crossbreed w/ holstein bull

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First question I want to ask you is Why? Second question is What do you want to get out of a cross or from your bull? There should always be a "plan" in breeding to try to achieve some specific goal. For example: Conformation? Horn? Color? Beef and marbling? Lean Beef? Good milker (milch cow or mama cow)? Size? Temperament? Body condition? The list goes on and on. Just to breed something to something else to get a calf can sometimes have unpredictable results. Finally, what do you want to get by crossing a Milch Cow(Bull) with a Beef Cow(Bull)?
 
Holstein crossed with certain beef breeds is definitely no sillier than a lot of the the breed crosses I read about on this board.

WHY? Why not? Anyone is free to breed as good or as bad cattle as they desire......purebred or crossed....and their ideas probably make just as much sense to them as yours do to you.
 
Beth,

What you want to do already has been done. A guy named Harry hays crossed Holstein bull on hereford range cows in Alberta in the 1950's and then added a little brown swiss on top of it. The result is called a hays converter. It is the number one breed on ROP performance in Canada. Roy Berg at the University of Alberta raised dairy cross composite lines for beef production and was successful at it. These cattle only had around 30% beef breeding. They outperformed a traditional beef breed synthetic line by a substantial amount. So this has been done and quite well I would suggest using your big holstien only if you do not have to make a living off your herd and if they are straight britsh breed cattle. A continential breed usually doesn't need the milk or the growth.

Mark
> I'd like to cross my HUGE holsteinean breed
> bull with a good "beef"
> breed? Any suggestions? Would
> gelbveih do?



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We crossed our BIG Shorthorn bull with a big Friesian cow and the resulting crossbred had a steer that dressed out at 330kg as a 2 year old. Really tender meat to. Maybe a European breed also? Jo

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> I'd like to cross my HUGE holstein
> bull with a good "beef"
> breed? Any suggestions? Would
> gelbveih do?

OK Beth i have raised a total of 4 count then four steers.(although i didnt know what certified angus was) I think it makes me some kind of EXPERT.In my Expert opinion,I would suggest a very large beef cow.



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