Pros and Cons of Herefords.

[MikeC]

Do you all find the forageing abilty better then Angus? If so that could be a real asset around here.

Can't speak for Angus, but our Herefords graze a couple of hours in the early morning and late afternoon. We provide a liquid feed free choice, and fresh water (no ponds); they maintain a great body condition.

I can't speak for everyone's Angus', but I can speak for mine.

They are in the same pasture with some Chars. The Chars graze mostly all day, while the Angus are either in the pond or in the shade. All day.

 

[Caustic Burno]

How do you feel about horned versus polled Herefords? Would you or do you raise terminal calves from stright breed Herefords?
How do you find their forageing ability vs other breeds?

I like crossing the Horned on the polled cow. When they took the horns off the hereford, they also took the milk ability and thickness. Of course in my part of the world, horns don't sell well. I think that crossing the horned on polled or vice versa, the calves are more stout, thick, and the cows turn into really good brood cows with lots of milk. Herefords will consume just about anything that is green, except for John Deeres, HA! HA! Herefords are the best forage beef breed I know of, right next to the Galloway. Herefords work better in the deep south than Angus. Herefords live longer and can stand the cold winters anywhere in the US, over the Angus breed. I am not saying this to spark up argument about the Angus breed. It is just facts. Herefords are better cows than any other beef breed out there, my opinion. :cboy:

Horsefeathers polled and horned came from the same stock and started by a fellow in Iowa that selected the polled cattle learn your history.

 

[S.R.R.]

We provide a liquid feed free choice, quote]

That is interesting :? It sounds like your Herefords are hard keepers. How can you turn a profit having to give your cattle a liquid feed free choice? I was under the impression that Herefords could maintain a good body score on good grass alone. Is this a common problem with the Hereford breed? ( the need for supplemental feed to maintain good condition?)

 

[Frankie]

Do you all find the forageing abilty better then Angus? If so that could be a real asset around here.

Can't speak for Angus, but our Herefords graze a couple of hours in the early morning and late afternoon. We provide a liquid feed free choice, and fresh water (no ponds); they maintain a great body condition.

I can't speak for everyone's Angus', but I can speak for mine.

They are in the same pasture with some Chars. The Chars graze mostly all day, while the Angus are either in the pond or in the shade. All day.

I'm sorry to hear your Angus cattle starved to death.

 

[Kent]

We provide a liquid feed free choice, quote]

That is interesting :? It sounds like your Herefords are hard keepers. How can you turn a profit having to give your cattle a liquid feed free choice? I was under the impression that Herefords could maintain a good body score on good grass alone. Is this a common problem with the Hereford breed? ( the need for supplemental feed to maintain good condition?)

I don't mean to be rude, but for a rancher in Canada, you should know a heck of a lot about Hereford cattle just from what you pick up through the years at sales, etc. I've never owned any Simmental or Charolais cattle, but I know a good bit about them from acquaintances in the cattle business. Herefords and later Angus built the cattle business in the US. The peak registration numbers for Hereford cattle at their peak were more than twice what the Angus numbers are now. I would guess it is not that different in Canada. I guess I'm just shocked that someone could be in the cattle business and not know anything about Herefords. The same would go for Angus or Shorthorn.

 

[farmwife]

We provide a liquid feed free choice, quote]

That is interesting :? It sounds like your Herefords are hard keepers. How can you turn a profit having to give your cattle a liquid feed free choice? I was under the impression that Herefords could maintain a good body score on good grass alone. Is this a common problem with the Hereford breed? ( the need for supplemental feed to maintain good condition?)

We don't fertilize our grass; we spent less money on the liquid feed than we would on fertilizing our grass. It's a matter of less inputs equals more return.

 

[farmwife]

Do you all find the forageing abilty better then Angus? If so that could be a real asset around here.

Can't speak for Angus, but our Herefords graze a couple of hours in the early morning and late afternoon. We provide a liquid feed free choice, and fresh water (no ponds); they maintain a great body condition.

I can't speak for everyone's Angus', but I can speak for mine.

