new to cattle

[geish]

First of all, hello to all you great people.

We just acquired some 40 acres of land in Needville (South of Houston) this summer. We're new to farming and all that's involved with having farmland, so keep that in mind.

My mom wants some cows. I've been asking a co-worker about what cows to get. My co-worker grew up in a farm and knows a little or two about cows. From her info and info on the net, seems to be that the consensus is to get Hereford.
I told her we wanted something to primarily be hearty.

The people who previously owned the farm raised Limousins. Can anyone tell me about those? All my co-worker told me was they are BIG.

Can we get Hereford females and get a bull that's a Limousin? Are Limiousins hearty?
Thanks for all ya'lls help. You can be assured that I'll be posting a lot more in the future. We're really enjoying the work that goes into all this farming. My family grew up in a farm in another country and we miss the clean air, hard work, and being away from the city.

 

[Brandonm2]

Both Herefords and Limousins are major beef breeds and you can find females in both breeds that are hearty moderate framed easy keeping females and you can find BIG mooses in both breeds if you look for them. I prefer the Hereford. I think they are more docile, have better mothering instincts, have less calving difficulties, and finish more easily than do the typical limousins. Yes if you want to cross Herefords and Limousins those calves would probably weigh more and bring more money at the stockyard than would fullblood Herefords or fullblood Limousins. I am old fashioned and I prefer Hereford crossed to Black Angus; but they are your cows. I suggest using a black limo instead of a red limo though.

 

[shorty]

Everyone has their own preference as to breed , whatever breed you decide on make sure you get an easy calving bull , if you have smaller framed heifers and put a bull on that throws big calves you could be looking for trouble.

 

[Scotty]

Get those Herefords and use an Angus bull. Blk baldies will be the cross. Sell well and have great hybrid vigor.



Scotty

 

[geish]

By calving, people do mean the actual process of giving birth to the calf right? I do want to emphasize that we're newbies to the whole thing.

We've heard good things about Angus also. I guess Angus bull and Hereford females would be good as Scotty mentioned. They ARE easy calving bulls right?

Our main priority right now isn't to get the most out of selling the cows (we're learning how to take care of them first). We're just in the learning steps of the process. Once we get the hang of things, we might move on to more complicated mixes that yeild high prices on the market. For now, EASE is what we're looking for.

Again, thank you good people for your help.

 

[stocky]

If hereford is what you want, get the herefords that give enough milk to raise good calves and breed them to an angus bull. Dont get one of the big modern angus that looks half limousin, get a nice, clean framed angus that is easy calving and you will have top quality calves with almost no calving problems. There are a couple of types of herefords, the big, fat, flat-backed beauties that put the weight on themselves instead of the calf and the cleaner trimmed type that milk well and raise outstanding calves. Whatever cow you go with, make sure she gives milk to raise a good calf.

 

[Angus Cattle Shower]

Both Herefords and Limousins are major beef breeds and you can find females in both breeds that are hearty moderate framed easy keeping females and you can find BIG mooses in both breeds if you look for them. I prefer the Hereford. I think they are more docile, have better mothering instincts, have less calving difficulties, and finish more easily than do the typical limousins. Yes if you want to cross Herefords and Limousins those calves would probably weigh more and bring more money at the stockyard than would fullblood Herefords or fullblood Limousins. I am old fashioned and I prefer Hereford crossed to Black Angus; but they are your cows. I suggest using a black limo instead of a red limo though.

We have both herefords, and a few limo's and the limos are un expecdedly tamer than the herefords, they have had smaler calves at birth, and the calves hit the ground running. After, they grow like weeds. kinda same with the herefors, but i find that the herefords have more meat than muscle than the limos, and the limos have a lot of muscle, so cross them together, and wala! A great beef animal. IMHO

 

[Aero]

Calving ease is a strong point of Angus bulls. As long as you get an Angus bull with :
CED > +8
BW < +1.5
CEM > +8
from a reputable breeder, you will have a good starting bull that will pay many dividends down the road.
If you are just looking for easy doing cattle, I would also suggest EPDs of:
WW +30-+40
YW +60-+80
Milk +10 - +20
MW < +40
MH 0-+.7
$EN > +10.00

All of these numbrs together are representative of a low-input calving-ease bull. These numbers should be available from any Angus breeder. MW & MH might be missing, but this is pretty common in young bulls.

fyi-
CED = Calving Ease Direct (higher is better)
**BW = Birth Weight (lower is better)
CEM = Calving Ease Maternal (higher is better)
WW = Weaning Weight (higher is better for production, but lower is better for low-input - measured at 205 days old)
YW = Yearling weight (same as WW, but measured at 365 days old)
Milk = Milk & Mothering contribution (high milk (25+) gives greater growth and has high nutritional requirements - aka:feed, but lower milk will raise a good calf and wont require much added input if sufficient grass is available (if Milk is too low (0 or less) you might run the risk of raising a poor calf.
MW = Mature Weight at 5 years old (lower is better for almost anyone due to lower maintenace feed costs)
MH = Mature Height (same as MW, but height at 5 yrs old)
**$EN = Energy Requirement Savings (higher is better for low-input and a +15.00 - +20.00 might be just what you are looking for.)

