Shorthorn Calves (pics)

[randiliana]

We are well into calving now, and this is the first year for our Shorthorn bull. Here are some of his babies. They range from 50% - 100% Shorthorn.

50% Shorthorn

50% Shorthorn

100% Shorthorn

50% Shorthorn

50+% Shorthorn

50% Shorthorn

50+% Shorthorn

75% Shorthorn

 

[Shorthorn1]

Nice calves, but I sure hope the 3rd from the last isn't really 100% shorthorn!? Maybe it's just the light.

 

[M.Sarria]

Congratulations
Very nice looking animals your shorthorn bull did a good job looks like a keeper.

 

[randiliana]

Nice calves, but I sure hope the 3rd from the last isn't really 100% shorthorn!? Maybe it's just the light.

Nope, I messed up :shock: . She is only 50%. Sorry about that!!

 

[karlie45]

Nice lookin' little calves you got there!

cowboyup216- I have never seen any registered black shorthorns. Thats interesting. If your talking appendix short, black and blue roan are about the only colors you see here.

 

[Shorthorn1]

Randiliana, looking at your calves makes me a little nostalgic. I grew up on the "High Line" in Northern Montana. When I was a kid, you saw an awful lot of the red "brockle faces" like a couple of your calves show. They made good mama's and were in it for the long haul!

 

[randiliana]

Randiliana, looking at your calves makes me a little nostalgic. I grew up on the "High Line" in Northern Montana. When I was a kid, you saw an awful lot of the red "brockle faces" like a couple of your calves show. They made good mama's and were in it for the long haul!

Those brockle's, and the roan cows are indeed great mama's. And they sure do seem to last in the herd. The plan when we got this bull was replacement heifers. We a bunch of our top cows with him, and so far so good, out of 14 calves he has given us 10 heifers. Still have about 11 head due to him as well. Now, it all depends on how the grow ;-)

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Karlie yes they are appendix shorthorns and blue roans but they are registerable. I would say eventually they will "breed up to black" like charolais, salers, simmentals, etc have. Then you will see black purebred shorthorns.

Both the American and Canadian Shorthorn Associations have specifically stated that there will never be a "black" purebred Shorthorn allowed into the closed registry. I'm not sure how they'll stop it, given that goofy 255/256 rule, however there are a few guys out there who are attempting to change that rule. A closed registry should be just that: CLOSED. With all the bastardization going on in the breed registries these days (and not just the Shorthorn book), soon all we're going to have are "cows" with no breed differentiation at all.

Don't get me wrong. I like many appendix Shorthorns. There are probably more appendix Shorthorns out there that would benefit a commercial cattleman more than a purebred. A healthy percentage of my own commercial cows are Angus/Shorthorn or Simm/Shorthorn crosses and would be registerable under the appendix rules. Will I ever do it? I dunno, but I doubt it. It strikes me that all you're doing is putting on airs. Papers don't make a doggoned good cow better than she is.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Randi, your pics aren't coming up for me How have your birthweights been from that Able son? I haven't had any purebreds calve yet, but my birthweights are well up there. Averaging about 120 lbs from my little cows. Calving ease is excellent with no pulls (except for a wreck when two cows were calving side by side and one stopped when the other cow finished).

Rod

 

[Shorthornguy]

Pics are not coming up for me. I say NO to black shorthorns,but if someone can make a dollar breeding black it will happen.

 

[randiliana]

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Randi, your pics aren't coming up for me How have your birthweights been from that Able son? I haven't had any purebreds calve yet, but my birthweights are well up there. Averaging about 120 lbs from my little cows. Calving ease is excellent with no pulls (except for a wreck when two cows were calving side by side and one stopped when the other cow finished).

Rod

I dunno what is going on with the pics. They are coming up for me?? We are pretty happy with the calves out of him. They are averaging 90# on the 14 we have so far. Nice healthy calves. Range is 75 - 113, but then again the cow size range is 1000 - 1300 too.

Otherwise, the BW aren't too bad. Our highest all together is 115, but it does seem we are having a few more of those over 110# calves than usual. So far though we haven't really had any major trouble. A couple easy pulls on some heifers and a couple cows that just didn't seem to want to work at it. All the really big calves have been born unassisted.

As for Black Shorthorn, I am with you on that. To me a Shorthorn is a red, red roan or white animal. Hopefully they don't change that rule anytime soon. Heck if people want Black Shorthorn so bad they should start a new registry (like the Black Herefords) Don't think it is right to totally change all these breeds to black.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

The guy has a homozygous black 7/8's shorthorn bull. So having said that if you breed that to a purebred shorthorn you get BLACK purebred Shorthorns.

If you have a 7/8's Shorthorn bull bred to a purebred Shorthorn cow, you don't get a black purebred. You get a black appendix Shorthorn. Before an animal is allowed out of the appendix registry, 255 of 256 of its ancestors must be purebreds from the closed registry.

How is this if the shorthorn association says they dont allow it? Also, how are the other people registering them. I put a link on here yesterday of some registered appendix shorthorns that were black.

I didn't say they weren't allowed into the appendix registry, just not the closed registry.

Rod

 

[alftn]

Shorthorns have been appex. reg. since the 70's I know for a fact....Probely longer...7/8 cows, 15/16 bulls then they were regular reg..again not appex.....or maybe 15/16 cows, 31/32 bulls.. The point is the shorthorn ass. has had open book for a long time...Bound for some black to slip off in there...

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

or maybe 15/16 cows, 31/32 bulls.. The point is the shorthorn ass. has had open book for a long time...Bound for some black to slip off in there...

The appendix program was started in 1973. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the link on the net anywhere that states when the ruling was enacted to allow appendix animals back into the closed book, but it wasn't until the 80s or 90s. And then your 15/16, 31/32 wouldn't have been allowed. 255 of 256 of an animals ancestors must be from the closed book. So if someone has managed to register a black Shorthorn in the closed book, they've lied about that animals lineage. Which of course could very well have happened. I've seen a pile of Maine noses on PB Shorthorn animals

Rod

 

[mnmtranching]

Good looking calves.

 

[randiliana]

Just got my Canadian Shorthorn Assoc. membership. With it comes some of the rules, and here is exactly what they say about black (under the Appendix registry).

"Cattle in the program that have a solid black hair coat and/or solid black skin are eligible for registry at NO HIGHER than half blood level. Cattle must be colored red and white, red, white or roan."

Don't know if the American Registry is different but there you go.

 

[alftn]

I think I am right on the low %, althought it been 20-25 years since I messed with shorthorns...Was in cal. at the time pretty close to VS, we had real shorthorns and tha Appex..About the time the Irish thing hit...I would love to have shorthorn now,just to hard to come by and to high to buy. I CAN BUY GOOD BLACK ANGUS CATTLE cheaper than any other breeds....More common easy to come by...