Stocker Steve":2cj5vvtf said:3waycross":2cj5vvtf said:In no particular order, Gelbvieh, hereford,Red Angus, and Shorthorn.
Red angus have better temperaments than the blacks?
Just like everything else ; all I can offer is MY opinion based on MY experience but I honestly believe they are more docile cattle. I know this is anectdotal but I will offer an exapmle or two. I looked at 3 different herds of Red Angus this spring looking for a bull to buy. The first was Brian Axtell's cattle out east of Denver, we walked into over a hundred cows somw with brand new calves as they were clustered around the feeders I was actually walking up to cows who had never seen me before and pushing them away from the feeder so that I could look at them. I also walked between cows and their day old calves without ANY alarm on their part even reached down and scratched a couple of the little fellers. The young bulls were pretty much the same at all 3 places. The main behaviour I saw expressed was to very calmly move away from you as you approached, this includes the bulls. The only exception I saw in all 3 herds was the guy who sold us our bull. He had 40 yearling heifers in a big corral. They were just like a pen full of Elk, which is to be expected. I personally have never seen anything goofier than large bunches of yearling heifers of ANY breed.
Too this day the RA bull we bought will very calmly walk away as he is approached. The only exception I have seen was when my partner walked out into the pasture one day and the bull didn't see him get out of a vehicle or anything familiar. He looked at him and threw a little dirt , but when the partner spoke to him he just lowered his head and went back to grazing. I would expect and do expect that attitude from my bull when anything strange comes into the pasture. It's his herd after all. For the record when we worked the calves and vacinated this spring the bull very calmly walked into the chute and let us vacinate him without showing any expression at all.
I'm sure there are exceptions to what I have said but in general they are very calm cattle. I have not found the blacks to be that way but for the record the two main BA herds I have been around are huge 1500 and 4800 and they don't get much contact with folks except to be worked and trucked or driven to summer pasture. The neighbor who I mentioned in another thread has around 100 registered BA and she culls rigorously for behaviour problems so she has some pretty good cattle but they are still more high headed than the RA's I have been around, and they will chase you a long ways, if you touch a calf before the new wears off.
For the record If I had to choose a favorite breed to work with now it would be the Gelbvieh's. I grew up with herefords that were pretty darned tame. Heck my Grandpa had a bull that we used to halter and ride a 1/2 mile down the road to breed my uncles milk cow.
One last thought, and I don't want to PO the limi breeders, I know a fellow near here who has them and has had to build handling facilitites that look like he raises Buffalo. However, to be fair he buys limi's that go cheap and then deals with the problems as they come. Chances are he is buying other people's problem cattle and it shows. He's a lot better cowboy than me, and he needs to be.