cross breeding

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i read an article earlier that said you must have a goal. to know when you have recieved what you are working for. my goal is to have a cross bred heard of brangus sim and beefmaster cross cows but i am not sure how or wich way would be the best cause they all make great mothers tell me if this is a good idea and how would you get the best cross out of these animal. this would be my three way cross if i do not get to much ear. the years i do not plan on keeping replacement heifers i can use any advice you have to give on were to start and were to find the right stock. and how to cross these breeds to get the best performance.
 
There are way too many ways to get to where you want to go depending on your starting point, if you have cows from all three breeds you just breed two of the breeds to the third breed and the cows of the third breed to a bull from one of the other two. Will you be using a terminal breed on the three way cross cows, or always sticking with the three way cross and market calves strictly from that program? If you don;t have cows yet, start with one breed and begin by rotational breeding from there, the easiest method is to breed the cow/heifer to the breed that least makes up her genetics. Starting with multiple breeds will equire more breeding pastures, or better yet, use AI. You can keep all those bulls in that one silver pasture and it costs the same to feed one bull as twenty. You don;t have the safety or health risks with the bulls that way either. Then we get back to the point I harp on a lot. Start with the best quality animals you can. Get fewer higher quality cows (within reason of course) rather then going for quantity.

dun

> i read an article earlier that
> said you must have a goal. to know
> when you have recieved what you
> are working for. my goal is to
> have a cross bred heard of brangus
> sim and beefmaster cross cows but
> i am not sure how or wich way
> would be the best cause they all
> make great mothers tell me if this
> is a good idea and how would you
> get the best cross out of these
> animal. this would be my three way
> cross if i do not get to much ear.
> the years i do not plan on keeping
> replacement heifers i can use any
> advice you have to give on were to
> start and were to find the right
> stock. and how to cross these
> breeds to get the best
> performance.
 
> There are way too many ways to get
> to where you want to go depending
> on your starting point, if you
> have cows from all three breeds
> you just breed two of the breeds
> to the third breed and the cows of
> the third breed to a bull from one
> of the other two. Will you be
> using a terminal breed on the
> three way cross cows, or always
> sticking with the three way cross
> and market calves strictly from
> that program? If you don;t have
> cows yet, start with one breed and
> begin by rotational breeding from
> there, the easiest method is to
> breed the cow/heifer to the breed
> that least makes up her genetics.
> Starting with multiple breeds will
> equire more breeding pastures, or
> better yet, use AI. You can keep
> all those bulls in that one silver
> pasture and it costs the same to
> feed one bull as twenty. You don;t
> have the safety or health risks
> with the bulls that way either.
> Then we get back to the point I
> harp on a lot. Start with the best
> quality animals you can. Get fewer
> higher quality cows (within reason
> of course) rather then going for
> quantity.

> dun

dun

what breed do you think i should start with and you say start with quality stock how much should a man pay for this stock to just sell feeder calfs i do have a friend who has been tring to sell me a tank full of beefmaster semen. i did not think it would be a good idea since i was only crossbreeding. any more advice i love to have it.
 
Bare in mind these are only my ideas/thoughts/opinions and they're free. Sometimes others views aren't worth what you pay for them. That said. I would look for some good Angus X Simmenthal or Angus X Gelbvieh heifers. With a Beefmaster bull you will have a leg-up with your three way cross. If you can't find crosses of that genetic makeup I would look to heifers that are primarily Angus or Shorthorn, Simmenthal or Gelbvieh. Or even straighbred cattle of those breeds. The reason I didn't include Hereford is because you will get some of that from the Beefmaster side. Tiy need to crossbreed without mongrelizing, sometimes easier said then done. I've never worked with Beefmaster but the are touted as having good maternal, that's what you will be looking for in the base cow herd that's why I included those I did. If you start with Baldys you won't get as much heterosis when crossed with Beefmaster, but you will still have a darn good basic cow to start with. If you start with Brangus you wouldn't (remember this is my opinion) want to use Beefmaster. There is nothing to gain with keeping all the Brahman influence. You could start with Beefmaster heifers/cows and cross them with a good Balancer (Angus X Gelbvieh) or Simangus (Angus Simmenthal). The goal isn't to just have a 3 or 4 way cross cow herd. You need to have more specifics, i.e. no more then 1/2 of a specific given breed, no less then 1/4 of a specific given breed, etc. That's where the real challenge of succesfull crossbreeding comes in. You can just use a diffferent breed of bull each year until you've run through the 100 or so different breeds available but then you don;t have anything specific, just a bunch of cows. Stick with beef breeds, a heavily muscled Holstein is still a Holstein, the dairy characteristics will hurt you at sale time in the long run.

dun

> dun

> what breed do you think i should
> start with and you say start with
> quality stock how much should a
> man pay for this stock to just
> sell feeder calfs i do have a
> friend who has been tring to sell
> me a tank full of beefmaster
> semen. i did not think it would be
> a good idea since i was only
> crossbreeding. any more advice i
> love to have it.
 

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