Cross-breeding saler

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JohnB

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We inherited a couple of salers heifer calves a few years back and they have each had and raised a pretty nice calf. They are great mothers even as heifers. They were rotationally grazed on a one acre alfalfa paddock with about 5 pounds of dry hay/head/day and a couple pounds of grain and premix. We would like to finish our calves on alfalfa/grass but I know that purebred salers will not do that. We are also looking for something that has a good disposition. I can pet the cows in the pen when I am feeding them, but as soon as I go to work them, they go a little nuts. My plan is to AI them soon to something that can start a foundation to build from that will produce a docile animal that will finish on grass. Thanks for your help.

JohnB
 
Well, texas longhorns or scottish highlanders do a pretty good job of finishing on grass, but I would be careful with the alfalfa because it tends to be a little high in protein for their stomachs. Angus is probably a safe bet if you want to raise grass-fed beef with alfalfa in it.
 
Our cattlemen's association took a trip to Kentucky 2011. We visited a farm that was raising Saler. I was impressed with what I saw, as I walked through some of the herd with the owner. I started looking to replace my registered angus bull last year as he had some age and ailments. Hated getting rid of an animal that produced great calves.

Bought a Saler bull, and 4 1/2 Angus-1/2 Saler Heifers this past spring. I bred Heifers AI and they are due in March. Have had the bull with herd for spring calving, and will turn him back in Christmas day as I always do for any he missed. Hope to see what this does for us, and looking forward to it improving some aspects of herd. 3 of 4 of the Heifers seem to have settled in well with the herd. All did well for the AI period which happened about 4 weeks after I bought them. The one I see that is just a little high headed is hanging with an older high strung angusX that would have left the place if I could have got her up at sale time. Both will go when I return home if they don't get better, and I won't keep a calf out of either.

Note: I downsized by half this year as I have mobilized overseas with the reserves. As I will retire when I return next year after 30 years I expect to increase back to higher levels. I hope this experiment does well. I'll try and find a pic of Jack the new bull.
 
Cattle need a lot of energy to finish well. The US is much better at raising corn than raising high energy pastures. A significant amount of alfalfa in the mix, or grazing more than the top third of the growth, will make finishing difficult for any breed or sex.
 

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