Photos of Tarentaise

[MO_cows]

Yay! I figured it out! Here are some mediocre pictures of some pretty decent Tarentaise cattle. At least I think so.....anybody who wants to comment is welcome, good or bad. I got my bulletproof vest on just in case.

5 yr old cow with 2008 heifer calf, around 5 mos. Cow weighs around 1,250.

4 yr old cow w/2008 heifer calf, around 5 mos. Cow weighs around 1,000.

Side view of same cow as 3 yr old.

 

[tlmcr]

Very nice cattle, love the udder on the second cow and she is getting the job done with that calf.

 

[Toby L.]

Years ago we had a family show their Tarentaise at our county fair. Beautiful animals, but I do believe that these ones were black. The bull was huge, or so I thought, being that I was a lot smaller then. I was wondering, why not Tarentaise? What are some of the disadvantages of raising them compared to Angus? I thought about looking up this family and seeing if they still raise these cows and maybe purchase a bull from them.

 

[LoveMoo11]

I haven't seen many pictures of Tarentaise, and I've never seen any in real life. Are these your animals? I like the pic of the cow as a three year old, she looks good.

 

[MO_cows]

Years ago we had a family show their Tarentaise at our county fair. Beautiful animals, but I do believe that these ones were black. The bull was huge, or so I thought, being that I was a lot smaller then. I was wondering, why not Tarentaise? What are some of the disadvantages of raising them compared to Angus? I thought about looking up this family and seeing if they still raise these cows and maybe purchase a bull from them.

Tarentaise versus Angus? David vs Goliath. That discussion could be a thread of its own. Angus has better market acceptance, and an assn with lots of money to do breed promotion and they're good at it. Angus probably grade better in general, although in several years of tests sponsored by the Tarentaise assn, the cattle were profitable to feed every year and the majority of them graded choice. Angus in general are thicker made, while Tarentaise are longer bodied in general. (Which is why they cross so well!) Tarentaise have more milk and better udders in general. Tarentaise seem to have better fertility. I've never seen a Tarentaise bull with a lazy prepuce (sp) or an undersized scrotum, and you seem to see that in Angus all the time. Tarentaise in general have good dispositions, I've heard otherwise about Angus. Tarentaise can be black or red and registered in the same assn, while you would have to deal with 2 associations to have both colors of Angus. Whew! That's all I can think of to compare the two breeds.

You could look on the ATA web site, www.americantarentaise.org, for a breeder close to you.

 

[MO_cows]

I haven't seen many pictures of Tarentaise, and I've never seen any in real life. Are these your animals? I like the pic of the cow as a three year old, she looks good.

Thanks! Yes, those are our cows. I can't think of any breeders up in the Northeast, you could check the web site and of course semen could be shipped. I know there are some Tarentaise herds in Virginia and they usually have a sale at the Virginia Beef Expo. But that's a long way from Maine.

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

Very nice cows I could see that bottom cow being run through our dairy ;-) we're milking a couple of Angus & Murray Grey cows. Nice functional looking udders & they don't look like their huge cows, which I always thought they were Are they a naturally polled breed or horned ?
Jane

 

[Toby L.]

Thanks for the link, I see theres one up in Thief River Falls. They look like there longer bodied, I wonder how well they would cross with my baldies, maybe I could get a heavier cow. I'm sure I could find semen easy enough if I decide to A.I. them this year. I think that would be my best bet being that I'm only breeding 5 of them this year.

 

[alacattleman]

nice cattle...

 

[MO_cows]

Thanks for the link, I see theres one up in Thief River Falls. They look like there longer bodied, I wonder how well they would cross with my baldies, maybe I could get a heavier cow. I'm sure I could find semen easy enough if I decide to A.I. them this year. I think that would be my best bet being that I'm only breeding 5 of them this year.

The reason behind the importation of Tarentaise to North America in the first place was to cross with Herefords, which were dominant at the time. Tarentaise on a baldy cow should produce a nice calf; it would be a British X Continental cross.

 

[Joy of Texas]

Very nice ,I like their long bodies. What weight does your cows run ? They look big. I guess they would have to be. Your calves are heavy for 5 month old. Anyway nice cattle.

 

[MO_cows]

Very nice cows I could see that bottom cow being run through our dairy ;-) we're milking a couple of Angus & Murray Grey cows. Nice functional looking udders & they don't look like their huge cows, which I always thought they were Are they a naturally polled breed or horned ?
Jane

That's interesting! Do you pull the calves off, or just take their surplus milk the calves don't use? Didn't realize they could give enough milk to make the work of milking them worthwhile.

The fullblood Tarentaise are horned. There are polled lines of purebreds.

