What kind of herd do you run, and why?

[LauraleesFarm]

We have a Charolais bull running with purebred and crossbred Brahman cows. When I find another Brahman bull, the purebreds will move out.

Also, a Hereford bull is covering the heifers.

And my dad has an Angus bull that I can use any time, since his cows are running in my pasture.

 

[Lazy M]

About all the cows we have now are Angus based. We had a group of FB limos that I saved as many Limflex heifers as I could from. Really like that cross. We also have a group of balancer cows that make nice calves, but I've been a little disappointed with some of their udders. I purchased a couple SimAngus bulls and a Hereford bull to try and mix a little more heterosis into the calves.
Having said all that, the neighbor's Char bull snuck into one of the farms repeatedly last year and ended up breeding around 15 cows. Those white spring calves are outdoing every other calf I have (some of these heifers are REALLY nice), so I'm really starting to ponder trying out a Char bull of my own..

 

[Nesikep]

Or helping him the neighbor's bull cross the fence a little more?

For udders, I found the Salers are second to none for good udders, teats, and hooves.. lots of milk in a small bag.. and it seems to be a trait that gets passed down through generations.. I have a pair of 1/8th Saler cows that still look the part.

 

[Lazy M]

Or helping him the neighbor's bull cross the fence a little more?

For udders, I found the Salers are second to none for good udders, teats, and hooves.. lots of milk in a small bag.. and it seems to be a trait that gets passed down through generations.. I have a pair of 1/8th Saler cows that still look the part.

Naw he ended up selling the bull. It spent more time on my farm and the other neighbor's than his. He actually had several of his come up open :lol: .
It's funny how one cow can sour you to a whole breed. I had a really wicked saler cow that actually broke through a board fence trying to get at me after I had dove over it. I finally loaded her by getting her to chase me onto the trailer while I slipped out the side door..After that I decided saler just wasn't for me.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

My handle is just a cover up, I actually raise polled Hereford, because Herefords are the only real breed of cattle.

 

[C-Ranch]

I run commercial Black Angus and Hereford cows with PB Black Angus Bulls. Going to try a couple of PB Red Angus Bulls this next breeding season and would some day like to have all red Angus cows with PB Black Angus Bulls.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

My handle is just a cover up, I actually raise polled Hereford, because Herefords are the only real breed of cattle.

Horned Hereford you meant to say. ;-)

 

[TCRanch]

Black Angus, Angus/Hereford Baldies, registered Black Angus bulls - and our quintessential red-headed step child, compliments of our neighbors bull. The market around here prefers black; doesn't necessarily matter if they're Angus, Balancer, etc but Char (anything white) & horns tend to get docked at the Sale Barn.

 

[creekdrive]

We run purebred Red & Black Angus and a commercial herd. The commercial herd has a little bit of everything, but most would be 50% Angus or more. This year the majority got bred back to Angus. Other years it has been Char. We also have a small group (about 20) that we put with a Gelbvieh bull. The steers & any of the heifers that we aren't keeping get sold in the fall (November usually). We sell the purebred bulls (usually 40-50) by private treaty in the spring. We have a lot of repeat customers, so to me that means we are doing something right. As to why we do it this way - probably because that is the way my husbands family has done it for years and it worked well for them so why not carry on?

 

[Angus Cowman]

I used to run just commercial but I have gotten into the Registered deal now as it is a hard sell without papers
Since going Reg my prices have tripled but they are a little mire finicky to deal with than the Comm deal but The money makes it worth it

 

[sim.-ang.king]

My handle is just a cover up, I actually raise polled Hereford, because Herefords are the only real breed of cattle.

Horned Hereford you meant to say. ;-)

Riiiight.... ;-)

 

[SPH]

We run about 20-25 head of registered Polled Herefords but that number likely will be cut in about half in a few years as my folks are getting to age they can't manage that many without some extra help and I live over 30 minutes away with a full time job so they are the primary care takers of our herd. Both my mom and dad grew up raising Herefords and ironically met when they both worked for the American Polled Hereford Association for awhile in the 1970's. We've had a few commercial crossbreds over the years but haven't had one on the farm in quite some time now. Besides the obvious background with Herefords we like their calm disposition and the maternal traits of a good Hereford cow. We are a seedstock operation so we make breeding decisions to breed for replacement heifers and bull prospects and the part of the calf crop that does not meet our standards are either sold around the 1st of the year as feeder calves or we may retain ownership of those calves and send them off to a co-op feedlot to finish as we have done over the past few years with a feedlot that has an arrangement with the Omaha markets and gets premium prices on Hereford cattle.