If low-input, easy-calving is what you are looking for, looking at BW first (below +1.5) and then $EN (above +10.00) should get you in the right cattle area. After that look at the other EPDs. These types of cattle are not in great demand since low-input is not what's in style these days and probably can be purchased for $1000-$1500. Proper bull type will be a crucial decision for the future of your herd and the amount of work you have to put into it.

I have never had herefords, but I have heard a few people say they are bad with cancer-eye from lack of pigment around eyes.

 

[bad_billy_goat]

In this part of the world tigerstripes get the premium at the sale barn. Also watch out on the herefords because some dont do good down here with all the moisture and insects. Best of luck.

 

[Brandonm2]

Both Herefords and Limousins are major beef breeds and you can find females in both breeds that are hearty moderate framed easy keeping females and you can find BIG mooses in both breeds if you look for them. I prefer the Hereford. I think they are more docile, have better mothering instincts, have less calving difficulties, and finish more easily than do the typical limousins. Yes if you want to cross Herefords and Limousins those calves would probably weigh more and bring more money at the stockyard than would fullblood Herefords or fullblood Limousins. I am old fashioned and I prefer Hereford crossed to Black Angus; but they are your cows. I suggest using a black limo instead of a red limo though.

We have both herefords, and a few limo's and the limos are un expecdedly tamer than the herefords, they have had smaler calves at birth, and the calves hit the ground running. After, they grow like weeds. kinda same with the herefors, but i find that the herefords have more meat than muscle than the limos, and the limos have a lot of muscle, so cross them together, and wala! A great beef animal. IMHO

I was just making general statements that I am not the first to say. I worked on a farm with registered cattle of both once and growing up, our neighbor here had limo crosses versus our Hereford crosses. The limos I have come across have typically been more flighty than the Herefords(that was not even close). I have also seen some fertility and milking problems with some of the Limo cows. Granted I have NO experience with the more moderate framed modern Limos. About all the continental breeds are going to average a heavier birth weight than any of the British breeds. Limos are more moderate than some continental breeds though. Obviously, as many Herfs and Limos as there are in this country (and yours) there are lots of examples of wild Herfs with heavy birthweights and docile Limos with lite birth weights. I just wouldn't call that the norm.

 

[la4angus]

In this part of the world tigerstripes get the premium at the sale barn. Also watch out on the herefords because some dont do good down here with all the moisture and insects. Best of luck.

Where is this part of the world down here. Not telling where down here is, you aren't helping very much.

 

[jersey lilly]

40 acres, I wouldn't put more than 10 cows on it. I"m just north of Houston and it's pretty much the same grass there as here. Instead of spending the money on a bull it might pay to AI that few and cost less than buying a bull, feeding a bull etc.

 

[eatbeef]

AI is a good way to raise beef but the "catch" is maybe 50 to 70 percent and you have to be there when they cycle and snync them to make them cycle AND you should have a clean up bull to breed the rest anyway, so with a small herd I think you need a bull.

 

[Beefy]

shes looking for ease and just starting out. i wouldnt recommend AIing anything at this point, tigerstripes, or hereford heifers. if you want herefords i'd look for mature cows with pigmented eyes. breed them to a brangus bull or angus if you just have to. i dont know if i would want to start out with a limousin bull or not. if you know what to look for and look out for, by all means. i'd look for a polled one with a low birth weight epd though. red or black.

 

[eatbeef]

nd as an option look for dispersion sale cows instead of heifers to make life easier

 

[eatbeef]

wow that was less than half of what i typed

 

[Beefy]

been there, done that.

 

[jersey lilly]

One of the first things Id do is go look at some cows, take your mom to look at some cows. Find out what breed appeals to her, she's the one that's gonna hafta look at em, and if she dont like how they look she won't be happy. Talk to your Extention Agent, he can tell you what breeds do well and direct you to breeders in your area, either registered or commercial either way. There's plenty Replacement sales to go to this time of year to just have a look see. You'll get an idea of what kind you like, and what kinda prices you are lookin at. Some replacement sales not only have heifers but 4 and 5 year old bred cows. That way you've already got the bred part down, and dont have to worry about keepin a bull until next year when your ready to rebreed.

 

[bad_billy_goat]

Down here means the Gulf Coast area. The person asking the question clearly points out where he or she is from, thus I was hoping most people could figure out what I meant. Also be careful if you in up with a limmy bull make sure he is a production looking limmy, not a clubbly limmy. When selling heifers a lot of buyers down here have lost a lot of money in buying what they thought was production stock and was clubbly. So now anytime they hear there is a clubbly line in the animals, ai, or see a clubby bull on your ranch they will not buy or significantly lower the price they will pay. The only excpetion to this is if you target the show market. Also may want to hold off on getting animals right now, and what to see if the market is going to let off a little. Best of luck

 

[JHH]

First you should make sure you have the place to work cattle along with some type of pens for sick or injured cattle. then figure out what kind to get. Herefords are my pic but there are alot of different breeds and crosses to choose from JMO.JHH