Hereford crosses....buy...yay or nay

[greggy]

Will start post by saying I have been looking for Hereford heifers to grow to later breed baldies...or Herefords.

I got offered the below, but am told one is x shorthorn, one galloway...

The male does not matter as he will go down the track...the female i am told has galloway...

What would she throw if put with Angus...what if with Hereford, trying to work out if is worthwhile, pricing is right.

What also worries me is she looks hereford to me, have a few with the red eye patches...what do you say ? She is on left

 

[gcreekrch]

The heifer is a far better individual of the two. Buy low, sell high!

 

[Aaron]

I would buy both cheap, feed and send on their way. Certainly nothing I would consider breeding.

 

[CG1]

I love breeding the mutts. But not ones that give me white on the body. For whatever reason they never sell well here. I aim for all black now.

I have a friend that has this mix. Hereford x Galloway. Hers look much different tho. They are all pregnant with an angus bull. In my experience they usually are black with a white face. Some with white spots on their bellies. But look like this.

This is Hereford x Galloway

 

[MNBelties]

The hereford x Galloway heifer should be fine. Just treat it as a Hereford x Angus.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Don't presume to know what your cattle buying opportunities are there..so the heifer is a toss up..

 

[greggy]

The heifer is a far better individual of the two. Buy low, sell high!

Can I ask why ?

I also did not mention age, the heifer has a month on the bull, so bull approx 3 month and heifer is 4m both on mothers atm.

 

[greggy]

I love breeding the mutts. But not ones that give me white on the body. For whatever reason they never sell well here. I aim for all black now.

I have a friend that has this mix. Hereford x Galloway. Hers look much different tho. They are all pregnant with an angus bull. In my experience they usually are black with a white face. Some with white spots on their bellies. But look like this.

This is Hereford x Galloway

I assume mother of heifer must be a solid colour, maybe even a red, I will ask.

The hereford must have dominated, cause does not look like a baldy and def no belt there

 

[greggy]

The hereford x Galloway heifer should be fine. Just treat it as a Hereford x Angus.

So, as good as a baldie basically, some galloways look like shorter angus anyways, the red has me wondering though.

 

[greggy]

Don't presume to know what your cattle buying opportunities are there..so the heifer is a toss up..

They are not a gift, thats for sure.

we are in drought, so they openly told me they are not as big as usual and want them off the mothers....so at least, if nothing else, i know the history.

The drought means lots are selling down, but prices have held, but also at yards they often are in mobs of 5, 10, 20 etc, and you do not get time to think, nor any idea of history, I dare say these would both be passed off as Hereford at the barn....

I am told they are approx 200 to 230lb, they have not weighed them, but I have pretty good idea of a 100kg animal. Sale barn is about a buck a pound or more for steer possibly.

They are being offered at a reasonable price.

Bull would be sold later as steer at 400to 500lb, I am hand feeding anyway, so could re evaluate every 3 months.

Later I will prob seek pure polled Hereford from some breeders, I have a mix of breeds, so if nothing else I will learn and be able to compare performance betwwen breeds and crosses, I am doing a lot of this too learn.

 

[greggy]

Mother is black.

Calf must have 2 red genes ?

If she is put to a black Angus, she should throw a black baldy if to black angus, and a red baldy if to a red angus ?

I am wondering why she did not come out as a black baldy ? Maybe mum has something else in her, or is that (her) resulting colour and.marking possible if hereford bull to black angus.....I thought it would always be black baldy...

 

[MNBelties]

Galloway cattle comes in different colors...dun, black, red, white, riggit and belted. I got both solid black and belted galloways here. Last year I bred them to a polled hereford bull and I got a red baldy calf out of a solid black galloway cow.

If you bred the red baldy calf you mentioned, to a black Angus bull, I would expecting her giving you a black calf or a black baldy calf, assuming the Angus bull is a homozygous black.

 

[greggy]

Seeing I want black baldies or black calves...or greys from my MGs or Hereford......then she may be worth taking and growing.....

What do you thing she may give if put back to Hereford.....could potentially still throw a baldy ? Or will it be Hereford...

I was thinking the red may be dominant with her already seeing she came out red from a black galloway....

On another note....how similar would the result have been if the mother was a black Angus....or is black Angus far more dominant with the black colouring than Galloway ?

 

[greggy]

The hereford x Galloway heifer should be fine. Just treat it as a Hereford x Angus.

Maybe I should start a thread on Galloway compared to Angus.

My knowledge, which is little, would have difference mainly being

Shorter leg
Medium size
Longer coat ....

How does the coat compare to Hereford....mine have more coat than my Angus....although some Angus calves seem fairly hairy ....

 

[MNBelties]

https://beef-cattle.extension.org/color-patterns-in-crossbred-beef-cattle/

 

[gcreekrch]

The heifer is a far better individual of the two. Buy low, sell high!

Can I ask why ?

I also did not mention age, the heifer has a month on the bull, so bull approx 3 month and heifer is 4m both on mothers atm.

Steer is tall and quite narrow.

 

[greggy]

Went and got them.

Saw mothers too.... bull calfs mother is a large shorthorn ....

Heifer calfs mother is the Galloway, and I must have mixed it up, the mother has red in her coat...but is mainly black...but that proba ly explains why she looks only like a Hereford...

Size wise....well they are well past 200lbs....they would be 250ish...and yes, the heifer is far chunkier...head neck, rear and deep. No man handling of her unless you want a ride round the pen.....lol

Heifers mother was said to be stunted due to a very poor start....but my understanding is that wont matter to offsprings potential....she was still a decent size mid frame cow...but not anywhere near a full size angus or shorthorn....

With the extra size from the Hereford sire, she prob has a good potential, anyway, it seems the Galloway was providing more nutrients and was in much better condition than the shorthorn and her bull calf....but he will be fine too....plenty if time too fill out...