Why does every breed of cattle cross so well with Angus?

[Rafter S]

Why do all breeds cross well with Brahman?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Why do all breeds cross well with Brahman?

Because Brahman are the super breed. Everybody knows that.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Why do all breeds cross well with Brahman?

Limms don't that is absolutely the worst cross I have seen with Brahman.
Seriously crazy.

 

[Bright Raven]

Why do all breeds cross well with Brahman?

Because Brahman are the super breed. Everybody knows that.

I am glad you still have some passion for the Brahman debate.

 

[Muddy]

That's a ignorant post, color has nothing to do with performance. You may think that you can fool the buyers and feed lots, but your only fooling yourself. A good example of color is the baldies, or super baldies whether the cow is red or black makes about the best commercial cow going.

Then why is that many breeds have gone black? Why it has to be black? Why not red hided or silver hided?

The reason a lot of cattle are black today, is that the public demands more taste and tenderness from their beef? And black Angus cattle are bred to produce marble and tenderness. Look at life in general, we like it easy. A major plus for Angus is it's made our teeth last longer, and people don't choke nearly as often as they use to eating beef.

It seems the Angus needs the other breeds' help to be successful in the beef industry and takes all credits.... Like it or not, there are too many breeds have gone black and you knows it. Public can't tell the difference between a Holstein and an Angus. And the buyers didn't know the difference between a black Angus, a black Simmental, a black limousin or a black Braunvieh.

 

[Bright Raven]

Why do all breeds cross well with Brahman?

Limms don't that is absolutely the worst cross I have seen with Brahman.
Seriously crazy.

What goes wrong? I assume disposition/docility?

 

[Muddy]

I can easily say why does every breed cross well with a Hereford bull. There would be a lot who disagreed and that can be said about any breed.

The Herefords cross well with Corrientes, longhorns and Highlands, unlike the Angus. From what I seen, the Herefords are not lean beef type.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Why do all breeds cross well with Brahman?

Limms don't that is absolutely the worst cross I have seen with Brahman.
Seriously crazy.

their like Oil and water...that cross went over like a lead balloon...but then it shouldn't have been used in the F1...but in a rotation as the terminal

 

[Caustic Burno]

Why do all breeds cross well with Brahman?

Limms don't that is absolutely the worst cross I have seen with Brahman.
Seriously crazy.

their like Oil and water...that cross went over like a lead balloon...but then it shouldn't have been used in the F1...but in a rotation as the terminal

The ones I messed with were man killer nuts.Beautiful calves just bat shyt crazy.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I can easily say why does every breed cross well with a Hereford bull. There would be a lot who disagreed and that can be said about any breed.

The Herefords cross well with Corrientes, longhorns and Highlands, .....course they cross well with em..breeds part of the hobby out of em

 

[Bigfoot]

I'm always the opposite. Brahmasouin cows, are far and above the best cows I've ever owned. I just finally ran out.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Why do all breeds cross well with Brahman?

The problem with Brahman is the normal cow herd and hobby rancher shouldn't see a Brahma bull. And using a so called composite bull is nothing but a crossbred with a fancy name.
I would like to breed some of my cows to Brahman bulls using AI and sexed semen. It would sure be nice to get all heifer calves and pick through them for replacements, talk about a home run.

 

[callmefence]

Or maybe because they're black?

That's a ignorant post, color has nothing to do with performance. You may think that you can fool the buyers and feed lots, but your only fooling yourself. A good example of color is the baldies, or super baldies whether the cow is red or black makes about the best commercial cow going.

I believe muddy is right. Angus is truly becoming a terminal cross. Not in the traditional way of increasing pounds, but simply because of the ability to turn calves black. In the case of baldies or super baldies it's the Hereford and Brahma that made the better mama cows.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

I think it has more to do with the specific blood lines in the Angus that cross well with other breeds. We have found that the BR Midland line, for example, crosses extremely well with our Limis and produces calves worth retaining. There have been some that just don't. They don't have a positive effect on docility, performance, marbling, etc. Our Hamley (RA) sired bull seems to be crossing well with our Limis too, but only his purebred daughters have reached maturity, so the jury is still out on that one. Whatever cross we use, we look for lines that are similar enough to our Limis that we don't end up trying a fire and ice mating. I want to take the best attributes of my females (longevity, docility, performance, frame) and breed them to something that enhances them by adding style, marbling, efficiency. :2cents:

 

[Muddy]

Majority of commercial producers here have mixed herd of crossbred cows but they all use black bulls on their cows to produce black hided calves. It's not hard to put an uniformed crop of black calves and you have easy time to selling them. It seems that they required the bulls to be homozygous black whenever what kind of traits the customers seeking for to put in the cow herd.

 

[Muddy]

That said Hereford and Red Angus females are not cheap from what I seen.

