ones on rate of gain as well.

 

[farmerjan]

We have a fair number of char cows and char x angus. The char cows are usually good mommas; tend to be more protective than the angus and maybe a little more high strung when younger but most are pretty decent dispositioned. They often wean off the bigger calves so they obviously milk good or the calves wouldn't have the weight to go along with the frames. Don't have any problem with them calving. Bred black, they have black or smokey calves and if they have a black nose they bring as much as the blacks. They will do more grazing in the sun and heat, along with the red cows, than the blacks. Don't have any more pinkeye problems than any other color. I'd take a char over a limi any day for disposition and if blacks didn't bring more here, we would have more red and char cows.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Neighbor had a stein dairy herd and a mongrel beef herd with a Char bull. Somehow ended up with some Holstein/Char heifers that he retained for the dairy. Huge fleshy cows, and not the best dairy cross, but they topped the cull market.

Char bull was a bit testy. Turkey hunters got permission to hunt one spring and parked a new white extended cab in the pasture. Ended up with several big dents in the truck, and the hunters did not come back.

 

[wbvs58]

Jilleroo who used to post a lot on here has a great herd of charolais and charbray cows. The calves always bring top dollar with buyers chasing them. The advantage they have in Northern Australia is the light hide which seems to handle the heat well.

Ken

 

[elkwc]

Again IMO it depends on many factors. How you intend to market the offspring determines a lot about what breeds are best in a given area. I have seen some good Chars. Used to be several herds around. Not many now and the few Chars I see aren't the quality I used to see. Disposition on Chars I have handled aren't as good as the average Hereford but if proper selection is done is decent compared to some others. In this area currently the Char crosses take a hit so the main reason I didn't consider them and in all of my looking at bred heifers and young cows last year I saw less that 10 Char crosses. And they were average quality at best. Here BWF, Hereford and RWF females have sold the best over the last two years. At the sale barn you need an Angus influence in the calves. The lady I help has a neighbor with Chars. Her bulls have tended to roam. Everytime she has a Char cross calf show up it is cut off at the sale barn and sold separately. Again I feel a good Char cow will raise a good calf but then you will likely take a dock when you sell it around here.

 

[SIMMGAL]

I have some in my herd and love them! Milking and fleshing ability have never been an issue for mine! They always wean off some of my heaviest calves. My gray steers sell as well as my black hided cattle here on the east coast. I've even worked some into my purebred Simm herd and after several generations, they still have their gray color and are considered purebreds now. Ah, the beauty of an open herdbook! :mrgreen:

 

[djinwa]

Has the Charolais breed changed? They used to be a growth and muscle breed. Muscle tissue is more metabolically active, so a muscular cow will need more calories to maintain more muscle. So supposedly Charolais cows would need to eat more than a less muscular maternal breed.

Of course, nobody knows how much their cows eat. Might wean a big calf but at what cost?

Ideally you want a less muscular cow bred to a muscular bull. More pounds of beef PER POUND OF FEED. Feed less to the whole cow herd.

So use Charolais cows to make muscle bulls.

But who knows - maybe Charolais are now an efficient maternal breed, and the maternal breeds have gone to muscle?