Red and Black Angus

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twabscs

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Hi All,

Well I'm six months into the cattle business and I have learned a lot during that time. I started with 10 sale-barn pairs back in Feb and they are a hodge podge of Black Angus, Herefords, BWF, and one Gert. The calf crop isn't consistent as each most likely came from a different sire, etc.

So, I'm ready to buy "quality" now and am looking at BA, RA, and Hereford (and Xs) as my core herd. I like a bit of variety and a red, black, and R/BWF herd is what I'm after.

My basic question is around having both BA and RA and what one would do for a herd bull in that situation. Is the Red or Black gene dominant? What kind of calves would I get if I cross a BWF with a RA bull, a BA with a RA bull, etc. Does anyone else do this or should I just stick with BA or RA and herefords and not mix the Angus colors, etc.

Thanks!
 
twabscs":20tszc99 said:
Hi All,

Well I'm six months into the cattle business and I have learned a lot during that time. I started with 10 sale-barn pairs back in Feb and they are a hodge podge of Black Angus, Herefords, BWF, and one Gert. The calf crop isn't consistent as each most likely came from a different sire, etc.

So, I'm ready to buy "quality" now and am looking at BA, RA, and Hereford (and Xs) as my core herd. I like a bit of variety and a red, black, and R/BWF herd is what I'm after.

My basic question is around having both BA and RA and what one would do for a herd bull in that situation. Is the Red or Black gene dominant? What kind of calves would I get if I cross a BWF with a RA bull, a BA with a RA bull, etc. Does anyone else do this or should I just stick with BA or RA and herefords and not mix the Angus colors, etc.

Thanks!

Black is dominant so if one side of the mating is homozygous black, like most black Angus are, the resulting calf will be black. With a black baldy bred to a red bull, the cow is probably heterozygous black, one each red and black gene, if it's a first generation cross 50% of the calves will be red.
We sort of mix and match colors and breeds. Some blacks are bred to Red Angus or Polled Hereford, some of the Red Angus and red Baldys are bred to either Red Angus, black Angus or Polled Hereford. Depends on the cow and what her calves need. We used a red blaze faced Simmenthal in the past and this year we used a homozygous black Simmenthal.

dun
 
Thanks Dun, that answers my questions, and it sounds like what I'm thinking isn't out of the ordinary.
 
twabscs":bu2o4jmp said:
Hi All,

Well I'm six months into the cattle business and I have learned a lot during that time. I started with 10 sale-barn pairs back in Feb and they are a hodge podge of Black Angus, Herefords, BWF, and one Gert. The calf crop isn't consistent as each most likely came from a different sire, etc.

So, I'm ready to buy "quality" now and am looking at BA, RA, and Hereford (and Xs) as my core herd. I like a bit of variety and a red, black, and R/BWF herd is what I'm after.

My basic question is around having both BA and RA and what one would do for a herd bull in that situation. Is the Red or Black gene dominant? What kind of calves would I get if I cross a BWF with a RA bull, a BA with a RA bull, etc. Does anyone else do this or should I just stick with BA or RA and herefords and not mix the Angus colors, etc.

Thanks!

I think Black Angus bull, you would have black and black baldie calves.
With a Hereford bull you will get Herferd and baldie. not as good.

Red Angus bull. Red and black and red baldie. Might have some red color in you Black calves. I think the BA is the way to go.
 
mtm, are you saying the BA cross RA might produce some calves that are black but have some "redness" to them? My Gert was crosssed with a BA and her calf was black with a lot of red tinge (long hair) as a young calf but now is mostly black at 6 months. I'll try my hand at posting a picture.
 
maybe two months:
Gert_Calf_Young.jpg


close to six months:
Gert_Calf_Now.jpg
 
What are you going to do with the calves? If you're going to sell them, I'd go with a Continental bull to get some cross on your british.
 
twabscs":vvjprllz said:
mtm, are you saying the BA cross RA might produce some calves that are black but have some "redness" to them? My Gert was crosssed with a BA and her calf was black with a lot of red tinge (long hair) as a young calf but now is mostly black at 6 months. I'll try my hand at posting a picture.

Yes, Its common. I don't think it hurts anything. May cost a couple $ per hundred when you sell feeders.
 

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