ALACOWMAN":19t1o3nf said:A lot has changed in that aspect this day and age...with both simm.and chars..remember being at the vets back in the 90s... Registered simmi. breeder was there with a cow having trouble... Pulled the calf, it weighed 198 pds..Never seen one that big.. Don't expect to again.. Calf looked 2 mo. old.. Hit the ground looking for teats..
I really like the dark red and the yellow look. As far as Semen goes are there any bulls you would recommend? Would be ai them to some longhorn cross cows? Like to keep the heifers and the steers will be freezer beef so color is not a problem.cattleman99":3bmuhsjv said:Breed almost exclusively Fleckvieh, do use the odd Black Simmental and Shorthorn through AI but only a handful or less a year. I am slowly getting them all non-dilutor. Pros are maternal traits in the females, calving ease is easy to find nowadays, you can get polled if you want (I don't use polled unless they are calving ease) increased weaning and yearling weights and they are in strong demand.
Every year the demand is increasing for the bulls. Crossed with Angus or any other black breed they will leave a little Crome and produce the best baldy cows out there. The feed efficiency of the Fleckvieh is very strong.
Cons like any other breed there are good and bad ones. Some of the bulls from the 80s were hard calving and you have to watch you don't get too much milk which can lead to fertility issues. Certain bulls throw yellow and lots of white but that can be avoided nowadays.
I knew they improved Fleckvieh but there are more old traditional Fleckviehs here than improved "flecks". Spotted, giant and milky ones.cattleman99":2f0r7r7w said:You obviously haven't seen many Fleckvieh cows in the past 20 years or longer. 90 per cent of my herd is from 1200-1400 lbs. There are outliers in all breeds. The modern Fleckvieh is feed efficient and dark red and goggle eyed. Some are even solid red now. The calves still push the scales down in the fall though.
These ain't dairy cows that I am talking about. They are full beef type. Im just saying that there are more traditional Fleckviehs here (my area) than the improved Fleckviehs. But it seems that people preferred black Simmentals over both traditional and improved Fleckviehs anyways.cattleman99":2o9ui3e7 said:There are a lot of Fleckvieh bulls moving into the Dakotas from Canada. All going into commercial black herds. They have to be non dilutors. The cows you are talking about Muddy are endangered species.
There are a lot of dairy Fleckvieh cows in Wisconsin. They are being used on Holsteins. They are white and yellow and traditional looking. Basically a different breed. Must be what you are talking about. There is a dairy stain of Fleckvieh as well selected for different traits. Basically a different breed all together.