Fastest Growing Breed Cross?

[Son of Butch]

Haven't really thought of it in those terms... never tried it, but Maine Anjou x Charolais should grow like mad.

 

[Bullitt]

Haven't really thought of it in those terms... never tried it, but Maine Anjou x Charolais should grow like mad.

Would it make a difference which is the cow and which is the bull?

Maine Anjou is not very common, so I would suspect it would be easier to get one bull rather than a herd of cows of this breed.

 

[Caustic Burno]

This review highlights the accomplishments of three University of Florida beef cattle research locations from the 1940s through the late 1980s. These locations produced estimates of breed effects and heterosis for a variety of traits in Brahman and a number of other breeds. Most importantly, these facilities investigated the crossbred superiority (heterosis retained or expressed) in several crossbreeding systems, including terminal crosses, two and three breed rotations, and inter se matings (including F-1 and 3/8-5/8 parents). Results generally supported the dominance model of heterosis expression for most reproductive and calf growth traits.
https://www.brahman.org/PDFs/Florida-Cr ... search.pdf

 

[Bullitt]

Brahman F1 Cow ,bred to Simmental or Charolais..

Would the calves grow as well if the calves are from a herd of Simmental or Charolais cows and use a Braford bull?

I know Braford cows work well along the Gulf Coast and other hot areas.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Brahman F1 Cow ,bred to Simmental or Charolais..

Would the calves grow as well if the calves are from a herd of Simmental or Charolais cows and use a Braford bull?

I know Braford cows work well along the Gulf Coast and other hot areas.

You want the heterosis in the cow....the performance in the cross...from two breeds that complement each other..the calf is the benefit.. the crossbred bull gets tied up,and can't reproduce itself, its why the 3 breed rotation works best...

 

[TexasBred]

Happy New Year Everyone!

What is the fastest growing breed cross? I understand that a cross breed will grow faster.

If you could choose the breed of cow and breed of bull to have a calf that grew the fastest, what breeds would you choose for the cow and the bull?

Growth is one think. You also have to have something that the market wants or you'll take a beating.

 

[Mr. Greenjeans]

The Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) in Nebraska has studied growth rates of purebred calves. Breed difference data shows Gelbvieh superiority in weaning weights per cow exposed.

Within this statement is so many variabilities when considering crossbred calves. Due to milking alone, an Gelbvieh+Angus calf would grow different if the mother was Gelbvieh vs Angus due to milking averages of each breed. Higher Weaning weight EPD's could prove problematic if the environment or recipient cow breed was not prepared to support the higher growth genetics.

My vote would be be Brahman bull covering Gelbvieh cows at 75 degrees in knee high alfalfa.

 

[Bullitt]

Growth is one think. You also have to have something that the market wants or you'll take a beating.

I realize that. I have mentioned that this is just considering growth and not looking at what sells best in a particular region.

 

[Bullitt]

The Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) in Nebraska has studied growth rates of purebred calves. Breed difference data shows Gelbvieh superiority in weaning weights per cow exposed.

Within this statement is so many variabilities when considering crossbred calves. Due to milking alone, an Gelbvieh+Angus calf would grow different if the mother was Gelbvieh vs Angus due to milking averages of each breed. Higher Weaning weight EPD's could prove problematic if the environment or recipient cow breed was not prepared to support the higher growth genetics.

My vote would be be Brahman bull covering Gelbvieh cows at 75 degrees in knee high alfalfa.

That high alfalfa helps a lot for all breeds.

Those Germans are creative with their names, aren't they? Gelbvieh means yellow cattle.

Do you have any pictures of Brahman X Gelbvieh calves/cattle?

 

[Bullitt]

Brahman F1 Cow ,bred to Simmental or Charolais..

That cross will wean 20% heavier than any two way cross

There is a chart in this article about cross breeding. https://futurebeef.com.au/knowledge-cen ... ef-cattle/

It shows that a two-breed cross produces 8.5 % more weight at weaning, and a three-breed cross produces 23.3% weight at weaning compared to straight breeding.

That is nearly a quarter more in weight than just breeding cattle of the same breed. That is very impressive.

