Thoughts on Chi Angus?

[Ky hills]

I'm not likely to go that route at all just thinking about various crosses. I have often heard that the ideal beef animal is 3/4 British and 1/4 Continental, and working with that assumption ( yes I know what that word makes and I've been called worse ) I have come to question if that cross may be a viable piece to the puzzle so to speak. I have seen some at shows but not personally seen any in commercial pastures, although a few years back I heard of a farm that was using them, but don't know anything about the results. The fullblood Chianinas that I remember were way too extreme for my preference, but am wondering if the now heavy Angus influence in them may have toned the frame down but retained enough to be a bit more than the average Angus, and also if the Angus influence has added some milk to the Chi's?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Chi's have been popular in the Club Steer ring for quite some time. Not sure what they bring to the plate.

 

[elkwc]

I'm not likely to go that route at all just thinking about various crosses. I have often heard that the ideal beef animal is 3/4 British and 1/4 Continental, and working with that assumption ( yes I know what that word makes and I've been called worse ) I have come to question if that cross may be a viable piece to the puzzle so to speak. I have seen some at shows but not personally seen any in commercial pastures, although a few years back I heard of a farm that was using them, but don't know anything about the results. The fullblood Chianinas that I remember were way too extreme for my preference, but am wondering if the now heavy Angus influence in them may have toned the frame down but retained enough to be a bit more than the average Angus, and also if the Angus influence has added some milk to the Chi's?

My first concern would be is anything been done to improve the temperament and docility. Had a discussion with a breeder yesterday about them and we both agreed after our previous experience with them that we will likely never consider them again.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I didn't bring that up, because my experience was back in the 70's or 80's. They would stand flat footed at the fence & hop it like a deer. For a while, we were buying every open Brown Swiss we could locate in the mid west. Breed them to Chi and had a guaranteed sale for everyone we could get confirmed pregnant. The offspring came out looking exactly like a fullblood Chi. Black nose, black hide, white hair. It was a lucrative business for a while. We also bought & sold some Chi's. Never bred any for ourselves.

 

[Ky hills]

I didn't bring that up, because my experience was back in the 70's or 80's. They would stand flat footed at the fence & hop it like a deer. For a while, we were buying every open Brown Swiss we could locate in the mid west. Breed them to Chi and had a guaranteed sale for everyone we could get confirmed pregnant. The offspring came out looking exactly like a fullblood Chi. Black nose, black hide, white hair. It was a lucrative business for a while. We also bought & sold some Chi's. Never bred any for ourselves.

I can see them being good at fence jumping, the full bloods I used to see could almost step over. I have heard some neighbors talk about getting into the business of the Brown Swiss Chi deal, from what I understand they may have done okay with it for a while till that market lost demand then they were stuck with some and had to take what little they got.

I don't know but can't imagine the current Angus adding much improvement in the way of disposition if there is already a disposition problem.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Not many doing that here anymore,, the simangus has been going strong..breeders seem to love the cross.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Hot diggity dog I've got my next project!

Gotta find me a Chi bull first though.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Hot diggity dog I've got my next project!

Gotta find me a Chi bull first though.

Jumping competition???

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Hot diggity dog I've got my next project!

Gotta find me a Chi bull first though.

Jumping competition???

Fences are merely a suggestion for most of my cattle anyway. I watched a 12 year old cow clear a woven wire fence topped with a barbed wire strand like it wasn't even there in mid May this year. She just didn't care to stay where we put her.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

I can find you some that are high in the Crazy Epd's.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I didn't bring that up, because my experience was back in the 70's or 80's. They would stand flat footed at the fence & hop it like a deer. For a while, we were buying every open Brown Swiss we could locate in the mid west. Breed them to Chi and had a guaranteed sale for everyone we could get confirmed pregnant. The offspring came out looking exactly like a fullblood Chi. Black nose, black hide, white hair. It was a lucrative business for a while. We also bought & sold some Chi's. Never bred any for ourselves.

I can see them being good at fence jumping, the full bloods I used to see could almost step over. I have heard some neighbors talk about getting into the business of the Brown Swiss Chi deal, from what I understand they may have done okay with it for a while till that market lost demand then they were stuck with some and had to take what little they got.

I don't know but can't imagine the current Angus adding much improvement in the way of disposition if there is already a disposition problem.

I wouldn't be concerned with their disposition as much as I would their efficiency, they can get pretty big..and require many groceries...

 

[elkwc]

I didn't bring that up, because my experience was back in the 70's or 80's. They would stand flat footed at the fence & hop it like a deer. For a while, we were buying every open Brown Swiss we could locate in the mid west. Breed them to Chi and had a guaranteed sale for everyone we could get confirmed pregnant. The offspring came out looking exactly like a fullblood Chi. Black nose, black hide, white hair. It was a lucrative business for a while. We also bought & sold some Chi's. Never bred any for ourselves.

