maine anjou

[newboy]

haven't heard much talk about the maine anjou breed here. i also don't know much about them. good/bad/or ugly?

 

[purecountry]

Bad and ugly, at least in my experience. There's alot better cattle on average. There's some good ones somewhere I'm sure, but I haven't seen too many. They're far too big and raw-boned in my opinion.

 

[iowahawkeyes]

Just like TH in Shorthorns and now everything else, the Maine need to get PHA taken care of.

 

[Sage]

LOL Kinda funny, I agree with not caring for them but I'm in the middle of breeding 400 artificially. Big, hairy & ugly actual production traits I don't know much about probably never will spend enough time around them to learn much either.

 

[KNERSIE]

I have never seen a maine anjou in my life in real life, but from the show photos I've seen on the link cowboyup216 posted they don't look that big to me at least not frame wise.

What frame size would they typically be?

 

[shortyjock89]

Wow, you guys are hard on the ol Maines! haha Nah, but really, I like them. We have a couple and they are really good mothers. Now I don't know if you guys are talking about the Red and White Fullbloods, or the Black or Red percentages/purebreds, but there is a big difference.

Fullbloods: BIG Red/White. They look like a bald Shorthorn on Steroids. These are the cattle that came from France. Originated from the Durham (shorthorn) and Mancelle cattle. I konw most of you know this, but I feel like giving a history haha. The most popular of all the Fullbloods is probably Cunia. Other good ones are Novino, Covino, Eclad, and Eclat. They are really big cattle, but they cross well with Angus, Shorthorn, and Simmentals. Lots of Muscle, bone, and usually pretty good front ends. Our fullbloods never had any trouble calving and we had them when they first came to America (we got our first one in '74 dad says.

Percentage/Purebred: These cattle can be black, red, roan, or Red/White. These are the cattle that are predominate in the show ring today. They tend to have good hair, decent udder, and good bone. I'll admit, some of them are really hard calvers, but you'll get that in every breed. I find that the Percentage/Purebred Maines cross REALLY well with our Shorthorns. The cross probably works so well because as I said before, Shorthorns and Maines are closely related.

Well, I think I've been on my soapbox long enough...go ahead and rip what I said to shreds, lol have a good time with it!

 

[shortyjock89]

Yeah but with the pha and th or whatever the heck it is how do you have any calves survive out of the maine and shorthorn cross? Do you have your animals tested for this?

Yes sir we do have all of our animals tested. It's very easy to avoid having PHA or TH calves. You just don't own carriers. Or if you do have carriers, you don't breed them to other carriers. We have never had a TH or PHA calf in the 60 years that we've had shorthorns (now that time wasn't all together, my dad never owned a shorthorn cow, but his dad and grandfather did) and the 30 or so years that we've had Maines. The test of TH or PHA costs only $27, and the lab where the test was invented is only about an hour from my house. It's super easy to do, just a blood sample. I'll be glad to answer any TH or PHA questions anyone has. It can be a tricky and touchy subject, but I'm open to discussion about it.

Also, I feel I should say, the TH gene came from Deerpark Improver, which is an Irish bull. We never had alot of Irish-influenced cattle so TH wasn't an issue for us until Double Stuff hit the scene in the mid-90's.

 

[Frankie]

Yeah but with the pha and th or whatever the heck it is how do you have any calves survive out of the maine and shorthorn cross? Do you have your animals tested for this?

Yes sir we do have all of our animals tested. It's very easy to avoid having PHA or TH calves. You just don't own carriers. Or if you do have carriers, you don't breed them to other carriers. We have never had a TH or PHA calf in the 60 years that we've had shorthorns (now that time wasn't all together, my dad never owned a shorthorn cow, but his dad and grandfather did) and the 30 or so years that we've had Maines. The test of TH or PHA costs only $27, and the lab where the test was invented is only about an hour from my house. It's super easy to do, just a blood sample. I'll be glad to answer any TH or PHA questions anyone has. It can be a tricky and touchy subject, but I'm open to discussion about it.

Also, I feel I should say, the TH gene came from Deerpark Improver, which is an Irish bull. We never had alot of Irish-influenced cattle so TH wasn't an issue for us until Double Stuff hit the scene in the mid-90's.

By not breeding them to other carriers, you won't get a deformed, dead calf. But you will continue to pass the genetic defect on to another generation if you use bulls/cows known to be carriers.

 

[aplusmnt]

I have never seen a maine anjou in my life in real life, but from the show photos I've seen on the link cowboyup216 posted they don't look that big to me at least not frame wise.

What frame size would they typically be?

I think most people who think of Maine think of the club calves they have saw that are Maine crosses. Many are Shorthorn x Maine x Angus x Simmental x Chi

Full blood Maine's are a whole other cow than the Maine Crosses that have been bred to be smaller framed cows and black.

