Dutch Belted and Gelbvieh Cross???

[Grass-Fed]

Has anyone ever seen a Dutch Belted Bull used on Gelbvieh cows before?
The Dutch Belted cows are so rare it seems hard to string together a large herd. The Dutch Belted Cattle Association of America has a breeding up program, but you can only use "dairy" cows to breed up. I think the Gelbvieh cows would be a good choice for a breed up program, they are a good beef cow that still give a good amount of milk.

 

[dun]

Since Dutch Belteds are adairy breed it makes sense that thye would want to keep all the dairy character they can.

 

[Grass-Fed]

I am by no means saying they should change the breed standard, by the time you put 6 generations of Dutch Belted bulls on almost any cow I would assume it should meet the breed standard. I was just thinking that with the Gelbvieh mother cows producing a good amout of milk and being much better mothers then some dairy cows, the F1 and F2 steers and cull helfers would be worth way more then an F1 Steer from a DB Jersey Cross. Maybe my Grandfather is just over exaggerating, which he can do, but he always says "When a Jersey bull calf is born, the smartest move you can make is to hit it in the head with a hammer."

 

[dun]

A dairy near me used a DB bull on his Holsteins. 4 generations later most of them still looked like DB. Since their purpose is dairy I would assume it doesn;t matter a whole lot about the maternal abilitys of the cow since they're gonna be machine milked anyway.

 

[JeffMills517]

I see what you are saying though. It seems that if you have to meet the standard anyway, it shouldn't matter what you use to breed up...to a certain extent. And you might as well be able to make a little money on your first crosses by using a continental breed to add some muscle.

 

[hillsdown]

Lakenvelders are dual purpose there is a beef breed and a dairy breed . The beef Lakenvelders are built like blocks, and I mean square . My FIL has a well known PB reg herd at the castle in Holland . I know that they export semen as well.

 

[vontrapp1]

I see what you are saying though. It seems that if you have to meet the standard anyway, it shouldn't matter what you use to breed up...to a certain extent. And you might as well be able to make a little money on your first crosses by using a continental breed to add some muscle.

Let me ask this question. Is your intent to turn your dutch belted animals into beef animals or to start a beef strain out of them? If so by all means start breeding the to a beef breed as base to start. If however your intent is to have a dairy herd you will be saving yourself years of work starting with a dairy breed. After you have your herd in place breed to a beef breed bull to produce calves to sale if you must. Not of course for replacements.

Regards ,
DG

 

[Rustler9]

Check out Buelingo which is a composite breed using Dutch Belted, Limousin and some other beef breeds. Dickinson Cattle Co in Ohio has them. This sounds similar to what you are wanting to breed.

 

[Grass-Fed]

I have seen the Buelingos. The Dutch Belted is endangered. I was thinking that useing the bulls on Gelbvieh cows it would produce a very good cow for both meat and milk. The Dutch Belted is a meaty dairy cow and the Gelbvieh is a beef cow with good milk output, it seems like a great way to bring the Dutch Belteds back from the brink.

 

[hillsdown]

I will get my BIL to email me pics of his dads herd and post them here for you to see a real beef herd of the Lakenvelders ( dutch blanket/belted cows ).