Best cross for red ruby devons

[ed g]

Advice needed - have a pedigree herd of red Devon’s but after a few years of poor returns from them I am considering selling the Devon bull and buying something else. Usually sell them as maiden heifers at the society sales or as stores at 18 months old. Sold a number of 18 month stores at sedgemoor yesterday and fed up with giving them away. Don’t have the shed space to finish them and the farm is too wet to outwinter them. Any suggestions to what breed of bull

 

[M-J-G]

Aren't BB the best selling cattle in that part of the world?

 

[ed g]

Did see some Devon x bb at the beef southwest show a few years ago which were impressive

 

[M-J-G]

Up here and throughout most of the UK I'd say Char were top sellers, but I've read on here several times that down in your part that's not the case and BB is just about unbeatable for store value.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

The Chars do well store too down here.
Is it @tinsheet that puts char over Devons?

 

[tinsheet]

Char will give you cracking butchers cattle.

 

[tinsheet]

The Chars do well store too down here.
Is it @tinsheet that puts char over Devons?

@itsintheblood

 

[ed g]

Would Devon’s calve ok to a charollais

 

[ed g]

As all our Devon’s are polled I had thought of a black polled lim

 

[sidjon]

We use to run a charollais bull over our devons cows, back when we ran suck cows, did use lims for a bit until I got fed up with the feckers trying to kill everyone at TB testing

 

[gone up the hill]

Aren't BB the best selling cattle in that part of the world?

Finishers are certainly moving away from dairy bred BBX cattle at the market mentioned above, very few beef bluex cattle around either!

What about a Lim for the Devon's? seems to be the In breed now that finishers are keen on.

 

[ed g]

Would our very calm quiet Devon’s offset the flightyness of a lim

 

[gone up the hill]

Would our very calm quiet Devon’s offset the flightyness of a lim

Lim's certainly aren't always flighty, a lot of it is down to how they are handled!

 

[Netherfield]

Would our very calm quiet Devon’s offset the flightyness of a lim

Could go either way.

 

[Woolless]

I don't know if I would be too keen to chuck you hand in with the Devons. I have a strong feeling that native breeds and more grass-based systems is the way things will go.

How about doing some cows with AI of various breeds and see what works?

 

[tr250]

I don't know if I would be too keen to chuck you hand in with the Devons. I have a strong feeling that native breeds and more grass-based systems is the way things will go.

How about doing some cows with AI of various breeds and see what works?

Yes but if he keeps cows pure puts lim bull with the worst cows and keeps one bull or ai heifers to Devon bull within 2 years he could be back to pure bred fat cattle if the europ grid dissapears. Flightyness of Lim’s can be a good thing depending on handling facilities as they run through races and herd together better but probably not ideal if you expect to catch them in a field with 2 rusty gates and a handful of string

 

[gone up the hill]

I don't know if I would be too keen to chuck you hand in with the Devons. I have a strong feeling that native breeds and more grass-based systems is the way things will go.

How about doing some cows with AI of various breeds and see what works?

Natives will get much more popular in the next few years because you can easily finish them on either grass or a mostly high quality low cost forage based diet in the winter months.

Key for farming natives will be breeding cattle that have some length/ shape/ good growth rates/ easy calving states about them and feeding them a high protein diet in the first 16/18 months of their life!

 

[M-J-G]

I don't know if I would be too keen to chuck you hand in with the Devons. I have a strong feeling that native breeds and more grass-based systems is the way things will go.

How about doing some cows with AI of various breeds and see what works?

Based on what?

 

[Woolless]

Yes but if he keeps cows pure puts lim bull with the worst cows and keeps one bull or ai heifers to Devon bull within 2 years he could be back to pure bred fat cattle if the europ grid dissapears. Flightyness of Lim’s can be a good thing depending on handling facilities as they run through races and herd together better but probably not ideal if you expect to catch them in a field with 2 rusty gates and a handful of string

Yes, an 'A' herd to go to the Devon bull and a 'B' herd to a Lim/Char/Blonde/BB/AA would make sense.

 

[Woolless]

Based on what?

Better environmental and welfare credentials than standing in a shed being fed barley, which the consumer will increasingly look for. Red meat should be produced from grass and fodder as far as possible IMO.