They are in the same pasture with some Chars. The Chars graze mostly all day, while the Angus are either in the pond or in the shade. All day.

Sounds like there's some jealous folks out there MikeC. I think we'll stick to our Herefords and you to ur Angus. In the long run, I'll bet we'll be better off.

See Hereford and Angus people can get along.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

naw nope only the baldy breeders ;-)

 

[S.R.R.]

We provide a liquid feed free choice, quote]

That is interesting :? It sounds like your Herefords are hard keepers. How can you turn a profit having to give your cattle a liquid feed free choice? I was under the impression that Herefords could maintain a good body score on good grass alone. Is this a common problem with the Hereford breed? ( the need for supplemental feed to maintain good condition?)

I don't mean to be rude, but for a rancher in Canada, you should know a heck of a lot about Hereford cattle just from what you pick up through the years at sales, etc. I've never owned any Simmental or Charolais cattle, but I know a good bit about them from acquaintances in the cattle business. Herefords and later Angus built the cattle business in the US. The peak registration numbers for Hereford cattle at their peak were more than twice what the Angus numbers are now. I would guess it is not that different in Canada. I guess I'm just shocked that someone could be in the cattle business and not know anything about Herefords. The same would go for Angus or Shorthorn.

That is one problem with the internet people can not hear the sarcasm in someones voice. I tried to use this emoticon :? to get my point across but can see it did not work. :roll:

 

[S.R.R.]

Do you all find the forageing abilty better then Angus? If so that could be a real asset around here.

Can't speak for Angus, but our Herefords graze a couple of hours in the early morning and late afternoon. We provide a liquid feed free choice, and fresh water (no ponds); they maintain a great body condition.

I can't speak for everyone's Angus', but I can speak for mine.

They are in the same pasture with some Chars. The Chars graze mostly all day, while the Angus are either in the pond or in the shade. All day.

Sounds like there's some jealous folks out there MikeC. I think we'll stick to our Herefords and you to ur Angus. In the long run, I'll bet we'll be better off.

See Hereford and Angus people can get along.

Sorry farmwife but I do not think you will find to many folks jealous of cattle that need free choice feed plus grass to maintain their body condition. ;-)

 

[dun]

Sorry farmwife but I do not think you will find to many folks jealous of cattle that need free choice feed pluse grass to maintain their body condition. ;-)

Depends on the qulaity of the grass. Without fertilization it probably doesn;t grow too well and the nutritional value is most likely low. The managment solutions that work in one area may or may not work in another. Our soils are what could generously be classified as thin and droughty. The standard joke is that we're never more then 7 days away from a drought. No moisture retention at all. Another farm in a different area with the same climate wouldn;t have to manage things the way we do here if they had a different soil character. I have aq neighbor that does pretty much the same as farmwife and treats the mix30 as a creep.

dun

 

[1848]

We provide a liquid feed free choice, quote]

That is interesting :? It sounds like your Herefords are hard keepers. How can you turn a profit having to give your cattle a liquid feed free choice? I was under the impression that Herefords could maintain a good body score on good grass alone. Is this a common problem with the Hereford breed? ( the need for supplemental feed to maintain good condition?)

SRR, Why are you provoking posters with sarcasim....

 

[1848]

Do you all find the forageing abilty better then Angus? If so that could be a real asset around here.

Can't speak for Angus, but our Herefords graze a couple of hours in the early morning and late afternoon. We provide a liquid feed free choice, and fresh water (no ponds); they maintain a great body condition.

I can't speak for everyone's Angus', but I can speak for mine.

They are in the same pasture with some Chars. The Chars graze mostly all day, while the Angus are either in the pond or in the shade. All day.

I'm sorry to hear your Angus cattle starved to death.

Sounds like the Angus... ...just sit on their duff and wait for good opportunities! ;-)

 

[1848]

I don't mean to be rude, but for a rancher in Canada, you should know a heck of a lot about Hereford cattle just from what you pick up through the years at sales, etc. I've never owned any Simmental or Charolais cattle, but I know a good bit about them from acquaintances in the cattle business. Herefords and later Angus built the cattle business in the US. The peak registration numbers for Hereford cattle at their peak were more than twice what the Angus numbers are now. I would guess it is not that different in Canada. I guess I'm just shocked that someone could be in the cattle business and not know anything about Herefords. The same would go for Angus or Shorthorn.

