Herefords Cross

[brierpatch1974]

Just curious on what people would recomend to cross with hereford cows. Tell me what breed and why. lol and please don't list the why as becuase its Black Give me a reason to go with it .

BP

 

[certherfbeef]

The herf simmy cross does real well for me. I get the baldie that every one pays a premium for but I get the added milk from the simmy.
Not to mention I fancy the simmy more than the black angus.

 

[Angus Guy]

I like Hereford cows bred to Angus bulls. The calves grow and sell very good just about everywhere.

 

[Beefy]

brahman or brangus b/c theyre pretty.

 

[Bez?]

Just curious on what people would recomend to cross with hereford cows. Tell me what breed and why. lol and please don't list the why as becuase its Black Give me a reason to go with it .

BP

I have not seen an animal they do not cross well with. So - what sells well in your area?

That would be my initial thought.

Bez?

 

[Australian Cattleman]

From our experience our Herefords cross well with Brahman,South Devon,Gelbvieh and Angus. They seem to add that extra bit of fleshing and size. I know that hybrid vigour also is the reason for a size increase. Some of our best breeders are our first cross SD Hereford and also our 3/4 SD 1/4 Hereford and of course the F1 Brahmans and Black Baldies.
I fully concur with Bez,they do cross well with anything.
Colin

 

[cfpinz]

Some of the best cows I've ever owned were herf/simmi crosses.

cfpinz

 

[jnowack]

I had good luck crossing with Gelbvieh. Added 100 lbs to weaning weights. The cross females milk much better than the herfords, they reach puberty quicker and were more fertile. We also had less calving problems with gelbvieh bulls on the herford cows than with the straight herford calves and less trouble with scours.

 

[3MR]

Just curious on what people would recomend to cross with hereford cows. Tell me what breed and why. lol and please don't list the why as becuase its Black Give me a reason to go with it .

BP

Id pick a black cow becasue they give chocolate milk.

 

[AAOK]

Maine-Anjou
My Father-in Law has been in the Polled Hereford business for close to 50 years. I breed a few Maines, but just for Show Calves. Probably about 15 years ago, I had a cow that just didn't produce the "showy" calves that I needed. I sold her to my FIL and he bred her to his Hereford bull. She had a white faced, black, polled heifer calf which outperformed any of the Hereford calves. Through the years, he kept all of her heifers, and in about 1996 he purchased his first purebred, black Maine-Anjou bull from me. Now, all 40 of his cows are 1/2 Maine/Hereford. About 7-8 are red. Probably 6-8 are solid color.

All of these cows are heavier boned, bigger footed, more muscled than the Polled Herefords, but still extremely feminine cows. All have pigmented eyes. Overall disposition of his herd is more calm, and he swears they don't take any more feed. (No test to confirm).

He sells all calves at public auction, and normally tops the sale.

 

[VanC]

As has been said before, Herefords cross well with just about anything. Really depends on a few things as far as what would be best:

Are you going to retain heifers or sell all calves?
How are your feed resources? Grass only or grain, too?
How are you going to market the calves? If at an auction barn, what sells well in your area?
AI or natural service? If natural, what kind of good bulls are available in your area at a reasonable price?

Without knowing the answers to these questions, I would say Angus is always a good bet. But lots of other possibilities.