yes I know Flower though having said that our old Herefords are out of Fr's and they don't have the best calves but as I said there are other reasons for keeping some of them, not least of which is some are still here 16 + years later, anyway I didn't say they were "bad calves" just not the best@Henarar its the Hol in your cows not the Hereford that spoils the shape.
Blue X heifer's
- Thread starter Henarar
- Start date
- Location
- Bedfordshire
Are you putting them to a lim next?
that wouldn't be a silly thing to do, we were thinking of sexed Sim but a Lim wouldn't be bad as they should have the milk from the Hol and Blue in them
they may well get a shot with the AI and then thrown in with the bull
M-J-G
Member
I wouldn't like to relay in one 8th holstein will hold on to much milk.
Since the calf is 5/8 Hereford I'd be inclined to use a sire with stretch and milk onto that type, in order to breed a replacement on a lowland system.
But that's a decision for about a year's time. I wouldn't like to select my replacements at a day old, so best to see if the calf turns out first to be a suitable type of animal for a replacement first.
Since the calf is 5/8 Hereford I'd be inclined to use a sire with stretch and milk onto that type, in order to breed a replacement on a lowland system.
But that's a decision for about a year's time. I wouldn't like to select my replacements at a day old, so best to see if the calf turns out first to be a suitable type of animal for a replacement first.
take your point Martin but Blues milk well to, we have had to dry our peds off at nine months, I wouldn't say they are as good for milk as a sim but they are not bad, take the ped blue cow we had those twin Luing calves on last year she milked them right up till sale day which was ten months if memory serves
choochter
Member
- Location
- aberdeenshire
If you are going to AI these calved heifers this time again, you could get Baz bull Edonil for about £8-10 quid or Cesar, Bengal etc for about 20 quid. Easy to order through the website www.bazadaise.org.uk
If you get a heifer calf sired by a pure registered Bazadaise bull then you can register it on the Baz Herdbook as a 'Level 1' calf for 10 quid, then its heifer calf would be a Grade A animal & so on til Grade C is full blood, if a female. I've registered 3 heifers as Level 1 calves this year as they are likely to be quite good and to get numbers up without buying in anybody elses germs.
If you get a heifer calf sired by a pure registered Bazadaise bull then you can register it on the Baz Herdbook as a 'Level 1' calf for 10 quid, then its heifer calf would be a Grade A animal & so on til Grade C is full blood, if a female. I've registered 3 heifers as Level 1 calves this year as they are likely to be quite good and to get numbers up without buying in anybody elses germs.
CharcoalWally
Member
- Location
- West of Scotland
Careful Hen , you'll have Lim , Blue and Hereford , none of whom are known as heavy milkers , all lined up against a wee dribble of Hol blood. Milk could run out very quickly.
I've had 3/4 Lim , 1/4 dairy cows here in the past , and the dairy blood wasn't enough , even at 1/4 , to keep the milk in those cows.
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
Too early to comment about Archie's calves yet but yes the cows would be out of Holsteins. Having said that we seem to get better calves out of the few lim x Holstein we still have as compared to the BB x Holstein but we don't have sufficient numbers of either for it to be more than a mere observation. Any cow with Holstein blood will have loads of milk and the calves always grow well, the trade off being conformation but you can't have everything I suppose.
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
Oooooh handbags!Well then don't make sweeping comments about poor performance of herefords based on a Hol x
Nice idea but I don't think I want a different ped breed at the moment, not that I would dismiss a Baz bull as you know
As I said above we have not found that with Our ped blues they seem to milk well but that maybe just the ones we have, our old girl isn't so good but the rest seem fine, none of this no milk left at 6 months not by a long chalk
any blue cross dairy we have had have miked like trains
We milked a couple Belgian blue cross FR in the dairy herd we also had a few Sim cross most likely not the best milkers you will ever see but ok at the time,
M-J-G
Member
It wasn't particularly the BB that I was discounting for milk, it was more the high proportion of Hereford that would have me concerned for milk, especially for following up with typical AA, Lim, Stabiliser etc. I'm not sure if that end result would be the ideal lowland cow for crossing with a BB bull to produce calves for the store market. I'd be thinking more of your earlier suggestion of a Sim, or perhaps Saler for the next generation.
But as I said before, you can't judge if a calf is of breeding calibre when it's only a day old, so best see if she turns out to be of the required standard and consider what to breed here with after that!
Well then don't make sweeping comments about poor performance of herefords based on a Hol x
Come on you two I won't have handbag fights on my thread, I would never dream of such a thingOooooh handbags!
Are Herefords that bad for milk ? genuine question as I don't think we have had one that isn't crossed with dairy or Sim
they will most likely end up with sexed Sim but it don't hurt to throw a few ideas about
Blod
Member
While I'm swinging my handbag I might take a swipe at young Martin too with his biased comments on the milking abilities of Herefords. I might retaliate by saying Simms are hard feeders or poor shape but I won't because I expect he has some good ones. Likewise I had good Herefords. So do plenty others.
Martin says there are different types of sim cattle within the breed but also seems to sometimes suggest that there is only one type of any other breed when he wants to dismiss them for some reason
not being funny, no handbags, just something I have noticed before
M-J-G
Member
Well then don't make sweeping comments about poor performance of herefords based on a Hol x
My cousin has Hereford crossed with AA & Lim, and HerXHol cows (all off the same bull), and although I am no fan of holstein cross suckler cows, I have to admit that the calves off the holstein crosses are streets ahead of the Hereford cross AA & Lim who are overly fat all year round.
The HolX are not wearing as well as the fully beef cows but they are on a very poor wet hill farm so they aren't exactly well built for their environment, but they are doing miles more work and their calves are worth over 200 quid more to sell as stores.