SOMETHING TO BE SAID ABOUT BRANGUS COWS

[Rod]

yOU KWOW YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING WHEN YOU'VE WORKED 100 HEAD OF BRANGUS FIRST CALVE HEIFERS. It was a holy nightmare. If they didn't try to go thru the shoot then it was over it, if they weren't trying to run around you then it was over you. If you needed them over here then they went over there. They are capable of the following: kicking at a longer than expected distance, tearing down anything you thought they couldn't, jumping over anything you said they couldn't,walking right up over the back of another and make you cuss in front of your grandmother. This was a day that i will reflect on greatly before bringing another one of those creatures on my farms! Lets not forget their calves EITHER!

 

[cypressfarms]

Rod,

Cull, Cull, and then cull harder. Disposition is inherited, and can be culled out. I personally like Brangus, and all of mine come to a bucket/sack in a hurry. I consider them a close second to tigers, though, when working. Have all of your facilities ready, and make quick work of it. We normally don't have many problems, but facilities are good.

Just curious Rod, if you hate em so much, why do you have em? Not trying to be smart alec, but if you want docility, sell em all and go buy hereford cows.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Rod,

Cull, Cull, and then cull harder. Disposition is inherited, and can be culled out. I personally like Brangus, and all of mine come to a bucket/sack in a hurry. I consider them a close second to tigers, though, when working. Have all of your facilities ready, and make quick work of it. We normally don't have many problems, but facilities are good.

Just curious Rod, if you hate em so much, why do you have em? Not trying to be smart alec, but if you want docility, sell em all and go buy hereford cows.

I like my Brangus girls also and they come a runnin for a cube after hollering come on girls. I have one you can lead by the ear into and out of a trailer. But she is still a Brangus and has a short fuse, don't push her you lead. I have actually had a harder time finding Brangus with a good attitude than the Tigers rephrase less explosive. My idea of the perfect cow herd would be half Tiger girls and half Brangus girls with a good Polled Hereford bull. I know I am nuts and living 30 years in the past but those cattle work in some God awful enviroments and flourish in a half decent pasture down here.

 

[cypressfarms]

Caustic,

I'm with you on this one.

Whenever we need to work the girls, I pull a feed trough in the catch corral, and pour a sack of feed in. They all come running, and we close the gate behind them, then work them into smaller pens until they turn into the chute.

There is no way on God's green earth that they could be herded into the corral with dogs or horses without them getting hot - they would explode.

Another trick is to never work singles. We always move several at a time through the pens, so they feel more comfortable.

Much better to put the carrot in the front instead of trying to push with brangus and tigers.

 

[djwalker]

I have something to be said about Brangus cows.

Love them, wouldn't trade them for any other breed. We raise Red Brangus and ours are as gentle as can be (almost too gentle). The root of our problems with cattle working came from two things, 1. Poor design on our pens confusing cattle, 2. Poor design on our pens inducing anger in our people. Once we blew up, the cattle decided to join the party. Since we made a small change to our corrals, things flow smoother and everyone (including cattle) goes home with a lower blood pressure.

All cattle can be crazy, regardless of breed. I would cull the crazy ones or fix up your corral system to make working cattle less stressful on yourself and the cattle. As has been stated, disposition can spread. A few crazy cattle can quickly have your whole herd acting a fool. Just figured I'd come to the defense of a great cow.

 

[jcarkie]

i am sorry they are good mama cows but they can be nuts. i had a month old calf "brangus" put his head thru the leg of a panel and off he went with the pen dragging behind him. i can lead them anywhere but you have to work them slow and careful. i have a brangus baldy cow that is calm and easy to work never goes off, her mama was herf x simmi never goes nuts.
i am not using any more brangus bulls.

 

[J. T.]

My experience with Brangus has been good overall. I do have one cow that doesn't like women and my wife has to be careful around her. She's also shown some nastiness towards my momma, but she's usually not aggressive towards men. I like Brangus cattle.....eat brush and junk Brits/Conts won't, wean a nice calf with little to no help, hardy, milk well, good udders, etc.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Brammer influenced cattle just know how to play the game of life a little better than the rest. They are smarter and that just doesn't sit well with most people who prefer dumb cattle that walk into traps without a thought. Believe me I like the dummies too when my horse and I are tired of playing musical chairs. They are more "misunderstood" than they are "wild". A good batch of cur dogs seems to help them understand where they lie on the food chain.

 

[Scotty]

Rod,

Cull, Cull, and then cull harder. Disposition is inherited, and can be culled out. I personally like Brangus, and all of mine come to a bucket/sack in a hurry. I consider them a close second to tigers, though, when working. Have all of your facilities ready, and make quick work of it. We normally don't have many problems, but facilities are good.

Just curious Rod, if you hate em so much, why do you have em? Not trying to be smart alec, but if you want docility, sell em all and go buy hereford cows.

