Newbie trying to make the right breeding moves

[Petercoates87]

hey guys. It's been a couple of months since I have been on the forum. Since then the girls have given me 2 beautiful lil bulls. I have one more waiting to calf. Anyways we don't have a provincial AI rep here in Newfoundland but one is coming down in July. I wanted to get all 4 of my girls bred through AI cause I hope to be able to get the best animals to sell the following year. the girls are a mix group. So I don't know where to start or what to do. I like Herefords but I do like the low BW EPDs for the red angus. Oh boy I'm confused any help?

 

[Rafter S]

Since you like Herefords I'd say use a Hereford. Some may disagree, but I'm only concerned with birth weight on first time heifers. After that use the bull you think will give you the best calf and don't worry about BW.

 

[Son of Butch]

Since you like Herefords I'd say use a Hereford. Some may disagree, but I'm only concerned with birth weight on
first time heifers. After that use the bull you think will give you the best calf and don't worry about BW.

:nod:


Plus Hereford bw average is actually 2/10 s of a pound lower than Red Angus on the latest MARC report.

 

[Petercoates87]

Thanks guys. It can be a bit confusing what to use to get the best out of my girls. I got 2 hereford mix cows a jersey and her hojo heifer. So I want to try and breed them all AI before they go out to pasture. Here we have government funded pastures to put your cattle on and this past year they had a red angus bull plus a couple of yearlings( hereford, black angus, n Charolais.) I must say my 2 bull calves I have so far this spring are beautiful n I think they r from the red angus.
OK so this AI tech that's coming to the province this July is with semex any suggestions on a good bull that got a low birth weight for my mix of girls. Since I have been looking a bit more at the calving ease EPDs I'm even more stumped on what to use. All along I was only paying attention to the BW.

 

[Rafter S]

"hojo heifer"? Is that a typo? I never heard the term.

 

[farmerjan]

Hojo meaning maybe hol/jer or her/jer? New one for me too. I also would not be overly concerned with the easy calving unless the jersey and hojo are small. Since the hojo is a heifer, then yes use something easy calving. The others should be able to handle an avg bull, but nothing way up in the plus range, so that they are throwing 125 lb calves.

 

[Petercoates87]

Yeah sorry I seen someone calling it that a while back. But yeah hojo Holstein x jersey. Yes I know I got a mix mash of cows but I'm just starting out n buying even beef mix cows is hard around here. So I hope to get everyone breed n trying to figure out my best options. Xcelorator as a hereford but I don't like his CE EPDs. But I also like rust redeem for a red angus.

 

[Birchum]

WLB LEGO 83T 90X would be my first choice.
FAVRE 91A is similar with exception to his carcass traits.
Both have good CE and mid 5 frame.
Xcelorator is mid 6 frame

RED RRAR PALERMO 20Y and RED TER-RON MONOPOLY 84A would work for me.
I could live with RED RUST REDEEM 201C.

 

[Son of Butch]

Hojo is a very common term here in Mn for holstein x jersey.

Triara Xcelorator would me my choice for you from Semex. I believe you might be reading his ce epds wrong as they
rank him in the top 10% for calving ease and top 25% for lowering birth weights among Hereford sires and top 40% sc.

I did not find LEGO listed at Semex... but I eliminated FAVRE for being in bottom 5% sc and bottom 10% ww

Red angus... Monopoly is a good choice, with Red Rust Redeem a close 2nd.

 

[Petercoates87]

Cool thanks guys n yes I don't fully understand the whole grading thing.

 

[Son of Butch]

Peter you mentioned in a different post about wanting well marbled meat.

At Semex the Black Angus sire EF Prime Quarter would give you the best marbling and $B however he also adds a lot of
milk, probably too much for your neck of the woods and his daughters might end up being hard doers for you if you
keep them for replacements.

And just to muddy the waters even more... Semex offers 2 Wagyu sires
Breeding the HOJO heifer to WSI OKUKANEMICHI (200K00102) would be my pick to give you the best marbled beef
by far, in addition to extreme calving ease.

 

[Petercoates87]

That's interesting. It's my plan to grow my herd n sell to all the high end restaurants in my area. But with lack of heifers available I would be holding onto most of the heifers I get. What do u mean by lots of milk? I don't see that being a big deal.

 

[Son of Butch]

That's interesting. It's my plan to grow my herd n sell to all the high end restaurants in my area.
What do u mean by lots of milk? I don't see that being a big deal.

Peter, the short answer is increased feed costs and nutrient requirements.

Over time too much milk leads to 2 out comes.
Alter the environment to bring in more feed or accept lower reproductive performance.

Hojo cows or dairy cattle produce too much milk to make good beef cows. Hereford or especially Wagyu would knock
down the milk production to a more acceptable beef cow for you than the high milk black angus sire I mentioned.
Although that sire (EF Prime Quarter) might work well for you on the other cows if those mixed breed cows are lower
milk cows without any dairy breed in the woodpile. OR if you have plenty of cheap feed readily available.

 

[Petercoates87]

OK I understand what your saying. Funny I have been saying the same thing all winter. My jersey will eat almost the same amount of feed as my 2 beef cows together and hardly put on a pound where they will just gain all the weight. My 2 beef cows are mother and daughter. So there is a little dairy in the genes there it's about 3 generations back though. But back to the feed thing that's a small problem here our summer is so short that we get like a cut and a half of hay lol. Or 2 cuts of silage. So I guess any of the hereford or red angus bulls we talked about would suite my situation just fine.

 

[kickinbull]

Thanks guys. It can be a bit confusing what to use to get the best out of my girls. I got 2 hereford mix cows a jersey and her hojo heifer. So I want to try and breed them all AI before they go out to pasture. Here we have government funded pastures to put your cattle on and this past year they had a red angus bull plus a couple of yearlings( hereford, black angus, n Charolais.) I must say my 2 bull calves I have so far this spring are beautiful n I think they r from the red angus.
OK so this AI tech that's coming to the province this July is with semex any suggestions on a good bull that got a low birth weight for my mix of girls. Since I have been looking a bit more at the calving ease EPDs I'm even more stumped on what to use. All along I was only paying attention to the BW.

Greetings and best of luck to you. Could you explain the gov. Funded pasture you mentioned? Do you share open range with others?

 

[Supa Dexta]

Its what we call a community pasture - Larger pasture that the gov't owns and helps to maintain, although they give less and less all the time. You have to pay to put your cattle there, and its a set in and out date, stocking rate and only so many spots available per person, people that have been there before get precedence..etc.

Not sure the arrangement they have where he is from.

 

[Petercoates87]

Yeah that's pretty well it. It's government funded. But here raising cattle is almost gone. Getting a spot is no trouble. So I put them out the end of may pick them up the end of October. Their is still a fee per cow. This pasture is separated into 4 pastures where they move the cattle. The guy running it provides a breeding bull usually an angus. There is fresh running water for them n thick woods for them to get in out of the cold. It works great for me cause I don't have enough pasture to keep them home. Plus I don't have to feed them lol. Here a 25kg sack of beef ration costs $17 but to put a cow on pasture is $60 n calf is $20.