Hi,
I'm looking for a breed to AI a few Angus/dairy cows. My goal is to have great marbling, small to medium frame calves that can finish on grass, hay and a little grain in a reasonable amount of time. I sell a few sides to friends and family in the Bay Area who are foodies. I have about 50 acres of range, but its VERY steep and we have a lot of erosion problems (very low stocking rate). We are north of San Francisco and are in a severe drought now, but even in the best times only get rain nov-may so mostly low quality forage. Last year I used a waygu since a had a few heifers and I was ok with a small calf. The waygu/angus cross seems to be a great mix of marbling and faster finishing than a pure waygu. What I did not like was that all 3 calves took more than 4 hrs to have their first drink and I ended up intervening since it took so long. Maybe this is because I'm new at this, but i felt like it was too long for the first shot of milk. I also read somewhere that the waygu are slow in the beginning.
Ive got to AI the cows soon and Im not sure what to go with. Here's where I'm at in my research:
Beef shorthorns but not a strain that' the club calf.
Murray greys, but the frame size seems bigger for our land and freezer
Waygu- people will pay more for it
Angus- I could ask the neighbor to use his bull so may be the least expensive
Dexter- another neighbor has some that I may be able to trailer them to
I would appreciate any thoughts or advice
Thanks!
I'm looking for a breed to AI a few Angus/dairy cows. My goal is to have great marbling, small to medium frame calves that can finish on grass, hay and a little grain in a reasonable amount of time. I sell a few sides to friends and family in the Bay Area who are foodies. I have about 50 acres of range, but its VERY steep and we have a lot of erosion problems (very low stocking rate). We are north of San Francisco and are in a severe drought now, but even in the best times only get rain nov-may so mostly low quality forage. Last year I used a waygu since a had a few heifers and I was ok with a small calf. The waygu/angus cross seems to be a great mix of marbling and faster finishing than a pure waygu. What I did not like was that all 3 calves took more than 4 hrs to have their first drink and I ended up intervening since it took so long. Maybe this is because I'm new at this, but i felt like it was too long for the first shot of milk. I also read somewhere that the waygu are slow in the beginning.
Ive got to AI the cows soon and Im not sure what to go with. Here's where I'm at in my research:
Beef shorthorns but not a strain that' the club calf.
Murray greys, but the frame size seems bigger for our land and freezer
Waygu- people will pay more for it
Angus- I could ask the neighbor to use his bull so may be the least expensive
Dexter- another neighbor has some that I may be able to trailer them to
I would appreciate any thoughts or advice
Thanks!