I like that some of our Marines are smaller framed than the old full bloods but I am wanting to have a moderate framed herd no matter what the breed is. My Maine crosses milk good and are easy keepers, they are Gentle my biggest concern is calving, due to shoulders and hips. But I have quit using Maine bulls on them and use either Angus or Simmental now.

Here is a PB Maine cow of ours that has just came off a rough winter of poor hay and low supplements.

 

[*Cowgirl*]

I personnally (sp) like the maine cattle esp in chi and angus crosses. JMO.

 

[Australian Cattleman]

Seen some darn good Maine Anjous in my time the only ones to have the traditional coloured ones. Perhaps why some on this board don't like them is because of the "black" infiltration into a breed that is meant to be a red and white animal. From what I gather in the US a pure isn't a pure as French or Australians would class them. So there is bound to be problems when other breeds are allowed to be used in their makeup. I have not heard of too many calving problems here in Australia. Many Shorthorn breeders have used them with success as an outcross.

 

[Moocow11]

I like them they are greta feeder calves and good show cattle. not to long ago we bought a 2yr old maine bull form some guy. he was pretty awsome. but last breeding season on of his nuts ruptrued, so he went to the sale barn

 

[Moocow11]

we just A.I.ed a couple of our cows to this bull for some club calves
http://topsires.com/bulls/06bulls/goldenchild.html
he looks a lot better in Phil Lautner's sire catalog

 

[CPL]

we just A.I.ed a couple of our cows to this bull for some club calves
http://topsires.com/bulls/06bulls/goldenchild.html
he looks a lot better in Phil Lautner's sire catalog

Golden Child really isnt a good example of a Maine bull. He's one of the popular "Maine Crosses" as someone earlier pointed out-

Chi x Maine x Short x Simmi

 

[Arkieman]

Liked what I saw at DeRouchey's and we AI'd 6 moderately framed Angus heifers to Ali. The heifers are nice, but needed a little more muscle in the hind quarter and we hope this will help in that area. A friend of mine had used Ali also and the BW on his calves were as advertised.

http://www.semexusa.com/beef/beef.aspx?breed=MA&ID=1424

We also AI'd a 1200 lb 5 y/o Hereford cow to Ice Chest. My son is trying his hand at showing in the local fairs with her bull calf born Jan 07. We're hoping for a potential steer for 2008 fairs.

http://www.semexusa.com/beef/beef.aspx?breed=MA&ID=1440

 

[Frankie]

we just A.I.ed a couple of our cows to this bull for some club calves
http://topsires.com/bulls/06bulls/goldenchild.html
he looks a lot better in Phil Lautner's sire catalog

There was some discussion on the Breeders World site about getting really big calves from Goldenchild. I hope you didn't breed any heifers to him.

 

[iowahawkeyes]

we just A.I.ed a couple of our cows to this bull for some club calves
http://topsires.com/bulls/06bulls/goldenchild.html
he looks a lot better in Phil Lautner's sire catalog

There was some discussion on the Breeders World site about getting really big calves from Goldenchild. I hope you didn't breed any heifers to him.

I've heard that too. Big like 150# big!

 

[shortyjock89]

we just A.I.ed a couple of our cows to this bull for some club calves
http://topsires.com/bulls/06bulls/goldenchild.html
he looks a lot better in Phil Lautner's sire catalog

There was some discussion on the Breeders World site about getting really big calves from Goldenchild. I hope you didn't breed any heifers to him.

I've heard that too. Big like 150# big!

Well, look who he's out of...Heat Wave was a 130# C-Section calf. Ali is one of the best Maine bulls out there. Our calves out of him have been flat good, and all out of heifers. All under 85# and no assistance. We love that bull!

 

[cattleluvr18]

he is only gonna AI to one. he did notice the high birthweight, but it didnt seem to bother him too bad. i dont think he knew that he produces that big of calves though. i told him he coulda done better. *cough, cough* ALI *cough, cough* ;-)

i love my maines. they have awsome hair, a pretty good temperment, and are pretty easy to break to lead. not all of my maines are for show, but all of them have a showy look to them. we'll see a year from now how good of mothers they become. the way they act, im sure they'll be good. i think they're pretty good all around.

 

[aplusmnt]

Some of them Club calf bulls are best to be used in an embryo program and put them in recipient cows. I would not want to risk my best cows to bulls like Heatwave or Goldenchild or some others.

I have used Ali on heifers with no problem, on Maine cross heifers as well as full blood Angus heifers. Ali calves come easy and get better with time. I would not look at him as a great Steer producer but I have seen a few good steers and bulls out of him. I think he produces good females and as for calving he is a pretty good bet and works well on heifers and cows.