lucky us
Active member
My boss just bought Santa Gertrutis bulls, and I don't know anything about them. I would appreciate it if someone could give me some information on them.
Santa Gertrutis
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greatgerts
Well-known member
PM me lucky us if you can't find anything on a search.
BC
Well-known member
They cross great with English bred cattle to make some excellent replacement females where you need a little heat tolerance. If you use a thick meaty bull with not too much frame, the steers will be acceptable to feedyards.
Arnold Ziffle
Well-known member
Welcome to the boards Lucky
Santa Gertrudis, often referred to as "Gerts", are raised primarily in the hot and humid regions of the south, Texas and parts of the west. However, as you will find, there are Gert raisers in many other areas --- in fact there are CattleToday members from places such as Missouri, Alberta, Canada and I believe upstate New York.
Gert's were originally developed by the King Ranch in south Texas in hopes of "creating" a breed that was capable of doing well in the harsh environment of south Texas (high heat, high humidity, marginal night-time cooling, many bugs & parasites) but that had substantially better carcass qualities than a pure Brahman. They are often referred to as the first American breed, although they are in fact a "composite" that has been stabilized at 3/8 Brahman blood and 5/8 Shorthorn blood and are now are a recognized breed. You'll hear the term "eared cattle", and Gerts are "eared cattle" --- owing to the Brahman influence they will have larger and longer ears than typical Englich or Continental cattle. Many Gert breeders are doing Genestar testing on their animals and through selective breeding are getting some pretty respectable carcasses, although no Brahman cross breed could be expected to "quality grade" as well as a straight Englich breed.
A lot of people are crossbreeding Gerts with Angus or Hereford and part of the reason for that is heterosis, and also to get a 3/16 Brahman 13/16 English animal that can thrive in the local environment and yet produce a very good carcass.
Well, that's all I have time to write at this time. You might want to visit the King Ranch website for a bit of breed history and the story of the most famous Gert, the bull named "Monkey". Also, you might find a brief discussion about what they are currently doing with their Gerts as well as their program to develop the Santa Cruz breed (which is 1/2 Gert, 1/4 Red Angus and 1/4 Gelbvieh). In addition, you may want to check out the Gert main breed assoc. website for additional info. Of course, you should remember that just about any breed assoc. website will paint a pretty rosey picture of a breed, generally without listing the shortcomings.
Hope this helps a bit.
Santa Gertrudis, often referred to as "Gerts", are raised primarily in the hot and humid regions of the south, Texas and parts of the west. However, as you will find, there are Gert raisers in many other areas --- in fact there are CattleToday members from places such as Missouri, Alberta, Canada and I believe upstate New York.
Gert's were originally developed by the King Ranch in south Texas in hopes of "creating" a breed that was capable of doing well in the harsh environment of south Texas (high heat, high humidity, marginal night-time cooling, many bugs & parasites) but that had substantially better carcass qualities than a pure Brahman. They are often referred to as the first American breed, although they are in fact a "composite" that has been stabilized at 3/8 Brahman blood and 5/8 Shorthorn blood and are now are a recognized breed. You'll hear the term "eared cattle", and Gerts are "eared cattle" --- owing to the Brahman influence they will have larger and longer ears than typical Englich or Continental cattle. Many Gert breeders are doing Genestar testing on their animals and through selective breeding are getting some pretty respectable carcasses, although no Brahman cross breed could be expected to "quality grade" as well as a straight Englich breed.
A lot of people are crossbreeding Gerts with Angus or Hereford and part of the reason for that is heterosis, and also to get a 3/16 Brahman 13/16 English animal that can thrive in the local environment and yet produce a very good carcass.
Well, that's all I have time to write at this time. You might want to visit the King Ranch website for a bit of breed history and the story of the most famous Gert, the bull named "Monkey". Also, you might find a brief discussion about what they are currently doing with their Gerts as well as their program to develop the Santa Cruz breed (which is 1/2 Gert, 1/4 Red Angus and 1/4 Gelbvieh). In addition, you may want to check out the Gert main breed assoc. website for additional info. Of course, you should remember that just about any breed assoc. website will paint a pretty rosey picture of a breed, generally without listing the shortcomings.
Hope this helps a bit.
lucky us
Active member
To all who has replied, thank you. I think that I will learn alot about different things in the catle industry from this sight. And hopefully in turn I can help someone in the future.
jerry27150
Well-known member
growth rate of gerts is about equal to charolais
they can travel long distances for water or food
bulls are highly fertile
calves are born with great vigor
calves can be turned off on grass at an early age & keep right on growing
they are resistant to many diseases
little pinkeye or eye problems
not likely to bloat
insects don't bother as much
will graze in the hot sun
straight or crosses are great mothers & highly sought after
calving ease
about all i can think of off the top of my head
they can travel long distances for water or food
bulls are highly fertile
calves are born with great vigor
calves can be turned off on grass at an early age & keep right on growing
they are resistant to many diseases
little pinkeye or eye problems
not likely to bloat
insects don't bother as much
will graze in the hot sun
straight or crosses are great mothers & highly sought after
calving ease
about all i can think of off the top of my head
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Dang makes me want to sell them English bulls and buy some them Gerts so when they get up they can step on that long sheath.
jerry27150
Well-known member
they don't make any perfect, but i just bought one with a lot less ear & sheath. they sure make a good cross on my english cows
greatgerts
Well-known member
Caustic,
The sheaths HAVE been a problem in the past. When we got started, that was our biggest problem. But, over 15 years, we have gotten to shorter sheathed bulls. We have also cleaned up navals on bulls and heifers. Most breeders are doing the same.
I'm not saying you won't find them, just saying that they definately are improving.
The sheaths HAVE been a problem in the past. When we got started, that was our biggest problem. But, over 15 years, we have gotten to shorter sheathed bulls. We have also cleaned up navals on bulls and heifers. Most breeders are doing the same.
I'm not saying you won't find them, just saying that they definately are improving.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
greatgerts":3jf41198 said:
Never had nothin against the cows, yall needed to clean up that problem.
Good cattle just kinda hard to cough up 2 or 3 grand and then the dang bull step on his tally wacker = hamburger.
houstoncutter
Well-known member
Some of you folks crossing Gerts to English breeds contact me. I will be selling all of my herd I think within about 18 months. Then Iwill sit out a few years, and come back with GertF-1's. Will be looking for about 150 head at that time. Thanks
I'm new to the boards, and we raise Gerts both purebred and Star 5 (which is the registration term for a 1st cross anything/Gert). Sheath scores have been a problem in the past, however, the breed has come along way in cleaning them up. We currently have taken any productive Gert cows that have a less than desireable underline and are breeding them to a hereford bull. Those that are very clean are staying in our Gert herd. Here is a picture (I hope!) of a heifer with what I consider to be a clean underline for a Santa Gertrudis.
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greenwillowherefords
Well-known member
Welcome 4L. I want to see those white faced F1s!
tapeworm
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Or maybe this is the one that caused youto be upset with me and send me a pm???? maybe I need some fancy class in being more sensitive...sorry that I made such afoolish posting....maybe now that ive got it back up somebody else will help you and you can forgive me some daytapeworm":3c68mjpn said:
Dont know if my suggestion will help since Im so useless but I didnt know they made a gert rockfooted enough for your country..so pay careful attention to feet is my words of widom
i have a bull calf that ia about to turn five mouth next week and i was readly if our can give me anything how to sale him. the bull has great blood line and the bull is some f halter broken. the bull dad is partriot and his mom from wendt ranch. can any one of our help me.
