Why did you choose your breed?

[rynophiliac]

It seems like there is some conflicting information. So... if we had a horned hereford bull and registered brangus cows we would get all polled black baldie calves with little ear?

 

[rynophiliac]

Also, does anyone know what the typical calving rate is for brangus? We have built our angus herd up to a 85-87% calving rate each year. I have no idea what to expect with the brangus. A friend of mine runs brangus and says he only gets about 65% but he looses a lot of calves to lions each year and doesn't know how many are lossed to the lions and how many mamas just didn't calve.

 

[BAR_R]

It seems like there is some conflicting information. So... if we had a horned hereford bull and registered brangus cows we would get all polled black baldie calves with little ear?

Without DNA markers being checked you could get anything in the horn category. You would probably get various levels of scurs. If you know by DNA that your cows are HOMO Polled and you use a Horned Hereford bull then small little horns would be the norm. We have Maines and in our breed we can be classified as polled, scured or horned. The problem with "double polled" is that one of the animals could be a horned carrier and through the game of percentages they have not produced a horned calf.
The color would mostly be like you said.
I have bought quite a few Maine cows from western Nebraska and they do quite well out there. If you stay away from the new clubby Maine bulls, they will make wonderful mommas and do really well with some Angus influence. We know many cattlemen that run Maine bulls on their Angus/Angus influnced cattle.
We are taking some of our high percentage Maine heifers and AI'ing them Angus to hope for replacement heifers. Like I said though if you stay true to the breed and don't get rolled up in these show steer bulls, Maines have a lot to offer, IMO.

Good luck and good topic.

 

[3waycross]

It seems like there is some conflicting information. So... if we had a horned hereford bull and registered brangus cows we would get all polled black baldie calves with little ear?

Without DNA markers being checked you could get anything in the horn category. You would probably get various levels of scurs. If you know by DNA that your cows are HOMO Polled and you use a Horned Hereford bull then small little horns would be the norm. We have Maines and in our breed we can be classified as polled, scured or horned. The problem with "double polled" is that one of the animals could be a horned carrier and through the game of percentages they have not produced a horned calf.
The color would mostly be like you said.
I have bought quite a few Maine cows from western Nebraska and they do quite well out there. If you stay away from the new clubby Maine bulls, they will make wonderful mommas and do really well with some Angus influence. We know many cattlemen that run Maine bulls on their Angus/Angus influnced cattle.
We are taking some of our high percentage Maine heifers and AI'ing them Angus to hope for replacement heifers. Like I said though if you stay true to the breed and don't get rolled up in these show steer bulls, Maines have a lot to offer, IMO.

Good luck and good topic.

You sure about that?

 

[LauraleesFarm]

Ryno-

IF the cows are registered brangus then they are SUPPOSED to be homozygous for polled. If the animal is actually homozygous for polled, then its offspring will all be polled.

BUT its grandchildren (grandcalves?) could crop back up with horns, depending on what the bull was that bred the original homozygous polled cow. Because the added horned gene from the other parent will cause the offspring to silently carry a horned gene.

There is plenty written on the subject if you do a google search. You can DNA test for polled/horned genetics as well. That is really the only true way to know for sure. So many in the breed registries could be, shall we say, "tainted" ? Not all breeders are honest.

All that being said I am told that some breeds like Longhorn and Watusi will make a LIAR out of a homozygous polled mate. Apparently there are other genetics at play in some of the breeds with outrageous horns.

Scurs are an entirely different gene that has nothing much to do with the polled gene or the horned. Even with a homozygous polled parent, scurs can be present in the offspring.

 

[BAR_R]

OK I did some reading...wow there is a lot of information some of it quite new. I stand better educated about the scur/horned genetic marker differences. The masking of scur expression and the prevalence in males over females as far as scurs goes started explaining things that I did not fully grasp. I was also interested in the genetic work on the Zebu cattle and the different expressions they bring to the table. I don't have any but interesting none the less.

I just typed in "horns, scurs, polled" in Google and spent several hours reading.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Yep they is a lot of reading and it still doesn't always work the way the books says.

 

[rynophiliac]

I've never really considered scurs. I've always just considered them as polled. Do they got docked at the sale barn like horned cattle do? Perhaps there is another variable here that I have never even payed attention to

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Some of you need to spend some time at some sales and less time here.

 

[3waycross]

Some of you need to spend some time at some sales and less time here.

Yep! :tiphat:

 

[rynophiliac]

Some of you need to spend some time at some sales and less time here.