I like my Brangus girls also and they come a runnin for a cube after hollering come on girls. I have one you can lead by the ear into and out of a trailer. But she is still a Brangus and has a short fuse, don't push her you lead. I have actually had a harder time finding Brangus with a good attitude than the Tigers rephrase less explosive. My idea of the perfect cow herd would be half Tiger girls and half Brangus girls with a good Polled Hereford bull. I know I am nuts and living 30 years in the past but those cattle work in some God awful enviroments and flourish in a half decent pasture down here.

Thats a good combo, wspecially to go back with an Agus bull on. ;-) I hear there are two types of Brangus cows and neither has any thing to do with physical wuality. they are one with a good attitiude and one with a poor one. Camp cooley has a customer apprecation sale every year(yesterday). They sell some quality cattle that have great attitudes. Pricy some times but, THERE IS SOMETHING TO BE SAID ABOUT BRANGUS COWS.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Scotty not many breeds can you try in East Texas and be successful. First you have to get past well Roy Higgins bought one of them cows only lived for 15 year, them frilly breeds can't live on pine straw, saw briars, yaupons and honeysuckle like our cows. There is some truth to what they say. Cause when you get to the salebarn if it isn't infused with Angus,Brammer,Hereford you are fixing to be white eyed by the old timers. If you got a pallet head Char you are thought either as crazy or cutting edge.

 

[MoGal]

I'm glad to hear of someone that has red brangus that are gentle..... there's a fella around here that brings his in to be shipped and they act like deer.

Another fella got a "good buy" on 5 red brangus cows and turned em out with his others (mostly herefords he got a "good buy" on) and they are stirring up the whole herd.

I have two black brangus bulls and they have a good disposition. They are used for lease and they have to have a good disposition because they are coming and going every 90 days.

 

[jersey lilly]

We also have brangus, and very rarely have a "wild one". I think alot of it has to do with how often your cattle see you. How often your out there ridin thru them, walkin thru them, or drivin thru them. Its a routine. Also, if after you work your cows, before you turn em out to pasture, feed em a couple sacks of cubes.....makes for a quicker smoother trip thru the chute because they learn that at the end of the workin they get fed. We do keep a hot shot on hand, but usually only hafta use it on the youngsters to get em to move on up the chute. Not on all of em, just a few.

 

[Rod]

Rod,

Cull, Cull, and then cull harder. Disposition is inherited, and can be culled out. I personally like Brangus, and all of mine come to a bucket/sack in a hurry. I consider them a close second to tigers, though, when working. Have all of your facilities ready, and make quick work of it. We normally don't have many problems, but facilities are good.

Just curious Rod, if you hate em so much, why do you have em? Not trying to be smart alec, but if you want docility, sell em all and go buy hereford cows.

I bought 60 more of those darn creatures becuase i thought they'd raise a better calf than did my angus plus, I'm gunning for the smokies. Funny you should bring up herefords, You wouldn't believe how many times i said hereford on that day, probably about as much as I said some of those awful words, It was more like this, herefords wouln't of done that, herefords are good cattle, a hereford couln't of jumped up that high and get its leg caught up in the top of the head gate, a hereford would of never been able to kick me standing that far away, did you see how much blackwhite baldies are bringing etc. etc. etc. !!

 

[cypressfarms]

Rod,

Cull, Cull, and then cull harder. Disposition is inherited, and can be culled out. I personally like Brangus, and all of mine come to a bucket/sack in a hurry. I consider them a close second to tigers, though, when working. Have all of your facilities ready, and make quick work of it. We normally don't have many problems, but facilities are good.

Just curious Rod, if you hate em so much, why do you have em? Not trying to be smart alec, but if you want docility, sell em all and go buy hereford cows.

I bought 60 more of those darn creatures becuase i thought they'd raise a better calf than did my angus plus, I'm gunning for the smokies. Funny you should bring up herefords, You wouldn't believe how many times i said hereford on that day, probably about as much as I said some of those awful words, It was more like this, herefords wouln't of done that, herefords are good cattle, a hereford couln't of jumped up that high and get its leg caught up in the top of the head gate, a hereford would of never been able to kick me standing that far away, did you see how much blackwhite baldies are bringing etc. etc. etc. !!

Well Rod, I go back to my original statement. Why have brangus if they frustrate you?

Anyone remember hatchett butt, a former Brangus bull of mine? Well he's at my dad's, his butt has grown out, and he's the lead cow. My dad called yesterday to tell me that all of his brangus had got out, and I thought we were in for some serious work. I told him to give the bucket a try. Sure enough, 'ol hatchett brought all of his cows back with a bucket carried by my dad. Brangus are just different. When they are used to you, you can lead them anywhere, but if you expect to pony up and make them go somewhere they don't want, your gonna have a problem.

 

[aplusmnt]

Rod,

Cull, Cull, and then cull harder. Disposition is inherited, and can be culled out. I personally like Brangus, and all of mine come to a bucket/sack in a hurry. I consider them a close second to tigers, though, when working. Have all of your facilities ready, and make quick work of it. We normally don't have many problems, but facilities are good.

