Oh boy, Bek, I could rave all day about that cow. She would be going on around 10 now and looks like a four year old. She has the most perfect jersey udder I have seen . . . she's pretty structurally correct, she's got the depth and the thickness that the breed is known for, she raises a whopping great calf, she's got a great temperament. The only thing I would fault her on is she is a tad fine boned. But she is one of the most successful stud/brood cows in the breed.
Claireview - However, I have had the opportunity to work with some over the last two years and this is how the breed has been explained to me:
The thing that separates square meaters cattle from other miniatures such as lowlines and dexters is that the latter are in every sense of the word 'miniature' while the square meaters are smaller because of reduced leg length. If you look at each of these breeds and a 'normal' sized breed, the square meaters are almost if not as long and deep in the body as the full sized breeds. Conversly, the lowline is shorter in the body, with finer bone structure and features. For this reason, square meater breeders in Australia don't like their cattle being called miniature ( I found this out the hard way! )
As for their relevance in the industry, the breed was developed using Murray Greys which displayed the maturity patterns of the 'old style' animals - short legs, thick body, easy fleshing, early maturing. They are a breed which aims to target the domestic vealer market. The idea is that these animals will be sold off the mother and because of their size reach the target weight, but also because of the maturity pattern have the desired finish as well, thus eliminating the need for feeding either on pasture or intensively.
Generally, the animals are very thickset and deep. They tend to have good temperament, although to be honest I have had trouble with some bulls having little man syndrome. Others have been sweet as pie. The calves grow like weeds - the cows are generally pretty milky. They are definitely a breed to consider if you want to target a milk fed vealer market or the lightweight domestic or restaurant/hotel market.
A word of warning though - the breed is in a bit of a difficult place at the moment - there are quite a few breeders whose animals have started to get too big - they are losing the early maturity patterns which define the breed, and they are getting very 'murray grey' type. This is because these breeders show, and because the judges like their cattle to look like mainstream breeds, they are breeding a type which will do well in the show ring. If you do decide to get into the breed, make sure the breeder you source your animals from is breeding the right type of animal.
As far as the climate issue is concerned, I'm not sure about it. Square Meaters do best on dairy country - since turning the calves off at a late weaning age straight to slaughter requires a fair bit of milk. They also do well in traditional grazing areas. Perhaps you could buy a few pairs or three in ones and see how they cope, versus your charbray?
As for the pictures, try:
http://www.mabelie.blogspot.com/
This site gives a heap of photos - some good SM animals, some not so good. On this site, 'Rainbow Estate Julia', 'Rainbow Estate Melody' and 'Rosie' are pretty good examples of SM females. Their herdsire I have not personally worked with, however, I showed the females they mention - Waratah, Alice and Amulet. They are outstanding females and excellent representatives of the breed.
You can also google it to get various pictures and info.
If you would like me to give you the contact details of some breeders, just let me know and I will PM you.