Very true, unfortunately, some of us work the day of the sale.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Lots of cattle sales here run to 8 to 9 in the evening.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Some of you need to spend some time at some sales and less time here.

Yep! :tiphat:

Yep again!

 

[Rafter S]

I have mostly Brangus cows with Brangus and Hereford bulls. I generally wean almost all of the heifers and take the steers straight to the auction. Both the solid black and black mottle-face (or black white-face or black blaze-face) calves do well at the auction. I generally keep the Brangus heifers for myself, and sell the cross-bred heifers to individuals for a good bit more than they would have brought at the auction after weaning them and getting them all their shots.

I really like the Brangus Hereford cross because there is a good market for the steers and heifers.

And I know that some people think that the only good Hereford is a horned Hereford, and there was a time I would have agreed with them, but there are some real good polled bulls out there now. Find one of those and horns won't be an issue.

 

[CKC1586]

Low fat, low cholesterol beef that is lean tender and tasty. Grow out beautifully. Long and slim at birth then at about a month to six weeks DM develops. Do some open minded research on Piedmontese . Decide for yourself. Good luck in whatever you choose. :tiphat:

I would say Piedmontese is an excellent choice if someone's selling the beef to the niche markets!

I run the black angus bulls with the commercial angus cows but I would choose Charolais bull on black angus cows to making smokey calves that will ring a bell at the sale barn.

Market that healthy Pied beef and ring the bell in your own barn! :tiphat: Research all breeds you are considering and talk to breeders that actually use them. May want to talk to a slaughter house too, to see what they sell in the front of their operations...

Edit: No Kool Aid was consumed for this comment.

 

[rynophiliac]

I have mostly Brangus cows with Brangus and Hereford bulls. I generally wean almost all of the heifers and take the steers straight to the auction. Both the solid black and black mottle-face (or black white-face or black blaze-face) calves do well at the auction. I generally keep the Brangus heifers for myself, and sell the cross-bred heifers to individuals for a good bit more than they would have brought at the auction after weaning them and getting them all their shots.

I really like the Brangus Hereford cross because there is a good market for the steers and heifers.

And I know that some people think that the only good Hereford is a horned Hereford, and there was a time I would have agreed with them, but there are some real good polled bulls out there now. Find one of those and horns won't be an issue.

Rafter S, thanks for the response. Are you using registered brangus or commercial brangus? How many horned calves are you getting? Approximately how many of each color combo are you getting from the hereford bull?

 

[Taurus]

Edit: No Kool Aid was consumed for this comment.

Does you think that you are getting a little carried away about this so-called beating? Also didn't you think that you pushing Piedmontese cattle too hard that they might not be ideal for everyone and that they might not be right breed for everything?

 

[highgrit]

You might have something Piedmontese cows, with a Angus bull over them. Might make some good blacks and some smokies, just might have the best of the best then.

 

[Rafter S]

I have mostly Brangus cows with Brangus and Hereford bulls. I generally wean almost all of the heifers and take the steers straight to the auction. Both the solid black and black mottle-face (or black white-face or black blaze-face) calves do well at the auction. I generally keep the Brangus heifers for myself, and sell the cross-bred heifers to individuals for a good bit more than they would have brought at the auction after weaning them and getting them all their shots.

I really like the Brangus Hereford cross because there is a good market for the steers and heifers.

And I know that some people think that the only good Hereford is a horned Hereford, and there was a time I would have agreed with them, but there are some real good polled bulls out there now. Find one of those and horns won't be an issue.

Rafter S, thanks for the response. Are you using registered brangus or commercial brangus? How many horned calves are you getting? Approximately how many of each color combo are you getting from the hereford bull?

Commercial Brangus, no horns since I'm using a polled Hereford bull, and probably 70% black and 30% red or brindle calves. Some of my cows aren't full-blood Brangus, so if they were (I'm working toward that) I'm sure the percentage of black calves would be considerably higher.

 

[CKC1586]

Edit: No Kool Aid was consumed for this comment.

Does you think that you are getting a little carried away about this so-called beating? Also didn't you think that you pushing Piedmontese cattle too hard that they might not be ideal for everyone and that they might not be right breed for everything?

Does I think? Yup I think plenty. So you don't suppose anyone has gotten carried away pushing black?? Nah! Nope don't think I have pushed anything on anyone. Just throwing out another option to consider for folks to make their own INFORMED decision.
You have a great Sunday.