Gelbvieh

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Hunter

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Could I get some pros and cons for this breed?

Currently running a black angus bull on Limo X commercial cows w/ a few angus females.
It is always an option to retain some heifers when/if time is right.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
 
there are no cons to it! :p Meaty and moderate framed would be the standout qualities in my books. I got a GV bull by accident when I was in a pinch (other bull quit breeding), and it was the best thing that ever happened for the herd
 
Help a guy with a angus cow herd and gb Bulls. The gb have great disposition, and there calfs grow. Only knock I have heard is every once in awhile you get one that will overproduce milk and get pulled down really bad.
 
I have several Gelbvieh, and Balancer cattle, They can raise some whopper calves. As stated they can have a lot of milk, just choose a bull to compliment your cows.
 
Do any of you have a preference on going with a Gelbvieh bull with Angus crossed cows or other way around?

I did a quick search and found some information but if you have anything to add thanks in advance.
 
BC":139a07tg said:
Muddy":139a07tg said:
The only one con I knows is their occasionally extra skin.
Why is this a problem?

For commercial people. the buyers don't like to buy that extra weight involved with the extra skin. To me they are starting to clean up quite a bit lately. B&G
 
Hunter":6xjdgylh said:
Do any of you have a preference on going with a Gelbvieh bull with Angus crossed cows or other way around?

I did a quick search and found some information but if you have anything to add thanks in advance.

That's how I make my Balancers Reg. PB black Gelbvieh on Reg. PB Black Angus cows. B&G






 
Thanks for sharing the pictures and information.
Do the calves come easy for the most part?

B/c I just started and have an angus bull I may look to add some cows/heifers first.
But, I could always sell my current bull.
 
Hunter":negyhr3m said:
Thanks for sharing the pictures and information.
Do the calves come easy for the most part?

B/c I just started and have an angus bull I may look to add some cows/heifers first.
But, I could always sell my current bull.

Yes they do. They are about like black Angus, there are growth Cow bulls down to sleep all night heifer bulls. You just try to fit the bull to your needs or wants. B&G
 
I helped select one Balancer bull. He is out of a top bred GV bull and a nice big PB Angus cow. The first issue I have is he doesn't have enough frame size and most I've seen doesn't either. Even the PB's I've seen. It could be the bloodlines. All of these are out of what is considered by many to be a top herd in KS. Too much leather is another issue. Growth is ok but not as much as we get from some of our PB Angus. We will be calving the first daughters this fall. I've seen some half sisters to this bull. Most have plenty of milk but some could use better teats. We've been docked some on the calves sired by him. Even out of 1,500-1,600 lb cows they don't have enough frame size. Not sure we will buy another one. I know the two breeders where we got him have a lot of bulls left this year. Have heard the demand for the Balancers and GV's has dropped off. Again it is likely the bloodlines that are available in our area. The sire was a young bull when we selected ours so was hoping his mature frame size and that of his calves would be at least a 5.0 and preferably a 5.5. It didn't happen.
 
I think the moderate frame size is one of the best parts of them... My cows from my gelbvieh bull grow out to about 1400ish lbs, which I find is about perfect... If you want bigger, go to Shorthorn or Limo... I found the calves from the moderate GV cows are every bit as heavy as the ones from the much bigger SH's
 
Nesikep":uti5q15c said:
I think the moderate frame size is one of the best parts of them... My cows from my gelbvieh bull grow out to about 1400ish lbs, which I find is about perfect... If you want bigger, go to Shorthorn or Limo... I found the calves from the moderate GV cows are every bit as heavy as the ones from the much bigger SH's

Again it is likely the bloodlines involved. But a frame 4.0-4.5 is what I'm seeing and the heifers are just now almost two and they look like they will appear to mature at 1250 or less. The other concern I have is I saw some 2 y/o half sisters to this bulls sire a while back and the breeder was having to milk some of them because of teat size. They were nice made very moderate females. By this time next year we will have a good feel for how they are going to work in our herd. At this time I wouldn't buy another but may change my mind. I like a cow to mature at 1,350-1,450 and don't feel any of these will make it although some of their mothers is going over 1,500. We sold one of them last week and she weighed 1,650 and her heifer I don't think will ever beat 1,300.
 
There's more variables within a breed than between them in most cases.

We've used them quite a bit over the years, mainly to replace the Simmental genetics we used prior, and I'll echo some of the points from above. Too much milk can be a problem, pay attention to what you're buying and what you have forage-wise. Personally, I like a 6-6.5 frame bull when I'm looking at GV's and have noticed it's harder to find now than it was 10 years ago.

And be careful putting them on cows with too much continental influence, GV are not known for marbling ability. We've butchered a few steers that were 75% or better GV and I won't do that again, 25-50% seems about ideal for us with the balance British.

As far as temperament goes, 99% of our GV influenced calves/cows are as gentle as can be but that 1% will be batsh*t crazy. I'm convinced that there's a wildcard gene that "clicks" every once in awhile and when it does, it's bad. Deal with it and move on.

Overall, Gelbvieh is my favorite breed to work with, (we also have Hereford and Angus), because they seem to be a happy medium between the other two. My biggest complaint with the breed is they are focusing too much on selling Balancer bulls instead of purebreds. Crossbred cows pay my bills, but you can keep your mongrel bulls.
 
As cfpinz noted, there is a great deal of variability in all breeds. We have had Gelbvieh and Gelbvieh influenced cattle for over 20 years, as well as a few other breeds.

Several previous posts mentioned too much milk, too much leather, too little frame, poor teats, etc. I agree with these statements. I can also show you Angus, Red Angus, Herefords, Simmental, Limousins, etc. with these same characteristics.

Within the Gelbvieh and Balancer breeds there are cattle that will meet your objectives for milk, frame, prettiness, nice teats and udders, good dispositions, etc.

Also, I have Balancers out of Angus bulls and Gelbvieh cows, and out of Gelbvieh bulls and Angus cows. I don't see a difference.

cfpinz, why do you call Balancer bulls "mongrel bulls"?
 
UG":3nuuww86 said:
As cfpinz noted, there is a great deal of variability in all breeds.

Several previous posts mentioned too much milk, too much leather, too little frame, poor teats, etc.
I agree with these statements. I can also show you Angus, Red Angus, Herefords, Simmental, Limousins, etc.
with these same characteristics.

cfpinz, why do you call Balancer bulls "mongrel bulls"?
I can't speak for cfpinz... but, A purebred bull on crossbred cows gives the most hybrid vigor.
A crossbred bull such as a balancer ect. on crossbred cows gives so much variation many refer to them as mongrels.

Other than a Craigslist 'Angus' for sale can't say I've ever seen an Angus with too much leather.

Hoss would post pictures of some nice Gelbviehs... anyone know whatever happened to him?
 

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