 

[joeu235]

PB Angus, commercial Angus, and a couple Brangus x Angus. The Brangus x Angus make amazing calves and i wish I could have a whole herd of them.

 

[Gators Rule]

I have a small commercial herd of limousin and limousin/Simmental cross cows. When I reach the number of brood cows that I'm targeting, I will put an angus bull on them. I should be at that magic number after the next group of calves...hopefully. I also raise purebred Simmental cattle, which is my passion.

I might dabble a little with Murray Grey cattle in the coming year or two as they have perked my interest. If so, it will be via AI after my AI class in November. Probably will hit some heifers with MG, and then turn in my Simmy bull. The resulting heifers (if I'm so lucky) will be moved to the commercial pasture. Basically I have a few more than would be considered a hobby, but barely.

 

[John SD]

My ideal herd would be horned Hereford, bred back Hereford and black Angus. If I kept the baldy replacments, the mature baldy cows would be bred Charolais for a terminal cross :idea:

 

[mattn]

I have a small herd of Purebred (Reg) Polled Herefords. I have always had commercial Herefords but got into the papers when the kids started showing in 4H. Here the Herefords just work good for us. I work a 40 hour week, and my cows give me very few problems. They calve easy, take care of their calf, and stay in. I can work my cows with the mediocre kind of equipment that I have. My family feels safe when walking amongst them. We have AI'ed for quite a few years now and have kept back heifers from good, deep, easy doing kind of cows. As I work towards the kind of cow herd I want, I will continue to AI my best cows for replacement heifers and for some heifers for the kids to show. When I get to that point of having my kind of cows, I plan to run a good Angus bull as a cleanup bull to stay at the top of the market with those good Baldie calves.
As a kid and over the years, I have had everything from Angus to Santa Gertrudis. As I said, the Herefords just work for us.....

 

[Bigfoot]

All crossbred commercial cows, I like-------Lotta char cross, lotta black sim influence, lotta ear behind all that. I have a few PB brangus. I use them, and hope for heifers. I always go for the pounds with a bull---------Charlois, Black sim, and the occasional black gelbviegh.

 

[Dave]

I buy black (primarily angus) and black whiteface heifers in the spring, breed them, and sell them as bred heifers in the fall. They are out of the sale barn so when I say angus it is mostly by eyeball recognition not actually known breeding. When I was still running cow/calf I was buying broken mouth cows out of the high desert country. Those old girls got to live long enough to be broken mouth because they raised a good calf in very harsh conditions. I turned them out on grass like they never saw before along with a short walk between water and grass. They would raise a good calf and gain weight themselves. In the fall 80% or more of them would go to town. I would keep some of the best most youthful ones. In mid winter I would buy another load or two and reload. I never cared about breeding other than I wanted them bred to a black bull.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I have a small herd of Register Brangus cows and am 99% AI. (Occasionally I will send some to a friends bull for live cover, but only if they did not take on AI. If they don't take on the live cover they are culled.)
I have been strictly a seed stock producer for the past 15 years, so my girls are just what I want them to be now. I have culled anything that did not meet "my idea" of exceptional seed stock. I retain or sell my heifers private treaty, and usually take bulls to our local bull sale in January.
I did buy one Reg Angus cow last year to use as a recip cow. I would like to expand into another Registered herd. Possibly Murray Gray, Brahman or Herefords. Will just have to wait for the right opportunity. :cboy:
I chose Brangus for their maternal traits, longevity, calving ease and overall hardiness. My herd consists of all EASY fleshing, calm girls now. The high headed type or the hard doers do not stay.
But most of all, I just love eared cattle!

 

[dcarp]

Brangus cows with a registered Brangus bull. Sale barn loves black and I like big cows. Brangus are good moms. Don't have to worry about coyotes, dogs or other predators, the herd works together to chase them. I'll 2nd the "I like eared cattle."