I'd love to have a herd of these!

[Nesikep]

I was looking through some old pictures of cows I have, and had to scan a couple

THIS is how a simmental used to look, and I don't see how anyone thought they could improve on it
Tons of milk, lots of meat, and nice to look at.. I bet she'd raise 2 700 lb calves with a good bull on her

Here is a pic (found online I think) of a brown swiss I really like

And another

 

[Sean M]

That Simmental looks like it would produce a great calf. I'd love to get a few of those. Maybe without the horns :nod: . How do you think the breed has changed from those types? (I don't know anything about them).

 

[ALACOWMAN]

dual purpose she looks great,, but not as a beef only

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

They are all black now and look more like a angus.

 

[mlazyj]

I remember the firsts Simmentals I saw back in 77 . They were from a farm in British Columbia I believe it was Black Forest Simmentals . They were huge . The bulk of the beef cattle at our fair were Herefords with some Angus thrown in . Those Semmi's just dwarfed them. I'd never seen cattle with bone that big . Of course the next year somebody showed up with a Chi.

 

[angusdave63]

we had a herd of them in the 80's man they could eat alot of hay in a cold winter. but always seemed to raise nice calves.

 

[FarmGirl10]

Love the giant bell in the second picture.

 

[P.A.L]

European Simmental cow weights 1000-1200kg (2200lbs+). They eat like a dinosaurs. Twice more than good Angus or Hereford. They milk well and raise huge calves. Growth and europ-classifications are good, but not as good as chars. Also poor eating quality.

 

[ANAZAZI]

European Simmental cow weights 1000-1200kg (2200lbs+). They eat like a dinosaurs. Twice more than good Angus or Hereford. They milk well and raise huge calves. Growth and europ-classifications are good, but not as good as chars. Also poor eating quality.

I second this.

 

[3waycross]

European Simmental cow weights 1000-1200kg (2200lbs+). They eat like a dinosaurs. Twice more than good Angus or Hereford. They milk well and raise huge calves. Growth and europ-classifications are good, but not as good as chars. Also poor eating quality.

They don't marble well? or are they tough?

 

[P.A.L]

European Simmental cow weights 1000-1200kg (2200lbs+). They eat like a dinosaurs. Twice more than good Angus or Hereford. They milk well and raise huge calves. Growth and europ-classifications are good, but not as good as chars. Also poor eating quality.

They don't marble well? or are they tough?

Simmental don't marble. Because of the heavy carcassweights (1100lbs) Meat isn't at it's best.(my opinion)

 

[Kingfisher]

You think that bells big enough? Is that from a post card?

 

[tncattle]

Seriously, why is that bell so big? Looks like you could fit a basketball in there. :lol2:

 

[ANAZAZI]

Seriously, why is that bell so big? Looks like you could fit a basketball in there. :lol2:

Then the sound would be affected :banana:

 

[UG]

Nesikep,

I too really like the looks of the traditional Simmentals and Braunviehs (the foundation breed of Brown Swiss).

When we started seeing the first Simmental cross calves in the early 70's I was hooked. I really appreciated their ruggedness, big bone, thickness, gentle dispositions, etc. Of course, the heavy birthweights were a problem, but over the years the Simmental breed has done a good job of bringing down birth weights and improving calving ease. Unfortunately, in doing so they seem to have bred some of the muscle and bone out of them (I assume that will naturally occur as producers select for lower birth weights and CE).

Though the marketplace in general (at least in the States) discounts spotted cattle and oftentimes anything other than black, I prefer the white faced and even "flowered" (spotted) Simmentals. Several long time Simmental breeders that I know have commented that they still have semen in the tank from the 70's and 80's, and most seem willing to sell it cheap (or give it away). I have toyed with the idea of buying some of it to breed to a couple cows in hopes of producing a heifer or two to add to the herd. It may take breeding those 1/2 blood "traditional" Simmy females to another traditional bull to get 3/4 progeny that have the appearance that I want (and possibly breeding up to 7/8ths). I would enjoy having one or two of those old traditional looking cows in the pasture (other than when I have to feed hay).

 

[ALACOWMAN]

better keep those OB chains close by

 

[Lucky_P]

PAL,
While the original Simmental imports, back in the late 60s-70s may not have marbled like an Angus, many of the 'modern' Simmentals sire calves that marble as well or better than those of some Angus sires. Selection for carcass quality and marbling has been occurring at the same time Simmental breeders have been selecting form more moderate frame, lower birthweights, and greater calving ease. At most of the bull sales I've been to in recent years, the Simmental bulls are smaller-framed than most of the Angus bulls of similar age.
While most of the popular Simmental sires of today are black, despite the Angus 'purists' claims that they're just mongrelized crossbred Angus - they most assuredly are not! In my herd, Simmental-sired calves - from low-BW, calving ease bulls still have noticeably more growth and substance to them than those sired by the high-growth Angus bulls we've been using.

If you look at some of the feed-out and carcass quality trials, Braunvieh-sired steers consistently out-perform other breeds.

Saw one of the semen distributors the other day had a bunch of 'old' Simmental semen on 'close-out sale' for like $5 or $10 per straw. I'd go back and use Alpine Polled Proto again, in a minute, if not for the color dilution that'll show up in half of his calves. But, his daughters were GREAT!

 

[Nesikep]

I know they can pack way the food pretty good, but they don't need a lot of high quality food, just a lot of food... the swiss alps where they come from have very few legumes, and it's mostly grasses... A neighbouring rancher had simm cross cows, and he'd kick them out onto the range, they were awsome and keeping track of where their calf was, and neither hell nor high water could keep the mother from getting back to her calf, and they averaged 700 lbs when they came home... and most of the range was bunchgrass... As for calving ease, I think they got a lot of bad rep when they got bred to the herefords, which have mediocre maternal calving ease at best, and just looking at the size of the cows should tell you that's not going to work (St Bernard on a chihuahua anyone?)... If you stack a simm bull on a cow relatively close to the same size (Simm, Saler, Shorthorn perhaps?) you probably won't have much trouble. I just don't like the idea that today's simmentals are completely unrecognizable from what they were, and that the (original) breed may be lost. All my cows are around frame 6-7, and I expect them to be capable of having a 120 lb calf by their 3rd calf without me having to worry. I do like a smaller calf from a heifer, but 90 lbs shouldn't be problematic for her either
As for the brown swiss, The same thing worries me, that the original breed will be lost while they are bred to be pure dairy cows, where production is the only criteria and the look of a beautiful animal is way down the list.

The bell? She must be one of the lead cows, and must be pretty old too, I found that picture online somewhere, I do remember the people said they were touring switzerland.

 

[3waycross]

I knew I had saved this pic for a reason. This is my cousin's flush cow at the age of five. There are still some real nice Fleckvieh left. You just gotta know where to look for them.

 

[Nesikep]

She is a nice cow, really nice and full, but she doesn't have the bag of the one I posted, she's more the beef type... what does she weigh in at? 1600ish?