Rare Breeds

[lawdawg1]

I'm just getting into the busness and have about 8 acres. I want to put rare cattle, watsu?? (Japanese cattle) or another rare breed. Any suggestions? Only one bull and three-4 cows. I want this to be a experiment before I get fully involved in them.

 

[UG]

There are so many unique rare breeds that need conscientious producers to help maintain and preferably increase their populations. In case you aren't aware of them, a wonderful organization is the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (http://www.albc-usa.org/). ALBC is a great resource for finding out about the various rare breeds and producers who currently raise them.

You may want to consider artificial insemination rather than buying a bull. It will allow you to have an extra cow if you don't have a bull also eating grass. There are several other advantages:
-bulls can be rough on equipment and potentially dangerous
-It is hard to justify the costs of maintaining a bull if he is only going to breed a few cows
-Once you have daughters out of the bull that you want to breed back, then you have the hassle of having to find a new home for the old bull and find another to replace him.
-typically a person can buy semen from some of the top bulls in any breed at a cost significantly less than you could afford to pay for a herd sire (especially when he is only breeding 3 or 4 cows).

Good luck on your new adventure!

 

[Roan]

Try feeding out a steer first, and eat him. Then see if you want to get into the breeding aspect. Just getting basic equipment for handing is a major expense for the little guy. This board will certainly tell you what they think. LOL They are usually correct.

 

[ColemanCreekCattle]

Whatever you decide upon just make sure you match the type of cattle with your environment --- kinda like --Don't Put Scottish Highland cattle in South Florida and dont put Gerts in Edmonton. Alta

I'm just getting into the busness and have about 8 acres. I want to put rare cattle, watsu?? (Japanese cattle) or another rare breed. Any suggestions? Only one bull and three-4 cows. I want this to be a experiment before I get fully involved in them.

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

There are Gert breeders in Canada. Maybe you should ask someone about whether or not to raise a certain breed in a certain location from someone that does it rather than listening to someone who thinks they know.

Edit: There are several rarer breeds available. Sounds like you want a novelty, if this is the case, what are you looking for rather than just rarity? Color, horns, etc.

 

[cmf1]

Wagyu may be what you are thinking of.

http://www.wagyu.org

That's the one they raise Japanese Kobe beef from. Fairly high dollar stuff. Don't know anyone raising them, but I'm sure someone here on the boards has experience with them.

 

[ColemanCreekCattle]

gerts are NOT recommended for Edmonton, Alta--- did I say canada? NO --I was specific and said Edmonton-- get it right

There are Gert breeders in Canada. Maybe you should ask someone about whether or not to raise a certain breed in a certain location from someone that does it rather than listening to someone who thinks they know.

Edit: There are several rarer breeds available. Sounds like you want a novelty, if this is the case, what are you looking for rather than just rarity? Color, horns, etc.

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

Well, I know a breeder near Calgary. How far is that from Edmonton. Couple of hours?

Pinzgauers are a rare breed with a distinct look. Have you looked into them? You might also consider Devons, South Devons (not related), Red Polls, South Polls or Tarentaise. Note: I selected breeds that are rare but not unattainable without a little searching.

 

[3waycross]

Wagyu may be what you are thinking of.

http://www.wagyu.org

That's the one they raise Japanese Kobe beef from. Fairly high dollar stuff. Don't know anyone raising them, but I'm sure someone here on the boards has experience with them.

If you want wagyu and want in cheap you might consider picking up 3 or 4 decent Angus and having them AI'd with Wagyu semen keep the heifers eat the steers and then dump the angus cows and do the same thing again with your heifer calves . In a fairly short time you would be able to produce 3/4 to 7/8 Wagyu and make some exellant freezer beef. Be advised though that Wagyu take a lot longer to finish to their potential.

 

[hillsdown]

gerts are NOT recommended for Edmonton, Alta--- did I say canada? NO --I was specific and said Edmonton-- get it right

There are Gert breeders in Canada. Maybe you should ask someone about whether or not to raise a certain breed in a certain location from someone that does it rather than listening to someone who thinks they know.

Edit: There are several rarer breeds available. Sounds like you want a novelty, if this is the case, what are you looking for rather than just rarity? Color, horns, etc.

:roll: ............BTW there are long horns raised around here as well as Brahma .

Anywho for true KOBE beef they need to be raised the same way.

Kobe beef is a special grade of beef from (Wagyu) cattle raised in Kobe, Japan. These cattle are massaged with sake and are fed a daily diet that includes large amounts of beer. This produces meat that is extraordinarily tender, finely marbled, and full-flavored. It is also extremely expensive, often costing more than $100 per pound. Because of the high cost and increasing demand, there are now some Kobe-style beef-cattle being raised in the U.S. using the same techniques.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[lawdawg1]

I want something that has a market but not seen much. The Japanese breed has a ranch in texas but are high.

 

[Australian]

Try Boran, Red Sindhi or Gyr type Brahman.

 

[lawdawg1]

that is really exotic. The reds look funy

 

[cmf1]

Anything you grow will have a market.
But if it's not seen much, it probably won't have much of a market.
Take a look around and do some research into different breeds. Find one you see yourself enjoying enough to mess with. If you enjoy it, you will do it well.
If you do it well, you will create your own market.
A belted galloway for instance, around here, will take one heck of a hit at the sale barn. Not because it's a bad cow, but because a buyer can no way make a load with them. But I know a couple breeders who wouldn't walk away from them for anything. And they make profit on them. But they have their own customer base away from the sale barn.
The same can be said for other "unconventional" breeds in your market.
With 4 cows and a bull, or 5 cows and AI, the "market rules" will never apply to you anyway. (unless you're having a fire sale).
Have as much fun with it as you can, because the money part is tough from the mega ranch down to the hobby farm.

 

[ShuterSunset]

My family has been raising Red Poll Cattle for many years. They are a good breed for grass fed programs, make good cows, the beef is really tender and they have pretty calm temperaments. Although we are in the middle of Indiana and the cows are surrounded by corn and the calves get fed corn, we have really seen an increase in interest by people doing the grass-fed thing.

We also take a pretty good dock at the black dominated salebarns in the area and consequently have gone to selling ours for replacements or for freezer beef. They work pretty well for us.

I am also doing a little bit of experimenting with some crossbreeding with the Red Polls as the base. If I can keep the maternal qualities and add some additional muscle and some additional performance traits, I think that a well designed cross with Red Polls in it will work well in a commercial setting as well.

 

[andybob]

Briggs genetics in Texas has been selling their F1 Wagyu in calf, that might be an affordable option to grade up on, with the 3/4 Wagyu calves.

 

[Busterz]

White Park (or something similar) or Murray Grey

 

[xbred]

why not find one that can regrow a hind quarter, or a breed that can live on willow leaves. how about a breed that has a litter at a time and a row of tits instead of just 4...

 

[dun]

why not find one that can regrow a hind quarter, or a breed that can live on willow leaves. how about a breed that has a litter at a time and a row of tits instead of just 4...

I alwasy figured a lizard crossed with a beef would make the ideal animal..Just let it regrow whatever part you cut off to eat

 

[lawdawg1]

why not find one that can regrow a hind quarter, or a breed that can live on willow leaves. how about a breed that has a litter at a time and a row of tits instead of just 4...

That would be nice.