Exactly Kent!

 

[1848]

What's with the flower Dun?

Is it a subliminal message..... :lol:

 

[S.R.R.]

Sorry farmwife but I do not think you will find to many folks jealous of cattle that need free choice feed pluse grass to maintain their body condition. ;-)

Depends on the qulaity of the grass. Without fertilization it probably doesn;t grow too well and the nutritional value is most likely low. The managment solutions that work in one area may or may not work in another. Our soils are what could generously be classified as thin and droughty. The standard joke is that we're never more then 7 days away from a drought. No moisture retention at all. Another farm in a different area with the same climate wouldn;t have to manage things the way we do here if they had a different soil character. I have aq neighbor that does pretty much the same as farmwife and treats the mix30 as a creep.

dun

Point taken dun. I just find it hard to believe that someone has to provide Hereford cattle with free choice feed in order to keep them in good condition. But..... like you say maybe their grass is crap and they should be raising goats ;-)

 

[ONLY-BEEF]

Mister S.R.R. ifen ya got to feed yur herefords feed ta keep em healthy ya have yur self a management problem not a hereford problem.

Miss farmwife what is the problem here? most us ranchers have never put fertilizer on our grass once. Do ya have more cattle then then ya should on yur grass? most of our hereford cattle have never had themselves even one taste of feed let alone free choice! a good friend of mine has raised cattle down ther in texas for 43 years and hes worse then me when it come ta extra feed with them herefords and crosses. tell us a bit more about your ranch and maybe we all can help ya out with your problem.

 

[dun]

tell us a bit more about your ranch and maybe we all can help ya out with your problem.

Didn;t sound to me like she has a problem

dun

 

[farmwife]

Sorry farmwife but I do not think you will find to many folks jealous of cattle that need free choice feed pluse grass to maintain their body condition. ;-)

Depends on the qulaity of the grass. Without fertilization it probably doesn;t grow too well and the nutritional value is most likely low. The managment solutions that work in one area may or may not work in another. Our soils are what could generously be classified as thin and droughty. The standard joke is that we're never more then 7 days away from a drought. No moisture retention at all. Another farm in a different area with the same climate wouldn;t have to manage things the way we do here if they had a different soil character. I have aq neighbor that does pretty much the same as farmwife and treats the mix30 as a creep.

dun

Thanks Dun. SRR, it's not that they need to be fed free choice to maintain body condition, it's just more economical for us to feed a liquid supplement than it is to fertilize. Last time I checked that was called more return on your investment (oops! sorry Dun, but I couldn't resist a little sarcasm to SRR). ;-)

 

[S.R.R.]

Sorry farmwife but I do not think you will find to many folks jealous of cattle that need free choice feed pluse grass to maintain their body condition. ;-)

Depends on the qulaity of the grass. Without fertilization it probably doesn;t grow too well and the nutritional value is most likely low. The managment solutions that work in one area may or may not work in another. Our soils are what could generously be classified as thin and droughty. The standard joke is that we're never more then 7 days away from a drought. No moisture retention at all. Another farm in a different area with the same climate wouldn;t have to manage things the way we do here if they had a different soil character. I have aq neighbor that does pretty much the same as farmwife and treats the mix30 as a creep.

dun

Thanks Dun. SRR, it's not that they need to be fed free choice to maintain body condition, it's just more economical for us to feed a liquid supplement than it is to fertilize. Last time I checked that was called more return on your investment (oops! sorry Dun, but I couldn't resist a little sarcasm to SRR). ;-)

No problem with the sarcasm I gave it to you so I have no problem getting some back. ;-) In truth though OB is right I have seen very few if any ranchers that fertilize their pastures and I know my family has never even considered fertilizing our ranch in Texas. :roll: You are right you would go broke before you even covered 1/2 of it! With that said we also make sure the # of our cattle match the amount of grass avalible.