what breed make the best momma's

[backhoeboogie]

Best momma in my herd now is a char brimmed cross. Seen good ones of all kinds. Best nurse cow I own is also a cross - jersey n Holstein.

When they change pastures you can tell which ones make sure the calves are in tow.

 

[xxbrand]

We have all read at one time or another how every breed says their breed has the best momma cows. There are a lot of good mother cows in every breed. I have owned different breeds, but brangus and angus cows work best for me. No debate necessary. What works best in one part of the country may not work very well in another. If you manage your momma cows correctly and do a good job of culling you can have a good herd of cattle in any part of the country. Sometimes it takes a life time to accomplish that, but the result will be a good herd of cattle. It is a good time to be in the cattle business. Good prices will probably be here for at least a few more years, so enjoy the ride.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Just more proof positive that what an earlier poster said was spot on. What works in your area. There is a reason India isn't overrun with herefords and it has nothing to do with herefords....it hs everything to do with India.

That is a piece of truth right there!

 

[robert]

Just doing some thinking here. I'm not sure what I want to do come spring. I had a terrible start to raising cattle. bought 4 bred angus cows last year (0 calves). vet thought lepto so now cows will get shots for that as soon as i get them home. sold them, then I bought some lightweight calves (bottle calves-250lbs) in the fall. I will be selling them in another month or two if my hay holds out that long. (hopefully next year is back to normal) I was going to buy more calves come spring but with them going over $2.00/lb. and not knowing if the market will stay up till fall, I dont know if I wanna spend that much to buy them.
With the price of calves so high I thought about buying some 3 in 1's if they wern't to expensive. Im sure the price of bred cattle will be way up too. I was thinking about getting some char cows and breeding with an angus bull. My uncle does the opposite and I thought the bigger cows with a smaller bull would be better. What do you guys think? Black calves sell the best so probably Angus cows.

I also thought about getting some more lightweight calves (not bottle calves, probably 2-300 lbs) this spring and then 3 in 1's in the fall.
What breed of cows do you think make the best momma's and why?

First off why not take a drive around your area and try and find some c/c operations that appear to be doing well, that have some cows of the type and kind you like and buy directly from them? I may be wrong but I suspect you bought your first calves from the sale barn and that is not a great place to buy foundation stock, there is a reason they are there and it likely has a problem attached to it. If it was a dispersal you are SOL on guarantees if something does go wrong. As someone else already pointed out Angus x Charolais (either way) does not equal a black calf. If you want to get into the c/c business at the top of the market then expect to pay top of the market prices.

 

[BC]

Inferior cattle are not the result of breed. Inferior cattle are the result of ignorance and lack of discipline of the breeder of any breed.

That statement is probably the best I have seen in reading these boards for 4 or 5 years.

 

[thommoos]

Again what area, calving season, time with animals, in the hot deepmsouth, I run beef masters, I had angus and true baldies and the beefmaster mommas ran circles around the others. I calve in spring replacements breed in the next summer, I do not have to feed a lactating cow in the winter, better body score, never pulled, very good mommas, got one now raising 2 calfs, still bred back, vet check 6months right on schedule. Check out Casey beef masters. Ect

 

[John SD]

IMO, it's hard to beat a Hereford x Angus baldy mama cow. My personal favorite is the Hereford cow because she generally has a milder disposition. To take full advantage of heterosis and put the most pounds on a calf it's hard to beat a black or red baldy bred to a terminal continental breed.

I'm looking forward to the calves out of my first Char bull. I intended to breed him to the baldys. He got out early and last week a couple Herefords cows came up with bull calves. Both calves are a nice buckskin color. One is solid color. One has a white face. Glad it is a mild winter because I really wasn't watching for or expecting them!

 

[Caustic Burno]

I would have to say I would put brammer at the top of my list in the purebred's. They will even take care of an orphan with many letting it nurse. In the X breeds it would have to be a Tiger.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Hereford x Shorthorn. Breed them to whatever terminal breed you want and you've got a jackpot calf.