 

[WalnutCrest]

To answer the headline question ... why does dicey breed of cattle cross so well with Angus ... maybe it's because Angus needs so much help and every breed has something to offer that helps them out.

:duck-n-cover:

In al seriousness, I'm amazed at the diversity available within the Angus breed... almost begs the question as to whether or not its truly just one breed.

The phenotypes are all over the place. Breeds should be consistent. Angus are not.

Sure, some are great, world-class cattle ... functional, fertile, fleshy and friendly ... some are bony, butt-less, barren behemoths ... some are piggy pygmies ...

Ebenezer stated:
Angus cross well because the genepool is large, the variety is full scale and there is something for everybody.

A bit of population dynamics to add to his statement:

A larger genepool will always have more diversity than a smaller genepool.

If you have a breed population of 100,000 individuals, that population will have 10 times more diversity than a breed population of 10,000 individuals. It is generally a direct relationship. That should help you understand why you see such diverse traits in the Angus breed.

If you are you measuring diversity in terms of the number of outright alleles? If so, then you're right ... the relationship is linear.

However, if you're measuring the genetic variation within combinations of alleles, then the relationship is exponential.

I hypothesize, at least as it regards cattle breeding and cattle populations, the latter is a more fair representation of reality than the former.

 

[Bright Raven]

To answer the headline question ... why does dicey breed of cattle cross so well with Angus ... maybe it's because Angus needs so much help and every breed has something to offer that helps them out.

:duck-n-cover:

In al seriousness, I'm amazed at the diversity available within the Angus breed... almost begs the question as to whether or not its truly just one breed.

The phenotypes are all over the place. Breeds should be consistent. Angus are not.

Sure, some are great, world-class cattle ... functional, fertile, fleshy and friendly ... some are bony, butt-less, barren behemoths ... some are piggy pygmies ...

Ebenezer stated:
Angus cross well because the genepool is large, the variety is full scale and there is something for everybody.

A bit of population dynamics to add to his statement:

A larger genepool will always have more diversity than a smaller genepool.

If you have a breed population of 100,000 individuals, that population will have 10 times more diversity than a breed population of 10,000 individuals. It is generally a direct relationship. That should help you understand why you see such diverse traits in the Angus breed.

If you are you measuring diversity in terms of the number of outright alleles? If so, then you're right ... the relationship is linear.

However, if you're measuring the genetic variation within combinations of alleles, then the relationship is exponential.

I hypothesize, at least as it regards cattle breeding and cattle populations, the latter is a more fair representation of reality than the former.

In terms of of genetic material (genes/alleles), the larger the population the greater the diversity. Let's be clear, in a domestic animal where breeding is controlled to the extent possible, the natural order is skewed.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Ebenezer stated:
Angus cross well because the genepool is large, the variety is full scale and there is something for everybody.

A bit of population dynamics to add to his statement:

A larger genepool will always have more diversity than a smaller genepool.

If you have a breed population of 100,000 individuals, that population will have 10 times more diversity than a breed population of 10,000 individuals. It is generally a direct relationship. That should help you understand why you see such diverse traits in the Angus breed.

If you are you measuring diversity in terms of the number of outright alleles? If so, then you're right ... the relationship is linear.

However, if you're measuring the genetic variation within combinations of alleles, then the relationship is exponential.

I hypothesize, at least as it regards cattle breeding and cattle populations, the latter is a more fair representation of reality than the former.

In terms of of genetic material (genes/alleles), the larger the population the greater the diversity. Let's be clear, in a domestic animal where breeding is controlled to the extent possible, the natural order is skewed.

It's skewed only to the extent all people making all breeding decisions are using the same decision tree to make the decisions that are being made.

If you want 1900 - 2200 lb mama cows, you'll make a different decision that the guy down the road who wants 900-1100 lb mama cows. Such is the state of things within the Angus breed...

So, I'd argue that, as a direct result of the diversity of opinions among Angus breeders, the genetic diversity is more likely to be exponentially related to population size of Angus than linearly related.

PS -- The same can be said for nearly all of the larger breed associations (i.e., great diversity among the desired type of cattle), its just more noticeable with Angus than with other breeds due to their prevalence and promotion.

PPS -- This says nothing of the "what was knowingly hidden in the woodpile" effect of Angus genetics.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Majority of commercial producers here have mixed herd of crossbred cows but they all use black bulls on their cows to produce black hided calves. It's not hard to put an uniformed crop of black calves and you have easy time to selling them. It seems that they required the bulls to be homozygous black whenever what kind of traits the customers seeking for to put in the cow herd.

Sounds like no one uses a Angus bull for calving and moderate carcass. Those are two good reasons I went back with Angus bulls last year. DNA testing and EPD'S in the Angus breed are also second to none. In a commercial operation at least around here, black sells better at the barn and at the breeder - specialty sales on adverage.
I guess the reason that Angus cross cows are so popular is they sell better and put more money in the cattlemens pocket.