Jeanne my experience was in the mid 80's to early 90's. The breeder yesterday his experience was in the late 90's. He said when you rode into a pasture their heads went up and they left. Two instances I will never forget. First the lot where my Dad ran their outside cattle for them fed cattle for several large ranches in TX every fall and winter after they weaned their calves. One ranch had a top reg Char herd and a top group of commercial Hereford cows that they ran the Char bulls on. Very nice calves. When the owner was sick the son moved the reg Char bulls to the commercial herd and put Chi bulls on the Char cows. Didn't take Dad long to change things later. But when the resulting steers got to the lot they just roamed pens. They went wherever they wanted in the 45,000 hd lot. None of the packers wanted them. I know the last 3 all went over 1,800 and was shipped to a killer cow plant. Dad had to rope each of them to get them to the chute and on the truck. The lot wanted no more of that. Then one Sat spring afternoon my BIL got a call and a neighbor said he needed us and we might bring 2 horses a piece. Him and his Dad ran over 400 hd of the best cows in the region. Angus and Herefords. But through the years he tried most if not all of the exotics as I call them. Salers, Simmis, Limmis, Chi's and Maine that I know for sure. Knew he was penning yearling heifers in a 320 acre wheat field so couldn't figure why he called us and said two horses as their cattle were known for their easiness to handle. All penned ok except the Chi crosses. I think we maybe got 1-2 penned. Then 3 of us roped and loaded in the trailer the rest. Of course they jumped the hot wire and we covered a few miles before they were all loaded. These were top cowmen and handled cattle easy so know it had to come from the Chi. Maybe they have improved their docility a lot but there are too many choices out there for me to try them again.

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

Yesterday, a neighbor's 2 year old "Angus" bull got in with some of my cows. We gathered all the cows and brought into the pens to sort the bull off. He was nasty and progressively got worse. By the time the neighbor got here to load him you couldn't get anywhere near that sucker. He jumped a 6' tall pipe gate in our trailer loading alley. They finally got him loaded but that bull was hitting the back door and sides trying to get out. As the trailer was rocking this neighbor said "I really like this bull I just wish he wasn't so mean. Ya know, he came from Roanoke, Virginia. How 'bout that!" (We're in west central Kansas.) He left, took the bull home and turned him back out.
I guess docility isn't a issue for some....... :roll:

 

[Allenw]

He would have been unloaded at the sale barn if it was me, Life is to short to put up with that kind of stuff.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

He would have been unloaded at the sale barn if it was me, Life is to short to put up with that kind of stuff.

What I can't figure is why someone from Kansas would get a bull from Virginia to start with.

 

[elkwc]

He would have been unloaded at the sale barn if it was me, Life is to short to put up with that kind of stuff.

What I can't figure is why someone from Kansas would get a bull from Virginia to start with.

You know the further you travel to buy a bull and the more you give the better he is. The pedigree can be the same. The distance, cost and prefix before the name determines how good they are. I see it every spring. They drive by many breeders with the same bloodlines headed a thousand or more miles north and west to buy bulls that IMO were no better than what they drove past.

 

[elkwc]

He would have been unloaded at the sale barn if it was me, Life is to short to put up with that kind of stuff.

Allen I agree. But I see those at most sales I go to by popular AI sired who paw the ground and charge the ring man and someone always buy them. I don’t need it. The yearling we have I loaded in a 320 acre pasture with no pens last Sunday and hauled to another pasture. And that is what they need to be or I don’t want them. Lost a good prospect to Lightning last night so might be looking for one this fall.

 

[ClinchValley]

Lost a good prospect to Lightning last night so might be looking for one this fall.

Thats terrible. Our waterers are at the tops of hills. Makes me a little anxious every time a bad storm comes through. Hope it doesn't happen to you again.

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

"What I can't figure is why someone from Kansas would get a bull from Virginia to start with."

I believe this bull came through a local salebarn and neighbor bought him for very little. That's the only way he buys. He works in the oil patch and cattle are a second income. He buys cheap, dumps 'em out. What stays in, breeds back-he keeps. Too many cows on too few acres. Feeds nothing but ditch hay in the winter. Probably makes a profit at it! But I gotta say, his herd is pretty scary.

 

[Allenw]

He would have been unloaded at the sale barn if it was me, Life is to short to put up with that kind of stuff.

Allen I agree. But I see those at most sales I go to by popular AI sired who paw the ground and charge the ring man and someone always buy them. I don’t need it. The yearling we have I loaded in a 320 acre pasture with no pens last Sunday and hauled to another pasture. And that is what they need to be or I don’t want them. Lost a good prospect to Lightning last night so might be looking for one this fall.

I hate to hear you lost a good calf to lightning. We had a lot of wind Friday night, grandson lost a lot of skirting and flipped the stock trailer he has there.

I've seen the dirt pawing bulls go through the ring at the bull sales some leave you concerned if your too close to the ring. You go to a sale that they are all on video you don't know how they will be under pressure.