Lowline angus Miniature hereford

[BK9954]

I know these are not popular animals on the site. I picked up some lowline angus, a lowline/hereford black baldie and a lowline angus heifers. What is recomended to breed with these besides another lowline or is there one? They have better % carcass yield per acre and bought them for the 5 acres by the house I use for my maternity pasture. Any suggestions? The rest of my herd is hereford, brangus and F1 tigerstripe. I picked them up for a good price.

 

[A.J.]

I don't have any experience with Lowlines, but I would think breeding them back to a Lowline or miniature Hereford would be your best bet for a good calf and to reduce the risk of calving difficulty. It's hard to beat a baldy calf. I guess it would come down to which breed had better Bulls available in your area. I hope they work out well for you.

 

[Muddy]

Unfortunately you didn't have much bull selection in a serious limited market. It doesn't matter what mini breed you're using on these lowline/mini herf heifers, the calves still won't bring much at the sale barn.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I like the Lowlines! They had a big group of steers on test at Chico State and they did very well. I would stick with breeding back to Lowline and sell private treaty. The miniature Herfords look weird to me. Like they have dwarfism. But good Angus Lowlines are quite attractive.

 

[WalnutCrest]

What is your market for the resulting calves? Are these pedigreed animals, and if so, do you want to get involved in a breed association and sell pedigreed livestock? Is there anything you're trying to achieve (4H shows, uber-hardy forage machines, great beef for your beef-buying clients, impress your friends at the sale barn, etc.)?

I'm happy to give you my opinion, but would appreciate a little more detail before doing so.

Good luck to you and your critters.

 

[KNERSIE]

Breed back to Lowline, miniature herefords are just a hobby.

 

[BK9954]

They are not registered. I may aell private to small acreage owners or probably 1 cow a year for personal meat. One of the the calves is a baldie from mini hereford and lowline. The calves wont bring much at the sale barn but private treaty are going for 700-800. With reduced feed can still turn a little profit. I just got 4 to mess with. Not a whole lot invested in them compared to regular cattle. Wondering if I could cross with dexter to get a little bigger cow. I have 100 acres but got these just to run close to the house an experiment with.

 

[BK9954]

They do sell the semen for lowline because there is no way I am buying a bull for 4 cows.

 

[WalnutCrest]

There is probably a good market for some smaller-framed F1 hybrids if you cross with smaller bulls from good beef breeds. I know there are some MG bulls who are in the 3-frame range, as there are some Aubrac bulls that are the same, too. Both crosses would produce some nice F1 females and/or nice freezer beef for your family and beef buyers. You could probably also get a non-lowline Angus bull from a guy who's been breeding for smaller frame and do just fine ... and ... possibly reclaim some of the lost frame you had with the mini-herf sired calves.

And, if you want to go do something really interesting, look into Mashona bulls. There would, probably, be an internet market for a lowline/Mashona cross bulls and F1 females (iow, you might not be able to sell them locally by word of mouth, but put up a website and drive a little traffic, and you could have a winner ... if, of course, the lowlines are good cattle and the Mashona bull you find is also a good one).

 

[BK9954]

Aubrac cattle look REAL good. I may go that route.

 

[BK9954]

I nean Mashona

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Unfortunately you didn't have much bull selection in a serious limited market. It doesn't matter what mini breed you're using on these lowline/mini herf heifers, the calves still won't bring much at the sale barn.

no way I'd dive into a breed like those... With the stockyard as my only market....

 

[cow pollinater]

I would go back with a real moderate angus with a high $EN. Get them framed up similar to what the market wants but keep the good parts of running more cows.

 

[djinwa]

First off, lowlines can vary quite a bit in size, so if they are smaller ones, I'd avoid breeding to standard bulls. And I'd avoid for the heifer's first calf.

Wouldn't bother with dexters. Generally, lower quality beef animals, and don't believe they are any bigger on average.

Pharo has some lowline semen at the bottom of his lists for black and red angus bulls. You could order some lowline semen for heifers, along with some of his smaller standard bulls with calving ease, like Beral of Wye, for the older cows.

http://www.pharocattle.com/semensource.htm

 

[BK9954]

I dont think the lowlines are such a loser. From the ones I have seen sell on craigs list they are not that cheap. Sale barn yes, private treaty no. If you get 2 lowline cows for the same feed as 1 large one. Thats 2 calves a year for about $1800 for both. Not bad money for dealing with small docile animals. Like I said I just got 4 to play with so I might break even but wont lose. Gonna test the market.

 

[Muddy]

I wouldn't using "facts" based on Craigslist. There are more unsold animals on Craigslist and the price on lowlines have been decreasing slowly, simply because you need a strong customer base.

 

[WalnutCrest]

I dont think the lowlines are such a loser. From the ones I have seen sell on craigs list they are not that cheap. Sale barn yes, private treaty no. If you get 2 lowline cows for the same feed as 1 large one. Thats 2 calves a year for about $1800 for both. Not bad money for dealing with small docile animals. Like I said I just got 4 to play with so I might break even but wont lose. Gonna test the market.

The surest way to make money is to buy stuff at the right price and not spend too much money maintaining it prior to selling.

 

[Son of Butch]

I wouldn't using "facts" based on Craigslist. There are more unsold animals on Craigslist....

:nod: :nod: :nod:
When an ad cost $0.00 to run, seems many go sucker fishing and ask much more than what it ends up selling for.
Doesn't cost anything to try, and you never see what most Craigslist items that do sell actually bring.

 

[Rafter S]

".....so I might break even, but won't lose"

I hope you're right about that.

 

[BK9954]

".....so I might break even, but won't lose"

I hope you're right about that.

What I mean by that is @$800 for a 5 month old calf ready to breed in 7 months, 113 acres with plenty of hay and grass on hand if this were a year to expiriment it is now These girls arent eating much at all. I have more feed compared to the amount of cattle I own. The cows will pay for themselves eventually. Sell the cow and calf together there is no way I will lose. One dies all bets are off. Noe this is based on cattle prices staying high as they are predicted to.