Thanks to everyone for the favorable comments.

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

The Murray Grey & 2 Angus cows are Jersey x & we always intended to milk them just to see how they milked all are still in the herd & are HUGE improvements over their mothers. The MG is by the neighbors bull the Angus are by a bull SB Topsy & another bull I can't remember. We take the calves & if they're bulls, are sold between 1 - 2weeks, heifers are kept & bucket reared. The other 3 lost their calves, 1 belongs to my cousin of the other 2 one will stay in the herd, the other will come out & rear her calf next year as she doesn't have enough milk to warrant keeping her milking. I have a Limo x Jersey heifer who my mother flat out refuses to milk when she calves says she doesn't want a Limousin in the herd :lol: Will be looking into seeing if I can get a few Tarentaise straws & AI 'ing some of the dairy cows.

 

[Stocker Steve]

The reason behind the importation of Tarentaise to North America in the first place was to cross with Herefords, which were dominant at the time. Tarentaise on a baldy cow should produce a nice calf; it would be a British X Continental cross.

Kit Pharo was using a Tarentaise mix in his composite bulls, but seems to have gone away from that.

 

[MO_cows]

The Murray Grey & 2 Angus cows are Jersey x & we always intended to milk them just to see how they milked all are still in the herd & are HUGE improvements over their mothers. The MG is by the neighbors bull the Angus are by a bull SB Topsy & another bull I can't remember. We take the calves & if they're bulls, are sold between 1 - 2weeks, heifers are kept & bucket reared. The other 3 lost their calves, 1 belongs to my cousin of the other 2 one will stay in the herd, the other will come out & rear her calf next year as she doesn't have enough milk to warrant keeping her milking. I have a Limo x Jersey heifer who my mother flat out refuses to milk when she calves says she doesn't want a Limousin in the herd :lol: Will be looking into seeing if I can get a few Tarentaise straws & AI 'ing some of the dairy cows.

Aha, Jersey crosses. I thought you meant you were milking straight Angus/Murray Grey. lol

I don't know if there are any Tarentaise studs in Australia or not. If you had to get it from the U.S., the permits and shipping might make it too expensive. UPRA Tarentaise is the French assn. But the last photo's I saw from there, the French cattle had apparently been selected real hard on milk production since the exportation to North America. Huge udders attached to some skin and bones.

 

[MO_cows]

The reason behind the importation of Tarentaise to North America in the first place was to cross with Herefords, which were dominant at the time. Tarentaise on a baldy cow should produce a nice calf; it would be a British X Continental cross.

Kit Pharo was using a Tarentaise mix in his composite bulls, but seems to have gone away from that.

I haven't heard any news about Pharo Cattle Co for a couple years, but at that time he still had Tarentaise cows in inventory with the assn. There's a little Tarentaise in at least one of the Leachman composites, too.

 

[Australian]

There's supposed to be couple of Tarentaise breeders here in Australia. They are so hard to find. I believe there is a breeder in Victoria and perhaps one in Queensland. I was very interested in them but the interest has waned beacuse they cannot be found.Looked up google etc etc. Wish the Ankenman Ranch was over here. AI sires are pretty ordinary the two that are available.
Colin

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

Aha, Jersey crosses. I thought you meant you were milking straight Angus/Murray Grey. lol

No I like the first or 2nd cross don't have any pure Angus cows left in the herd now just these crosses, these cows will be bred back to a Angus bull that has a high milk ebv. A former boss & still good friend milked Angus cows (pure & first crosses) which is where I first got interested in milking beef cows. He had an older cow doing 60 ltrs morning milking + afternoon milk we thought she was tough & that was why she taking so long to milk out. She was even out producing their highest Holstein cow. Those Angus cows can kick when they want to. I'll get in touch with my AI rep & see if he knows if there is any semen available here

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

There's supposed to be couple of Tarentaise breeders here in Australia. They are so hard to find. I believe there is a breeder in Victoria and perhaps one in Queensland. I was very interested in them but the interest has waned beacuse they cannot be found.Looked up google etc etc. Wish the Ankenman Ranch was over here. AI sires are pretty ordinary the two that are available.

I also googled but could only come with a map :roll: . Rather than importing semen it may well be cheaper in the long term to buy embryos & implant. Sounds a lot like Piedmontese cattle would love a bull to put over the cows but can't find a breeder anywhere near me or even in NSW talk about a rare breed.

 

[Australian]

There are Piedmontese in NSW. A stud called Jade ( I think) near Aberdeen in the Hunter and Spelga near Moree. They have quality cattle. Spelga show regularly at Brisbane Show. There are studs in Victoria and Queensland.
Colin