Just curious Rod, if you hate em so much, why do you have em? Not trying to be smart alec, but if you want docility, sell em all and go buy hereford cows.

I bought 60 more of those darn creatures becuase i thought they'd raise a better calf than did my angus plus, I'm gunning for the smokies. Funny you should bring up herefords, You wouldn't believe how many times i said hereford on that day, probably about as much as I said some of those awful words, It was more like this, herefords wouln't of done that, herefords are good cattle, a hereford couln't of jumped up that high and get its leg caught up in the top of the head gate, a hereford would of never been able to kick me standing that far away, did you see how much blackwhite baldies are bringing etc. etc. etc. !!

Well Rod, I go back to my original statement. Why have brangus if they frustrate you?

Anyone remember hatchett butt, a former Brangus bull of mine? Well he's at my dad's, his butt has grown out, and he's the lead cow. My dad called yesterday to tell me that all of his brangus had got out, and I thought we were in for some serious work. I told him to give the bucket a try. Sure enough, 'ol hatchett brought all of his cows back with a bucket carried by my dad. Brangus are just different. When they are used to you, you can lead them anywhere, but if you expect to pony up and make them go somewhere they don't want, your gonna have a problem.

Have always heard of Hatchet butt but never saw him, is he got a picture floating around on an old thread somewhere?

Ps. Sorry about the LSU game! Figured it would be tough game for them, but not like that!

 

[Dap]

I had a few reasonable brangus cows, but a lot more that were crazy. Most of them were ok until a gate was shut behind them, then things would get ugly. I had my best luck working them when I was by myself, and if they weren't going to the barn like I wanted I had to give up early. I've managed to get rid of most of them and all the really bad ones are gone, one by a dart gun and two by rope. The worst brangus I ever had would never go near the barn when I was around, and she could smell a trap a mile away. I caught her by shutting off all the water except the one at the barn. I closed the gate to the barn and once a day I would open it when the cows were good and thirsty and then I would hide. After 3 days without water she finally came in.

 

[Kent]

I had a few reasonable brangus cows, but a lot more that were crazy. Most of them were ok until a gate was shut behind them, then things would get ugly. I had my best luck working them when I was by myself, and if they weren't going to the barn like I wanted I had to give up early. I've managed to get rid of most of them and all the really bad ones are gone, one by a dart gun and two by rope. The worst brangus I ever had would never go near the barn when I was around, and she could smell a trap a mile away. I caught her by shutting off all the water except the one at the barn. I closed the gate to the barn and once a day I would open it when the cows were good and thirsty and then I would hide. After 3 days without water she finally came in.

:lol: :lol: Sounds like some of my tricks. I've rented land all over and seems like none of it has a good place to work cattle. I should have bought one of those portable steel contraptions years ago, before steel prices doubled. I starved an old Limousin sale barn cow for water for a few days one time. I hid and she waited for 30 minutes before she went in to drink, then she darn near beat me to the gate when I ran to shut it. I had been trying for six months to catch that cow. :lol:

 

[alacattleman]

yOU KWOW YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING WHEN YOU'VE WORKED 100 HEAD OF BRANGUS FIRST CALVE HEIFERS. It was a holy nightmare. If they didn't try to go thru the shoot then it was over it, if they weren't trying to run around you then it was over you. If you needed them over here then they went over there. They are capable of the following: kicking at a longer than expected distance, tearing down anything you thought they couldn't, jumping over anything you said they couldn't,walking right up over the back of another and make you cuss in front of your grandmother. This was a day that i will reflect on greatly before bringing another one of those creatures on my farms! Lets not forget their calves EITHER!

sounds like my kind of cattle full of Pi$$ and vinegar ;-)

 

[TheBullLady]

Like mentioned briefly in the previous post about F1's, that "easily stirred" predisposition is the Brahman influence. Caustic's right.. (I'm sorry to admit that) they are easily lead, very hard to "push". I can load any Brahman on my place with a bucket. Oh, but wait, I can scratch all of mine too. That's a personality flaw I'm certain.. :cboy:

 

[sillco]

yOU KWOW YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING WHEN YOU'VE WORKED 100 HEAD OF BRANGUS FIRST CALVE HEIFERS. It was a holy nightmare. If they didn't try to go thru the shoot then it was over it, if they weren't trying to run around you then it was over you. If you needed them over here then they went over there. They are capable of the following: kicking at a longer than expected distance, tearing down anything you thought they couldn't, jumping over anything you said they couldn't,walking right up over the back of another and make you cuss in front of your grandmother. This was a day that i will reflect on greatly before bringing another one of those creatures on my farms! Lets not forget their calves EITHER!

When you work Brangus you have to lead them not push them. If you try to push them through a gate they will go everywhere ecept through the gate. Lead them. Get a sack of feed or bucket and lead where ever you want. I have led them from the back of my pickup just by shaking the bucket. When you pen them work them slow and quite and they will respond well. If they don't sell them and get some true Brangus, 3/8th Brahman X 5/8ths Angus.