Not much ear in Canada. H and SH are the most consistent maternal breeds I have found. Aaron nailed it.
Simi and Limi are the least consistent material breeds I have found. Some really good and they are still in the herd - - and some totally out of it with big unclaimed calves in the last paddock....
So I did some "hard cull'in" and ended up with a mixed herd but no unclaimed calves. :cboy:

 

[3waycross]

If I was gonna start tomorrow to breed a cowherd with maternal maxed out, it would be Red GelbviehXHerf, second choice would be GVX Red Angus, however you would lose some heretosis going to my choice of terminal bull. Then go back on those cows with a high growth high carcass Blk Angus bull.

Either way those momma cows would be easy to deal with day to day and as long as you picked your base cows correctly they should last a long time.

 

[shaz]

Brahman herd will calve each year around 75%!. 25% do not get in calf because of poor fertility! when you cross a Brahman and Angus together and get a Brangus it does not help fertility significantly! we had brahman x angus/shorthorn cows that had long gestation where always the last to get in calf and sometimes did not get in calf! they could not compete with black baldy cows. The black baldy cows where always a cycle in front. We culled everything that had brahman content. we had a 9 week joining period. Bosindicus cattle are well known for long gestation poor fertility and are dark cutters!. they only work in the tropics. its a fact. :cboy:

Anybody with Brahman not culling for 100% calving every year is just poor culling practices. The J D Hudgins ranch is a good example of good culling. The other fact is that crossbreeding for hybrid vigor improves fertility.
Dark cutters are also a result of poor selection of breeding stock.
"They only work in the tropics." I guess my cattle didn't know that.
Longer gestation periods, About 10 days longer for purebreds , a little less for cross breds.
Inferior cattle are not the result of breed. Inferior cattle are the result of ignorance and lack of discipline of the breeder of any breed.

Huh? How is that? :shock:

 

[dun]

Brahman herd will calve each year around 75%!. 25% do not get in calf because of poor fertility! when you cross a Brahman and Angus together and get a Brangus it does not help fertility significantly! we had brahman x angus/shorthorn cows that had long gestation where always the last to get in calf and sometimes did not get in calf! they could not compete with black baldy cows. The black baldy cows where always a cycle in front. We culled everything that had brahman content. we had a 9 week joining period. Bosindicus cattle are well known for long gestation poor fertility and are dark cutters!. they only work in the tropics. its a fact. :cboy:

Anybody with Brahman not culling for 100% calving every year is just poor culling practices. The J D Hudgins ranch is a good example of good culling. The other fact is that crossbreeding for hybrid vigor improves fertility.
Dark cutters are also a result of poor selection of breeding stock.
"They only work in the tropics." I guess my cattle didn't know that.
Longer gestation periods, About 10 days longer for purebreds , a little less for cross breds.
Inferior cattle are not the result of breed. Inferior cattle are the result of ignorance and lack of discipline of the breeder of any breed.

Huh? How is that? :shock:

Proabably because goofy cows raise goofy calves and that's one of the major causes of dark cutters.

 

[thommoos]

Since noticing that your are in Iowa I would tend to lean more to the Herf and SHorthorn cross, Then terminal sire an black Simm.

 

[Massey135]

durhams, duh

 

[ALACOWMAN]

whats a durham duh?

 

[dun]

whats a durham duh?

Origanal name for Shorthorns

 

[Blacksrbest]

Around my part of the world we consider Brangus cows to be the best mommas. Both in regard to gain and mothering.

 

[Boss Cowman]

All producers should cull for 100% calving. Why would you feed a cow if she isn't producing. 0 tolerance here.

 

[Caustic Burno]

All producers should cull for 100% calving. Why would you feed a cow if she isn't producing. 0 tolerance here.

A cow that doesn't produce every 12 months here has bought a one way ticket.

 

[novatech]

Dark cutters are also a result of poor selection of breeding stock.
quote]

Huh? How is that? :shock:

Dark cutters are usually the result of stress. By culling out the crazies you have less stress. One crazy cow can cause an entire group to be the same. Docility and proper handling make better beef. This is one of the reasons that the flight test was invented.
A good article;
http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2007 ... 1224.shtml