We all got our own ideas about it, but what attracts you to this type?
Their size. And they are as heat tolerant, insect and parasite resistant as Brahma. But they tolerate cold well, too. When they showed up around here in the early 70's, they were a welcome alternative to the pallet-headed, cow-killer Simm and Charolais bulls of a decade earlier. As big as they were, the calves weren't anywhere near as hard for the 8-900 lb Angus and Hereford cows to deliver. Like a Brahma, their heads tended to be small in relation to their bodies. So, you were able to get the heterosis from the Continental-British cross, and actual have calves, and heifers live through the birth process. They added body length to those little Ang and Herf cows, too, so made good replacement heifers.
Late 90's I met a man that was into draft horse competitions, that also showed oxen. He had 6 Holsteins he AI'ed to Chiaina, and 6 Chi cows like that one in the pic that he AI'ed to Holstein, to try to get pairs of steers . He'd sell the heifers for next to nothing...sometimes giving them to me because I helped him with his other venture...developing bucking bulls. Those Hol x Chi cows looked like that animated cow in the Experien commercials. The fat, Holtein looking cow that was kinda blue and white instead of black & white? Damn, they raised some good calves. I would breed them to Brangus bulls. He had also decided to develop his own line bucking bulls from a 3-way Brahma, CHiania, and Longhorn cross.. Once he had enough of the 3 ways, he sold off some of his 2 way cows, and bought his Brama x Chiania. Big ole white monsters that raised maybe the best calves I ever saw. 1st time I used that Brangus, and got a lot of smokies and yellows etc. Then my neighbor who raised registered Charolais, lent me a polled Char bull. You could almost stand in the pasture and
see those calves grow! Those steers would top the sale very time I took some... right up there with the best black calves. Another neighbor bought the heifers and he bred those to his red & white, old timey Simm bulls. Never had a calving problem at all. The dude I got the cows from, when he saw some of those steers, paid me to keep 2 bull calves one year intact, and he would use them in his bucking bull program. He eventually figured out though, that to get real money, he needed to use well-known ABBI reg bulls, and get his cows ABBI registered.
For a long time, I would get every 100% full blood Chianina bull I could find, and sell them to my Corriente contact in Mexico. He shipped them to central and south America, to be used on their Indu-Brazil, Brahma, etc cows. His foreman who took on the business after his death last year, wants 20 right now, and I am having a devil of a time putting that together with bulls I could make money on. Like I said, most of them I am finding are pure bred blacks. They want fb Chiania down there, because of their size, of course, and they do just was well down there as Brahmas with the heat, insects, etc. Plus, Chiania bulls are known as great travelers, covering a lot of ground and thus a lot of cows, during breeding season.
