Please tell and show me your xbred Char cow experiences.

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OzssieDave19

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Hi. I am planning to keep some char cross girls out of Angus and bb cows by the char bull. Wanting a few yellow or grey baldy type heifers.

A yone been there done that?
 
Should be a good growthy cross with bigger size. Would suggest to pay attention to the milkness as we've reduced milk alot with one bull. We've used Charolais quite alot earlier. At the moment have quite alot cows with at least some of Char blood and they produce much thicker calves. No calving problems with higher %( 25% and up) Char cows so far.

Some photos with our present and past Charx or partly Char cattle:





 

I have mostly char and char cross cows and use a maine/Angus bull. I love them. They grow well and are very thick muscled.


I also retain heifers that I like
 
I've had a handful bred that way. It's a good cross if you get the right inputs from both sides. I have two yellow white face cows now that will stay as long as they keep producing. They're kind of big for my taste but the calves make it work.
I had a handful in CA that were Rio Bravo/ Domino3027 that I really wish I'd have hauled with me when I moved. They were young enough it would have been worth the time it took to acclimate them.
 
I like em, but I'm debating on getting away from them. Just a guess, but 25% of my cows are heavy char influence. Here's some calves I weaned about 2 weeks ago. Probably won't keep any of those yellers for cows.
 
I hate them. But most Charolais around here are sorry and mean, so take it with a grain of salt.
 
Char or CharX cows are my preferred choice. Mine are tame as puppies. The calves grow well and usually bring top price in their grade. I have tried to keep their size down so I sold the real big ones and most have just a touch of Jersey in them, like 1/8.
 
The problems I find with my tan, charX cows:

More likely to throw horns, More likely to throw silver calves with black bulls, tend to be hotter tempered for the first few days after calving, and more 'heads up' when working them, some of them grow huge, and I have some bad feet amongst them.

Now these are mine, but I am getting rid of them more and more as time goes on. Shipped one the other week that weighed 2115.. If I want charolais I'll have it on the bull side, I don't find they are the cows for me.
 
I live in a part of the world where the color would get hammered at the sale barn.
 
I live in the most heavy cattle producing county in KY. I have found that quality calves of about any color sell well other than those with varied markings like a Longhorn or such and maybe Herefords. I do seem to have a lot of creams with white tails though that sell well. I haven't had a calf with a horn in about 15 years. I always use a Char bull mainly on the Char, crosses and a few Angus. The Char and Charxs always wean the bigger calves...but they prob eat more though. It works for me.
 
My experience with Char cross cows was very positive. Back in the 70's the first char cross cow I had was out of a Jersey cow and that calf grew and had confirmation far better than any other cross on a jersey I had. I then used Charolais bulls out of grade British cross cows and kept some heifers back,, We found that disposityion problems went away after the early 1980's. The full domestic and half french bulls put out better females than the Full French bulls. In fact some of the half Charolais cows were some of our best cows. The bred easy, calved well, and milked good for a beef cow. They were larger than the other cows so if you are in short feed area increased feed demands could be an issue. Generally today if a Charolais herd sire prospect doesn't have a good dam we won't be a herdsire for long. Look at LT and other major breeder and you find maternal capabilities to rival any breed.
By the way if you want to avoid the diluter gene just use a red charolias bull. Penty are around to pick from.
 
Thanks everyone so interesting. And gereat pictures. I cant wait to get the char cross girls and work towards it.
 
I have only one Charolais cow. She was bought as a 600 lb feeder heifer to graze. Move ahead five months, when I got ready to ship at 850 lbs, she was springing. She got cut from the load. I dreaded calving her out as she was probably bred to a Charolais. Charolais calf wasn't as big as a "popcorn fart". Wife named her Mrs. Redenbocker. Best mistake I ever owned. Calves every 11 months and raises a big calf every year. Here she is with a Santa Gertrudis sired heifer that I have kept.
GertxChar_hfr_2.jpg
 
I've been well pleased with these Char and Charxs. I'm putting in a Charbray bull along with the Char bull this year. I have one calf that the young Charbray I raised must be daddy of. He's a bit small and growing slower but a lot could be with the cow itself, which I need to check my records and get out there and make sure who's who. My gut feeling sort of tells me to sell the Charbray and replace with another young Charolais but I'll wait at bit...has anyone used a Charbray bull much?
 

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