Why did you choose your breed?

[Backbone Ranch]

Murray Greys will get docked for their color at auctions, so we sell privately.
I also read that you have a herd of mostly angus cattle. Murray Greys cross extremely well with Angus. I have attached a photo of a 50% Angus and 50% Murray Grey cow with her 75% Murray Grey heifer calf. We have three of these Angus/ Murray Grey crosses. Last year, the Angus/ Murray Grey cows were having their first calves. They all had great bull calves which weaned at 620, 616, and 604 lbs. This year they all raised phenomenal replacement heifers.

 

[3waycross]

I kinda got into Gelbvieh by accident. I was trying to find some Irish Blacks and when negociations fell thru on some heifers a friend told me about some real good GV heifers for sale on the West Slope. I called the fella and went and looked at his cows and ended up going home with a trailer load of GV heifers.

If I could I would also raise Red Angus but it's so hard to find a reliable source of Hi Altitude RA genetics that it's not worth the hassle.

 

[rynophiliac]

I think the breeds that we are most interested in right now for our place is putting a hereford bull on brangus cows. Anybody done this cross? What were the pros/cons with your experience? Did you have any calving problems with these?

 

[B&M Farms]

I think the breeds that we are most interested in right now for our place is putting a hereford bull on brangus cows. Anybody done this cross? What were the pros/cons with your experience? Did you have any calving problems with these?

The majority of my older cows are black brangus with a horned hereford bull on them. The calves are mostly black baldies with an occasional red baldie. So far I have not pulled a calf or assisted a birth in over 5 years with 34 momas. Most of these cows are 7+ years old and the bull I have been using the last 3 years is not a low birth weight bull. The calves sell well in this area, especially if they are black and as the cows have gotten older, and I changed bulls, my average wean weights have gotten close to 600lbs the last couple years. Thats not bad for my area.

Some research does show when breeding for F1 brahman cross offspring using a brahman bull can cause higher birthweights than using brahman cows.

Without knowing more about your climate I could not tell you to use brahman cross females or not. If its extremely hot they will do better than a lot of other crosses but a straight angus/hereford cross would probably excel in carcass traits on average. The reason I use brahman cross females is because they last longer and do better in our hot humid enviroment.

 

[bird dog]

I think the breeds that we are most interested in right now for our place is putting a hereford bull on brangus cows. Anybody done this cross? What were the pros/cons with your experience? Did you have any calving problems with these?

Their calves are what I like for my mama's. I breed my Brangus baldies to a straight angus bull. The cows are easy keepers and the buyers love the calves.
I added five more to my herd this year that were bred to Charolais. Their calves were gray baldies and are going to wean out around 650 at 7 months.

 

[rynophiliac]

Say we were to us a hereford bull on brangus cows:

What percentage of calves would be red w/ white face, straight black and black w/ white face? I've heard you can get up to 40% red w/ white face calves using a hereford bull? Does anyone have any first hand experience with this?

 

[CKC1586]

Murray Greys will get docked for their color at auctions, so we sell privately.
I also read that you have a herd of mostly angus cattle. Murray Greys cross extremely well with Angus. I have attached a photo of a 50% Angus and 50% Murray Grey cow with her 75% Murray Grey heifer calf. We have three of these Angus/ Murray Grey crosses. Last year, the Angus/ Murray Grey cows were having their first calves. They all had great bull calves which weaned at 620, 616, and 604 lbs. This year they all raised phenomenal replacement heifers.

I really like that cow in your avatar!!!

 

[LauraleesFarm]

ryno--

IN THEORY if you are using purebred Brangus (black) cows and a registered hereford bull you SHOULD be getting all black baldies. That being said, if the cows are commercial they are likely going to be carrying some recessive red or brindle genes which may show up in the calves.

I have a wildy colored brindle that came from a purebred set of Brangus cattle which should not have produced anything other than black. Apparently some years back the owners used a (registerable) bull which was purchased as a purebred. He threw several brindles in the calves, which they kept as replacements. Now I have that brindle cow and her black brangus sisters in with my hereford bull. On one of the black brangus cows this summer I could see faintly brindle stripes black and faded black just barely visible in her hide. I suspect that black one also carries brindle.

All cows have a genetic base of EITHER red or black. Red is simply the absence OF BLACK. Red is recessive. For true red to express itself visibly, each parent must carry a red gene. Hereford are a true red.

