Red Angus X Charolais

[gertman]

Anybody crossing these breeds? How do the calves sell at the stockyard? The presenter at the cattlemen's meeting said this cross is gaining in popularity and are referred to as buckskins.

 

[randiliana]

Anybody crossing these breeds? How do the calves sell at the stockyard? The presenter at the cattlemen's meeting said this cross is gaining in popularity and are referred to as buckskins.

We don't do this cross, but I have seen a lot of them. They are quite popular around here. They grow well and sell well. It is a good cross.

 

[CowpokeJ]

I've got some 3/4 gert 1/4 ra cows with charolais calves. Some of the best calves I've had....

 

[MikeC]

Anybody crossing these breeds? How do the calves sell at the stockyard? The presenter at the cattlemen's meeting said this cross is gaining in popularity and are referred to as buckskins.

This cross, or Herf X Char have been called buckskins.

The RA X Char do very well. I have been breeding some PB Char heifers to RA the last couple of years and am pleased so far. The calves don't quite have the muscle definition as the PB Chars, but have plenty of gut and growth.

 

[Victoria]

We've done this cross numerous times and have had success with it. We have done it both ways - RA cows and Char. cows. We've also done a RAxHerf. cow to a Char bull and that comes out nice as well. The calves do sell well. Good growth and popular at auction. This was our primary commercial herd for years. Now I will tell you why we no longer breed this way. We found that calves from the RA bull got up faster and were more active than birth than those from the Char. bull. Living where we do that was important so they don't freeze to death. They are rather large to haul around when there is a problem too. We got into purebreds and went purebred Red Angus because we do feel they are the best breed for our environment. We only have RA bulls now and have no purebred Charolais cows but we do have a cow who is 1/2 Char, 1/4 RA and probably has a bit of Simm. in her. We know her mother is 1/2 RA but the other half we think is Simm. Anyhow, I will get a picture today of her buckskin steer calf for you.

 

[Victoria]

Here's some pictures. I didn't have a lot of time so they aren't great (certainly don't show the cows at their best) but it gives some idea.

The middle cow in this picture is the one I was talking about. She has a registered Char. sire her mother we bought so we don't know her exact breeding but she is definitely 1/2 Red Angus the other half looking at her is probably Simm. maybe a bit of Herf. in there. So Cowntess is 1/2 Char, 1/4 RA and 1/4 Simm or SimmX.
The cow on the left is exact same breeding (different sire but still purebred Char) same dam.

This picture is of their steer calves this year. The middle cow has the lighter gold calf, the left cow has the dark gold calf. The calves are approximately 3 1/2 months old.

I know these do have some Simm blood in them but this is pretty ordinary to what we used to get when we had just the Char/RA crosses. Sorry we don't have any with just those two breeds in them anymore, this is as close as I could get.

This is a picture of a 7/8 RA steer (same age as the other two). This is more typical of our commercial herd now. He was born a little smaller and more active and he has caught up. Around here red sells just as well (or better than) buckskin. The RA and RAX cows are smaller and need less feed than the Char.(good for drought years) and there's fewer pulls using a RA bull on them than a Char bull. Not knocking Charolais, just telling you why we don't use them. I'll be keeping this guy for the freezer. His brother did well last year.

Here's a picture of a 1/2 Char. 1/4 RA, 1/4 Highland. I don't have a picture of her heifer calf but she has fantastic calves bred to a RA bull.

It can be a great cross. Would like to hear if you decide to try it out.

 

[Victoria]

Just looked at the calendar - the steers are 3/12 - 4 months.

 

[mnmtranching]

Anybody crossing these breeds? How do the calves sell at the stockyard? The presenter at the cattlemen's meeting said this cross is gaining in popularity and are referred to as buckskins.

I have some Red Angus cows with Char calves, for a few years now. Can't go wrong with them.

 

[gertman]

Thanks for the replies and pictures all very useful information.