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what is your favorite dairy breed, and why?
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<blockquote data-quote="regolith" data-source="post: 810912" data-attributes="member: 9267"><p>Crossbreeding is huge out here. Holstein-Friesian is most popular breed, followed by crossbred, followed by Jersey.</p><p></p><p>The HFxJ mix and resulting hybrid vigour does exactly what is needed in our seasonal, grass only dairying systems. I've read that NZ dairy cattle are at the 'strength' extreme and US at the 'dairy' extreme with Aus somewhere in the middle. Under our conditions the same arguments that are made for crossbreeding beef cattle hold true.</p><p></p><p>I couldn't count how many times older people have told me the crossbred is a great cow but where do you go after that first cross?</p><p>Funnily enough, my experience is that the second cross - 3/4 of either Jersey or Holstein Friesian - make real good cows though the hybrid vigour advantage is less. The big issue if you want to maintain hybrid vigour is what third breed will complement the other two? With the BW indexing system in NZ, nearly all other breeds or overseas sires will drop the indexes to the point that the cow has no resale value - idiotic, but that's how it is.</p><p></p><p>There's the potential for calving difficulty in a crossbred cow - all well and good if she inherits Holstein size and Jersey-type pelvis; if she goes the other way she might not be able to safely breed back to a Holstein.</p><p>I did some 3-way crosses to Ayrshire, Shorthorn and Brown Swiss last year but didn't get most of the calves as the cows had to be leased out when I lost my contract. I'm planning using the Shorthorn bull again - saw two very nice calves on one of the farms my cows were leased to.</p><p>Those Fleckvieh crosses would probably do great out here, but a bit over-sized for some of the dairies and, as TB comments, my preference. I got to working with 900lb cows and decided that was the easy life.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="regolith, post: 810912, member: 9267"] Crossbreeding is huge out here. Holstein-Friesian is most popular breed, followed by crossbred, followed by Jersey. The HFxJ mix and resulting hybrid vigour does exactly what is needed in our seasonal, grass only dairying systems. I've read that NZ dairy cattle are at the 'strength' extreme and US at the 'dairy' extreme with Aus somewhere in the middle. Under our conditions the same arguments that are made for crossbreeding beef cattle hold true. I couldn't count how many times older people have told me the crossbred is a great cow but where do you go after that first cross? Funnily enough, my experience is that the second cross - 3/4 of either Jersey or Holstein Friesian - make real good cows though the hybrid vigour advantage is less. The big issue if you want to maintain hybrid vigour is what third breed will complement the other two? With the BW indexing system in NZ, nearly all other breeds or overseas sires will drop the indexes to the point that the cow has no resale value - idiotic, but that's how it is. There's the potential for calving difficulty in a crossbred cow - all well and good if she inherits Holstein size and Jersey-type pelvis; if she goes the other way she might not be able to safely breed back to a Holstein. I did some 3-way crosses to Ayrshire, Shorthorn and Brown Swiss last year but didn't get most of the calves as the cows had to be leased out when I lost my contract. I'm planning using the Shorthorn bull again - saw two very nice calves on one of the farms my cows were leased to. Those Fleckvieh crosses would probably do great out here, but a bit over-sized for some of the dairies and, as TB comments, my preference. I got to working with 900lb cows and decided that was the easy life. [/QUOTE]
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