Red brahman heifer

[HFX]

Hi all
I recently signed on so I thought I'd try and post one of my favourite young cows. The first was taken in early January 2007 when she was ~2 months of age. The second photo was taken at ~12 months of age. She grew very well (no grain, silage or the like) and has dropped 2 nice red heifers (P) thus far.

 

[Australian]

Nice to see some quality cattle being posted. They are very good examples of the Brahman breed.

 

[bigbull338]

she is goodlooking thats for sure.

 

[farmwriter]

Nice looking girl.
Does she always stand with her back legs stretched behind her a bit?

 

[alacattleman]

nice,, just the type id like to run a fleck or herf bull on :cowboy:

 

[snickers]

are brahman cow's really high strung and mean or are they laid back and pretty tame? I really like that cow and someday I'll have one if they are gentle.

 

[alacattleman]

are brahman cow's really high strung and mean or are they laid back and pretty tame? I really like that cow and someday I'll have one if they are gentle.

on pasture, knowing they a have a big flight zone some are as laid back, as a dog gentle hereford..but penned up and handling requires kid gloves they dont cowboy worth a dam

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Very nice female

 

[Australian]

Brahmans are gentle. It would be an absolute waste to put any thing other than a Brahman over this lovely female.

 

[HFX]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your kind comments.

Yes she does tend to hold that stance, although it may be exaggerated more so in that photo.

I think a lot of people do tend to believe their temperament is poor. Although, Australian is right in that they are very gentle and I'd definitely agree with alacattleman. I personally place great emphasis on temperament and tend to select for females and bulls that are gentle both in the paddock and in the yards with the exception made only when calves are at foot. It definitely has made mustering, yard work and handling so much easier.

I guess if you select 'hard' against bad temperament (even if the animal is worth big $$$ or genetically superior) any breed will eventually become very easy to handle and have a reputation for being quiet. A lack of this selection criterion is probably what has led to their bad reputation in the past here in Australia, although of recent times I feel there has been a real focus on correcting the temperament.

Here are her two daughters. The current calf at foot is ~6 months old (bottom two photos). She has been joined to the same sire this year. Sorry about the quality.

 

[alacattleman]

couple things that gave brahman a bad name was the yahoo farmers that bought em and tried to handle em with the old conventional methods, and the ranchers that threw em out on several thousand acres of swap or poor land and only seen a man year or so....

 

[alacattleman]

Brahmans are gentle. It would be an absolute waste to put any thing other than a Brahman over this lovely female.

not here it would'nt.... it would be a waste not to,, and a big one at that

 

[HFX]

Still plenty of that kind out there unfortunately, however that is life.
Alacattleman, it would be a waste not to chase F1 progeny; however that sort of registered cow in Australia is far more valuable for breeding seed stock. Although, we do also run a commercial herd that contains a mix of both Droughtmaster and Brahman. The lower quality breeders are joined to charolais bulls and as of last year we ran a few Angus bulls. We use very compact, thick and early maturing types for this purpose. We have rough range country that requires a tougher breeder base with good foraging ability. The cows also get 'flogged' a lot by Dingoes and ticks and we find the purebloods tend to work better under these conditions. This area still has a number of scrubbers which are descendants of the Herefords that were run in the district prior to the introduction of brahman blood.
From what I have been reading here the Herefords seem to be definitely the favourite breed for you guys. I've enjoyed reading the stories and seeing some of those older sires which have been posted up. Any chance anyone has some information or photos on the US Brahman sires used in the past and maybe those that were imported by the early Aussie breeders?

 

[tamarack]

Here is a pic of one stood all day at rodeo letting people take pics of pic is of my 4yr old grandson this one seemes very docile . not a good picture as i took a photo of the photo. Youngest bull rider in the family!

 

[Ryder]

are brahman cow's really high strung and mean Yes, they are.

or are they laid back and pretty tame? Yes, they are.
I really like that cow and someday I'll have one if they are gentle.

Both genetics and how they are handled play a role.
Then make sure you buy from a gentle herd.

HFX really has some nice looking cattle.

 

[HFX]

Tamarack, that's a great photo of your grandson and an excellent example of how good their temperament can get. We had a few bulls that would let you do just that and a cow (terrible type but kept for helping settle weaners down) that you could lift her feet like a horse as well making her kneel. The photo reminded me of an Aussie bloke that was selected for the Olympics that would showjump on a steer and ride it everywhere. Great photo.
Sound advice Ryder, plenty of people around here could benefit from your comments. I started breeding registered cattle ~ 5-6 years ago (about when I was 17-18) because I was finding it hard to source quality bulls with good temperament that met our requirements. I've been pretty lucky with my most recent purchase as he is meeting expectations. I'm away at present, but had a few photos sent through which are pleasing.