It seems the easiest way would be to buy replacement heifers that are a cross, such as the Brahman X Hereford, and breed those to purebred bull. A two-breed cross does not come close to the weight gain seen with a three-breed cross.

 

[ez14.]

Growth is one think. You also have to have something that the market wants or you'll take a beating.

I realize that. I have mentioned that this is just considering growth and not looking at what sells best in a particular region.

Why exactly are you asking this question? Seems odd to ask about it if you don't really care how their going to sell!

 

[Bullitt]

Growth is one think. You also have to have something that the market wants or you'll take a beating.

I realize that. I have mentioned that this is just considering growth and not looking at what sells best in a particular region.

Why exactly are you asking this question? Seems odd to ask about it if you don't really care how their going to sell!

I am just curious to find out what crosses create the fastest growth in calves. Aren't you curious about anything? I have learned quite a bit from this thread.

I can then take what I learned and see what works best for my region. I care what sells.

Do you have any suggestions for crosses that produce fast growing calves?

 

[WalnutCrest]

If you get F1 Braford (Hereford sired), use a third bred ... there Brahman in those heifers ... then ... Hereford back on those heifers, etc.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Breed regression , your not taking advantage of the hybrid vigor from cross breeding...

 

[WalnutCrest]

If that's directed at me, I'm proposing a three (or four) breed rotation. Whay are you talking about?

 

[Stocker Steve]

In the north - - a 3 way cross with a lot of continental will give you the fastest growing beef animal.
If you don't care how they look or last - - you can substitute stein for one of the continental breeds.
The point Kit makes is these are not the most profitable cows per acre, and land OH is huge is this country.
So fastest growing is the wrong direction if you have a profit goal, and don't have free grass.

PS I have a couple 1,550# cows for sale. :cowboy:

 

[Caustic Burno]

If you get F1 Braford (Hereford sired), use a third bred ... there Brahman in those heifers ... then ... Hereford back on those heifers, etc.

You lost 7 to 10 % doing that.
Dr Riley has tons of research at University of Florida and TAMU on hybred gains across breeds.
You maximize at 3 crosses and start regression at 4. It is not just getting any 3 breeds either.
Now all F-1 crosses are not created equal. The worst is Angus/SH the best Hereford/Brahman.

 

[Stocker Steve]

You maximize at 3 crosses and start regression at 4. It is not just getting any 3 breeds either.

Locally:
We have a lot of small operations here that buy black bulls. Usually angus, always black... Red herds are uncommon but they are increasing slowly.
We have a couple operations that are sim angus, but few of their replacements are F1s. A lot of 5/8 and 3/4 bloods. So basically a breed up deal that may use angus sires on heifers.
We also have one operation that runs both angus and herf to create F1s, which get bred back to angus.

So why so few commercial three breed or 3 sire rotations? Is this just a central Minnesota issue?

 

[ALACOWMAN]

You maximize at 3 crosses and start regression at 4. It is not just getting any 3 breeds either.

Locally we have a lot of small operations here that buy black bulls. Usually angus, always black... Red herds are uncommon but they are increasing slowly.
We have a couple operations that are sim angus, but few of their replacements are F1s. A lot of 5/8 and 3/4 bloods. Basically a breed up deal that may use angus sires on heifers.
We have one operation that runs both angus and herf to create F1s, which get bred back to angus.

So why so few commercial three breed or 3 sire rotations?

biggest reason Is,having to use ""keep"" multiple Bulls...

 

[Bullitt]

You maximize at 3 crosses and start regression at 4. It is not just getting any 3 breeds either.
Now all F-1 crosses are not created equal. The worst is Angus/SH the best Hereford/Brahman.

It seems logical to me to use three breeds that are the least closely related. Angus and Shorthorn are both from England, so they are too closely related, I would think. Although, people seem to like the Angus X Hereford. Maybe those breeds are not closely related.

You have Hereford, a British breed, Brahman, a breed created from cattle from India, and then you put a continental European breed, such as Charolais, Limousin, or Simmental, on those cows and you have a good three-way cross.