Polled vs horned hereford ?

[plbcattle]

I am looking to buy a horned hereford bull. Let me first profess my ignorance in the hereford breed. I AI'd my commercial herd to a horned hereford (Harland)and am looking for a top notch clean up bull that could be considered a herd sire. Do the polled have the same growth and hybrid vigor as the horned. The answers I have so far is that the polled have been diluted a little and there might be just a tad less growth in polled vs horned. Thoughts welcome

 

[charangusman08]

I am looking to buy a horned hereford bull. Let me first profess my ignorance in the hereford breed. I AI'd my commercial herd to a horned hereford (Harland)and am looking for a top notch clean up bull that could be considered a herd sire. Do the polled have the same growth and hybrid vigor as the horned. The answers I have so far is that the polled have been diluted a little and there might be just a tad less growth in polled vs horned. Thoughts welcome

I would think the horned and polled would be identical exept one has horns and the other doesn't, also if I were you I would have bred them to a polled bull so you didn't have to dehorn them, but you do what you feel is best.

 

[JHH]

I am looking to buy a horned hereford bull. Let me first profess my ignorance in the hereford breed. I AI'd my commercial herd to a horned hereford (Harland)and am looking for a top notch clean up bull that could be considered a herd sire. Do the polled have the same growth and hybrid vigor as the horned. The answers I have so far is that the polled have been diluted a little and there might be just a tad less growth in polled vs horned. Thoughts welcome

I would think the horned and polled would be identical exept one has horns and the other doesn't, also if I were you I would have bred them to a polled bull so you didn't have to dehorn them, but you do what you feel is best.

IF they are black cows and homo polled you wont have to dehorn the calves. If you kept daughters out of that bunch then you might have to dehorn. I think I am right but have been wrong before.

To my way of thinking you should be able to find a suitable polled hereford that will do the job and still have plenty of growth.

 

[EAT BEEF]

I would think the horned and polled would be identical exept one has horns and the other doesn't, also if I were you I would have bred them to a polled bull so you didn't have to dehorn them, but you do what you feel is best.

:???: :???:

 

[dun]

Look around and be discriminate. There are good polled and horned bulls. The majority of the issues with the polled version have been flushed from the woodwork. When polled was being developed some breeders were less then selective and if it was polled it was kept as a breeder. There are also polled Herefords that are heterozygous polled because they have horned breeding in them.

 

[novatech]

The hybred vigor would be the same either way.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

I have both polled and horned genetics. There are excellent cattle in both varieties. Dun said what needed to be said. Still, IMO, the top polled genetics are comparable to the top horned genetics, but I feel that the quality runs deeper in horned Herefords when you take the breed as a whole. I feel that horned cattle tend to have better bone.

Don't want to raise any hackles, but what would be considered acceptable bone in an Angus bull would be considered too fine boned for a polled Hereford, and IMO, horned Hereford bulls tend to have more than polled.

 

[novatech]

Just an observation since I do not raise Herefords. It seems to me that I have seen several Hereford pics posted on here that had plenty of bone as well as a lot of other desirable assets. Just because there many be fewer to choose from why should that deter selection from them. At this point in the breed it seems like more of a personal preference, or bias may even be a better word.
Being polled I consider an important asset because at some point in the future I plan on going back into the F1 Braford business. Dehorning is a traumatic event on cattle. It can take a normally gentle calf an turn it wild in a heartbeat. Docility is a marketable trait when it comes to these type of cattle. I do not want anything getting in the way of that.

 

[KNERSIE]

Just an observation since I do not raise Herefords. It seems to me that I have seen several Hereford pics posted on here that had plenty of bone as well as a lot of other desirable assets.

Just because there many be fewer to choose from why should that deter selection from them. At this point in the breed it seems like more of a personal preference, or bias may even be a better word.

Being polled I consider an important asset because at some point in the future I plan on going back into the F1 Braford business. Dehorning is a traumatic event on cattle. It can take a normally gentle calf an turn it wild in a heartbeat.

Docility is a marketable trait when it comes to these type of cattle. I do not want anything getting in the way of that.

Elsewhere in the world there are usually more polled herefords than their horned cousins so depth of genepool certainly isn't a factor anymore today.

I agree bias, especially from the horned breeders, is responsible for many of the so called bad polled traits. The days when animals was selected just because it was polled are long gone.

Dehorning is just as traumatic for me than it is for the calf. I hate it, but I hate horn slashes in the salering even more.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

i like horned ..but with the great polled bulls out theres no way would i go back to dehorning in a crossbred situation

 

[Australian Cattleman]

once polled Herefords were regarded as having less doing ability and less growth. But these days polled is as good as horned.My polled South Devons and polled Brahmans are equal if not better than any of their horned counterparts.
Colin