 

[B&M Farms]

ryno--

IN THEORY if you are using purebred Brangus (black) cows and a registered hereford bull you SHOULD be getting all black baldies. That being said, if the cows are commercial they are likely going to be carrying some recessive red or brindle genes which may show up in the calves.

I have a wildy colored brindle that came from a purebred set of Brangus cattle which should not have produced anything other than black. Apparently some years back the owners used a (registerable) bull which was purchased as a purebred. He threw several brindles in the calves, which they kept as replacements. Now I have that brindle cow and her black brangus sisters in with my hereford bull. On one of the black brangus cows this summer I could see faintly brindle stripes black and faded black just barely visible in her hide. I suspect that black one also carries brindle.

All cows have a genetic base of EITHER red or black. Red is simply the absence OF BLACK. Red is recessive. For true red to express itself visibly, each parent must carry a red gene. Hereford are a true red.

Most of my brangus are F1's and that may be the reason I get a few red baldies every year. Its not always the same cows though.

 

[Aaron]

I'm not very good with money, so I thought that by having Herefords, I'd have less of it to lose or waste.

 

[cow pollinater]

I'm not very good with money, so I thought that by having Herefords, I'd have less of it to lose or waste.

Aaron, honesty is NEVER the best policy. :lol:

 

[rynophiliac]

When using a horned hereford bull on brangus, are the calves going to polled (from the brangus) or horned (from the hereford) or a combination of both?

 

[denvermartinfarms]

When using a horned hereford bull on brangus, are the calves going to polled (from the brangus) or horned (from the hereford) or a combination of both?

Both, in my experience useing horned bulls on any polled cow, you will have horns less than 50% of the time. That's just me others may tell you different.

 

[B&M Farms]

When using a horned hereford bull on brangus, are the calves going to polled (from the brangus) or horned (from the hereford) or a combination of both?

If the cow is double polled(which most Brangus should be) then the calf will be polled. If the cow is single polled then the calf could be either. I have never had a horned calf out of my brangus cows using a horned bull but it is possible especially with F1's. I do know the F1's I have came out of polled Brahman cows though.

There are more quality polled Hereford bulls now than they used to be. If it was a huge issue to me, I would just use a polled bull on cows with Brahman influence and didn't know their background.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Being double polled don't mean you won't have horns. Cow can be double polled a dozen times and still be hetro polled.

 

[B&M Farms]

Being double polled don't mean you won't have horns. Cow can be double polled a dozen times and still be hetro polled.

You are right to an extent with some breeds but if a cow comes from a polled bull and polled cow she should never have a horned calf. I now with pure bred Brahmans this is not always true and sometimes follows the sex of the calf. Both the bull and cow would have to be homo polled with Brahmans to be sure of a polled calf.

I have never had a polled brangus cow have a horned calf though, even breeding to a horned bull.

 

[3waycross]

Being double polled don't mean you won't have horns. Cow can be double polled a dozen times and still be hetro polled.

You are right to an extent with some breeds but if a cow comes from a polled bull and polled cow she should never have a horned calf. I now with pure bred Brahmans this is not always true and sometimes follows the sex of the calf. Both the bull and cow would have to be homo polled with Brahmans to be sure of a polled calf.

I have never had a polled brangus cow have a horned calf though, even breeding to a horned bull.

NO! He is right totally. The only way you are correct is if one of the parents is Homo polled. If both are hetero polled then you can get a horned calf. If what you say about your Brangus cows is correct then they are homo polled. That is the only way they can override the horned gene.

 

[B&M Farms]

Being double polled don't mean you won't have horns. Cow can be double polled a dozen times and still be hetro polled.

You are right to an extent with some breeds but if a cow comes from a polled bull and polled cow she should never have a horned calf. I now with pure bred Brahmans this is not always true and sometimes follows the sex of the calf. Both the bull and cow would have to be homo polled with Brahmans to be sure of a polled calf.

I have never had a polled brangus cow have a horned calf though, even breeding to a horned bull.

NO! He is right totally. The only way you are correct is if one of the parents is Homo polled. If both are hetero polled then you can get a horned calf. If what you say about your Brangus cows is correct then they are homo polled. That is the only way they can override the horned gene.

You are correct Sir. But I always thought double polled stood for homo polled. Example PP Homo vs Pp hetero polled.

 

[3waycross]

Double polled just means that both the sire and the dam were polled. :tiphat:

 

[B&M Farms]

Double polled just means that both the sire and the dam were polled. :tiphat:

Understood.