The Murray Grey breed of cattle began in Australia along the Murray River in New South Wales. In 1905, on the property of Peter and Eva Sutherland a light roan shorthorn cow, when bred to various Aberdeen Angus bulls produced only grey calves. She had produced twelve of them by 1917, which were the origin of this breed. The herd was sold to Helen Sutherland in 1929, who started a systematic breeding program.
Mervyn Gadd started a second Murray Grey herd in the early 1940s as a commercial venture, using a Grey bull from the Sutherlands and breeding up from Angus cows. Butchers began to pay a premium price for the Greys because of their consistent high cutability and less waste. Murray Greys began to win carcass competitions in the early 70's and have continued to dominate the steer and carcass classes at the Royal shows in Australia. Murray Greys are one of the two preferred breeds for importation to Japan, due to their easy fleshing and high quality meat production. The Murrays have also started to win carcass competitions at the Calgary Stampede in Canada.
Greys and their crosses can be found producing in Canada, and South America; in the United States, they can be found in the Western areas, in the Corn Belt, the Plains from north to south, and in the hot climates of the deep south. They are, of course, a major breed in Australia and New Zealand, and Murray Greys are presently being introduced in various areas of Africa. For a comprehensive history of the breed, please visit the website of one of our members, Murray Sutherland, who is the son of the founder of the breed:
http://www.michaelong.com.au
BREED CHARACTERISTICS:
Size: Murray Grey bulls will usually weigh 1800-2500 lbs; cows normally weigh 1000-1400 lbs. They are a true medium-framed animal that can maintain body condition easily.
Polled: Murray Greys are naturally polled and take the horns off crossbred calves.
Calving Ease: The calves are small and quick to their feet. They grow quickly and are adaptable to all climates. Many commercial producers buy a Murray bull to use on first calf heifers and are pleased enough with the results to use the bull on all their herd.
Docile: Murray Greys are calm to work with and are known as the "gentle builders of beef". Their good nature is especially important to part-time producers; ease of handling saves time, money, and temper!
Color: The hair color ranges from very light silver to chocolate or dun grey; some animals are even black but the majority are silver to a silvery-khaki color. Their skin has a dark pigmentation, which helps prevent cancer eye.
You can get black calves without there being "a crow in the nest". :lol: They get this color gene from the Angus in their heritage. I have a chocolate brown herd bull,I have posted pictures of him.I have a cow of the same color,her first two calves were coal black,I still have her second(a bull).Last march she had twin bulls,both chocolate brown.She had a bull calf two weeks ago,that is grey/silver.All out of the same bull.
Out of this same herd bull,I have gotten brown,black,and silver calves out of my silver cows.I have one cow that is a "peach" color with silver undertones.Her first calf was a chocolate brown bull,her second was a silver heifer(the one in my avatar), her third was a black heifer,she is due again, and the Lord only knows what I will get.
Bulls I have sold were bought for use on commercial herds, usually first time heifers because of their calving ease. All of my customers have seemed to be very pleased with my bulls and the calves they produce. The bulls are docile and easy to handle,and are not "pets", yet are very protective of their "girls" and babies.
So, to summarize, the color you get out of them can be like a throw of the dice! But they are nice! ;-) :cboy:
