Murray calves in Oregon

[TwoByrdsMG]

It does amuse me- the black and red Charolais (I don't touch Herefords with a 20' pole no matter the color). If you add a little color for long enough then it starts to stick around.

For the Murray Greys the story goes that they started with a roan shorthorn cow and Aberdeen Angus bulls. So they were not generally bred to a be large breed, just efficient. Over time with selective breeding the frame size has increased from buckle sized cattle to moderates. In Australia the smaller ones are frame size 5s whereas the average are frames 6-7. Anything much smaller than a frame 5 is not ideal in those conditions. Ours are frame size 4-6. I discriminate for both smaller frame and larger framed animals.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Frame 4 is too small in most cases (like feedlot discounts), but 5-6 is very acceptable sizes and is probably the average for most breeds. Most of my cattle are in the 5.5 - 6 frame size, but are heavy muscled and big volume giving me heavy cows - average around 1550#.

 

[Backbone Ranch]

Nice calf! He is the first that I have seen out of Willowcreek Jumbolaya. I know less about the Canadian Murray Grey lines, but I like the bulls that are further back in the pedigree: Ambrose Durango, Glencoe Adventurer, and Willalooka Ambrose. Darker pigment is something that we are trying to incorporate into our herd, but I find it interesting that the black Murray Greys are a hard sell in your neck of the woods. We have not raised any yet, but I am curious as to how they would do here. I am really hoping for a dun bull out of either Victory Power Play or Monterey Marshall, but it may be a while before we have one that checks all the boxes for us.