Jersey and Friesians.... Breeding Questions

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Missy

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ok so as some of you are aware,i am doing an AI course shortly :D

I have Mainly jersey with a couple of Friesian cows in my herd of foster cows :)
I am curious as to what to breed them too_Obviously i would like the resulting calf to be saleable.
In my local area, dairy farmers are AI'ing their dairy cows to Murray Greys, Herefords, Angus and Brahman and these calves tend to sell easily.

We run Angus cattle and honestly,i am not a fan of them :|
Alot of them have ratty natures,kick and are just plain stupid... :mad:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Brahamns....
I like the Hereford and Murray Grey crosses aswell.
I have been doing some reading about the Piedmontese and i really like them but i worry they might be too much for the jersey's calving wise :?:

So after much studying , i have come to the conclusion that fat calves (under 4 months) make great money and it doesnt matter what colour they are. The shorter and fatter the better as they go straight to slaughter.

So ideally i would be after shorter bulls that produce short calves that put on weight quickly :!:
I also would prefer to breed to polled bulls only.

So am i sounding like a nutt case or do i make sense :oops:

I would love some input about the jersey/friesian calving ease ,where i might be able to look up some potential sires and any other information anyone is prepared to give :help:

Thanks in advance :D
 
I pick Murray Grey.

But they're your cows. And it sounds like you've got a good veal market, which makes a big difference. Angus are easier to sell than Murray Grey so that's what I use on mine. I'm not familiar with the Brahman or Piedmontese, but any of those other breeds would do what you want. I've seen Piedmontese bulls running with Friesian herds but don't think I'd be risking one on any of my cattle.

Try the dairy AI companies for dairy beef semen. I don't know if it's the same in Aussie, but most of the NZ companies are offering beef bulls selected primarily on calving ease for a few dollars a straw. You get to pick the breed but not the individual bull (and with Hereford you can specify polled).

A Jersey three years or older, unless she's very small framed, shouldn't have any problems bred to a moderate sized breed (Hereford, Angus &c).
Friesian and crossbred are less likely to cope with a larger-breed calf - moderate breeds are best for them too.
 
I'd look into this guy for MG - $80 a straw

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http://abri.une.edu.au/online/cgi-bin/i ... 2=4342415F

And contact these people for SM

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Second choice for Squares would be these people:

kelkette.jpg


This is one of their steers - champ hoof and hook at melb a few years ago. He's actually a small MG not a SM but you get the idea.

Beanie07.jpg

All three here are from this breeder
Beanie01.jpg


Also this guy is an interesting sire:

yuri.jpg


WINDRIDGE YURI WRY3A dob : 2/11/03
Sire : Falling Waters Rupert
Dam : Windridge Velvet
Genestar tested : M 2, T 7, FE 4.

Scan results Royal Melbourne Show 2006 : 800kg, Fat Score 9/9, EMA 117

Grand Champion Square Meater Bull, Royal Melbourne Show, 2004, 2005, 2006.
Small Breeds Interbreed Champion Bull, Inaugural National Beef Show Bendigo, 2006.

I know they had a 1/3 semen share up for sale, they might also sell straws I'm not sure. Their contact details: Contact Peter Brown – PH: 03 5422 2329, or
EMAIL: [email protected]
 
Are you going to raise the offspring to sale or butcher?? If I planed to sell them I'd probably look into crossing them with Brahman...get some heat risistance in them and in my area they ring the bell when they sell....Red Brahman usually throw a little smaller calf than grey. After being in the dairy business a number of years I don't pay much attention to "calving ease" numbers as it seems all jerseys and holsteins love to keep you up trying to calve.
 
Thanks guys,i do like the MG cross :D

Texasbred, what did you mean by the last sentence? I thought they calved out well!!!

Calves will be sold on,i do like the brahmnas too :D

Local guys have been saying $8-$15 a straw they pay. I wouldnt blink at $80 if i were breeding straight MG's for myself,he is lovely, but i am only breeding slaughter cross bred calves so that will be digging into my profit considerably!!

Anyone else got any suggestions
 
I would def. go with the square meaters for vealer calves ... they are a speciality veal breed. Basically they are short cattle that grow fast - and are designed to go to slaughter straight off mum's milk. Dont know what straws will cost though. I'd maybe contact the society. You can always split straws to lower costs, though its a little tricky the first few times you do it - one of your local dairy farmers could maybe show you how to do it.
 
Both Piedmontese & Brahman when crossed with Jersey cows will usually have calves much the same size as a purebred Jersey, than after about 4-6 weeks the Pied will start adding muscle. The Brahman calf will take a little longer to start growing (or the 1 I saw did) I do agree with Keren that you want a smaller breed so something like a Lowline, Dexter, mini Hereford, Square Meater or any small breed will be what I think you should be looking for. I can say from personal experience that the Square Meater calves hit the ground growing & don't look back & finish really well on grass only.
 
Loch Valley Fold":3k6aetbg said:
I can say from personal experience that the Square Meater calves hit the ground growing & don't look back & finish really well on grass only.

:nod: :clap: Thats why I like em

I think Dexter would be to dairy ... and lowies could work but all those I've had the (dis)pleasure to deal with werent as easy fleshing as the squares
 
"I think Dexter would be to dairy
Thats true too, with the lack of ebv's & information for the Dexters you need to do a lot of leg work looking for the "right" bull to breed to.
Red Polls or Gelbvieh could be another option not too sure on temperament or birth weights for the Gelbvieh's though
 
Loch Valley Fold":2g49lx4a said:
"I think Dexter would be to dairy
Thats true too, with the lack of ebv's & information for the Dexters you need to do a lot of leg work looking for the "right" bull to breed to.
Red Polls or Gelbvieh could be another option not too sure on temperament or birth weights for the Gelbvieh's though

I think Gelb would be too large framed and late maturing for vealer production ...
 

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