Milking Shorthorns

[oceanbrae]

Interested to see if there are any folks on here that have Milking Shorthorns, or an interesting in trying some. I work for the breed assoc. here in Canada. We are having a sale on September 24th in Uxbridge, Ontario.

I've worked with other breeds, and I think the Milking Shorthorn definitely has a place in the dairy industry. The better herds average 7500 kgs per lactation or higher, with the best non-return rate for breeding (CDN, 2004), the lowest average somatic cell score (CDN, 2004), the best temperament scores (CDN, 2001), fewer vet visits due to less health problems (we have never had a displaced abomasum in our herd), great feed effiency and grazing ability, and just overall maintenance free cows.

I know this sounds like gushing, but our breed doesn't get press that often. Email or post for more information, or just to comment.

 

[UG]

I'm not a dairyman but have always had an interest in the dairy industry.


As we see more and more concern from consumers over their food sources and animal welfare, I think we will see more demand for meat, milk, and eggs from more traditional production systems (I'm not saying anything new here, just repeating what I'm told and read). The demand for free range poultry, and hogs not raised in confinement are only the start. Pasture based dairying is picking-up steam and Milking Shorthorns are one of the breeds that excel in these type of production systems.

There are lots of big dairies with 500 to 5000 cows who are hanging on financially by a thread. They are leveraged beyond belief, working them selves (and their employees) silly, and often fighting health issues with their cows due to putting so much demand on getting every last pound from the cow every day. Many of these operations are lucky to keep the cow for 3 or 4 lactations. I truly believe that the guys running fewer cows on pasture systems with less capital outlay will likely survive longer than many of these big guys. Milking Shorthorns are a great way to help pay for the farm.

 

[greenwillowherefords]

I know little about them except that my father used to speak of them positively as a dual-purpose breed. If I was a commercial cattleman, and was going to add a little dairy influence to my herd to boost the milking ability, this would be the breed I would choose.

 

[Australian Cattleman]

Milking shorthorns are known as Dairy Shorthorns here in Australia.
They are a hardy good milking breed. I feel that they might be on the way out here in Australia. They were fairly prevalent at shows down south but there is less and less these days. They would make excellent cattle to cross anything over.
They are the basis for the dairy breed in Australia called AIS or Australian Illawarra Shorthorn. This breed was developed in the Illawarra region which is a coastal area south of Sydney three quarters the way down Australia's east coast. In the olden days the dairy industry in Australia had a limited number of breeds,Jersey,AIS,Ayrshire,Guernsey and Dairy Shorthorns,there were no Holsteins or Brown Swiss in those days.
Colin

 

[frenchie]

Interested to see if there are any folks on here that have Milking Shorthorns, or an interesting in trying some. I work for the breed assoc. here in Canada. We are having a sale on September 24th in Uxbridge, Ontario.

I've worked with other breeds, and I think the Milking Shorthorn definitely has a place in the dairy industry. The better herds average 7500 kgs per lactation or higher, with the best non-return rate for breeding (CDN, 2004), the lowest average somatic cell score (CDN, 2004), the best temperament scores (CDN, 2001), fewer vet visits due to less health problems (we have never had a displaced abomasum in our herd), great feed effiency and grazing ability, and just overall maintenance free cows.

I know this sounds like gushing, but our breed doesn't get press that often. Email or post for more information, or just to comment.

How about some pics?

 

[oceanbrae]

If you go to http://www.cmss.on.ca, there are a bunch of good pictures there.

Cheers[/img]

 

[myersfarm]

i bought a 3 day old heifer at a dairy auction......nobody wanted it i raise heifers jersey and holstiens...it when cheap so i bought it it looks alot like my angus herd...but you should see the bag and teats she has she's now 8 months old as big as any of my angus 8 months old...will be keeping her to add to my dairy herd...see how it works out for me ... would buy more if i could find them.......john