- Location
- Northumberland
I wouldnt make a habit of doing that. They can turn in an instant,and you will end up dead or seriously injured.
Blonde or limousin cattle?
- Thread starter Willlewis
- Start date
- Location
- Northumberland
You should be extolling the virtues of the Sussex
They get fat on next to nothing.- Location
- East Sussex
I don't want too many people to know!!!You should be extolling the virtues of the Sussex
probably before thier big enough!You should be extolling the virtues of the Sussex
Interesting thread. Blondes clearly still hurt from the too hard to finish legacy of the older growthy show cattle that breeders had to feed into something for a show ring. As breeders we will never please everyone - no point trying. Growth is still important but only if fleshing ability is constantly retained and does not come at the expense of ease of calving. A trait some other breeds now struggle with perhaps.
I select heifers for replacements based on their fleshing ability off grass / forage. I suppose that does not necessarily translate to fat cover but the fleshier they are the easier they shoulld be to finish. I have moved in 15 years from tight, thin skinned and short haired cattle to stock that hs looser skin, flesh under the ribs and hairy. My problem is if i was to feed youngstock i could put them off their legs, so do i breed more bone and compromise on ease of calving? - Nope. I will let commercial men cross my bulls onto their cows which will probably have more bone in there to start with. We then retain ease of calving and one of the highest % kill outs of any breed.
Its not easy this pedigree game and surely would have been easier if Dad had imported another breed instead of Blondes. Hmm, thats right he did start off with 3 big white ones, but coudnt get a living calf out naturally so he switched to Blonde in 1979 - never faltered since.
As for the OP's question. Look at plenty of cattle, see what works for your farm and at what age you are going to sell or finish cattle at. Go to live markets then decide. Pick something you like the look of, if you are going to die in debt with cattle you may as well have something that makes you smile when you look aver the gate.
I select heifers for replacements based on their fleshing ability off grass / forage. I suppose that does not necessarily translate to fat cover but the fleshier they are the easier they shoulld be to finish. I have moved in 15 years from tight, thin skinned and short haired cattle to stock that hs looser skin, flesh under the ribs and hairy. My problem is if i was to feed youngstock i could put them off their legs, so do i breed more bone and compromise on ease of calving? - Nope. I will let commercial men cross my bulls onto their cows which will probably have more bone in there to start with. We then retain ease of calving and one of the highest % kill outs of any breed.
Its not easy this pedigree game and surely would have been easier if Dad had imported another breed instead of Blondes. Hmm, thats right he did start off with 3 big white ones, but coudnt get a living calf out naturally so he switched to Blonde in 1979 - never faltered since.
As for the OP's question. Look at plenty of cattle, see what works for your farm and at what age you are going to sell or finish cattle at. Go to live markets then decide. Pick something you like the look of, if you are going to die in debt with cattle you may as well have something that makes you smile when you look aver the gate.
You're looking ain the wrong places ;-) or is this from 20 years ago when you once tried to look for a blonde and you couldn't so now you tell everyone the same story ? :-D
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
Why would anyone want to sell their decent ones through a store market if they've pushed them hard on 'all that feed' that gets chucked at them? Mate, guessing you're not really a great businessman?
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
I’m not your mate….and because some people aren’t geared up to finish their cattle….I’m guessing you have blondes?
You're right! You're not my mate- Anyone who can put on a live forum saying that someone elses cattle are crap isn't going to be a mate of mine. Be humble. If it's not for you then say so but no need to be so harsh, especially to other breeders, we get enough sh!t from others !! Not all Limousins are perfect that go through market either there's just more of a quantity...Put it in to perspective
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
I haven’t said anything about your cattle or anyone’s in particular, just my observations…other people agreed with me so I’m not the only oneYou're right! You're not my mate- Anyone who can put on a live forum saying that someone elses cattle are crap isn't going to be a mate of mine. Be humble. If it's not for you then say so but no need to be so harsh, especially to other breeders, we get enough sh!t from others !! Not all Limousins are perfect that go through market either there's just more of a quantity...Put it in to perspective
Guiggs
Member
- Location
- Leicestershire
We don't finish cattle, only sell stores but our personal experience here, with our blondes is they calve easy, we can and have used on heifers although we have a Hereford bull for that job these days, calves grow well and sell very well, my dad topped the market with some weaned blondes the other week...
Really like them and couldn't understand why they aren't as popular as many other breeds.
Few years ago we put a blonde on pure char cows and kept the resulting females as suckler cows, they were great cows, milky, quiet, despite their mother's being mental until their second or third calves, shapey and maternal...
Each to their own I guess!
Really like them and couldn't understand why they aren't as popular as many other breeds.
Few years ago we put a blonde on pure char cows and kept the resulting females as suckler cows, they were great cows, milky, quiet, despite their mother's being mental until their second or third calves, shapey and maternal...
Each to their own I guess!
- Location
- Cheshire
Last time we ran a blonde bull along with the limi he was crackers. Not nasty at all but didn’t want to be anywhere near us while the lim would just stand there all day watching you.
Bull calves, both finished well on barley, blondes just a fraction lighter but we were using him on heifers so what do you expect
Heifers, this is where we fell out with the blonde. Because we have a mish mash of all sorts of cows the colours were plentiful. By the lim bull we’d get a bunch of blacks and a bunch of reds for nice even selling bunches. The blonde would throw 10 heifers with 7 differing colours. Made them a swine to batch up. Lovely cattle though. We hired him out to a dairy man mate to sweep up his autumn calvers. As it happened the calf job went shite again so we bought all the blonde calves back off him. Grew out into cracking beasts.
Every time we come for a fresh bull I’m sorely tempted to nip down to Bridge Blondes at Handforth and see what he’s got.
Bull calves, both finished well on barley, blondes just a fraction lighter but we were using him on heifers so what do you expect
Heifers, this is where we fell out with the blonde. Because we have a mish mash of all sorts of cows the colours were plentiful. By the lim bull we’d get a bunch of blacks and a bunch of reds for nice even selling bunches. The blonde would throw 10 heifers with 7 differing colours. Made them a swine to batch up. Lovely cattle though. We hired him out to a dairy man mate to sweep up his autumn calvers. As it happened the calf job went shite again so we bought all the blonde calves back off him. Grew out into cracking beasts.
Every time we come for a fresh bull I’m sorely tempted to nip down to Bridge Blondes at Handforth and see what he’s got.
- Location
- Scotland
I’m going to jump on this and say blonde 100% over the lim! I was a lim man for a good few years as well!
I have many breeds of sucklers and stock bulls and the blondes for me are now averaging 45KG heavier than the chars, BB and last of my lim calves at 12/13 months now and I’m keeping all the blonde heifers for sucklers. They are also longer, not so hard muscled and much easier calved. These lims were turning out into BB but just much wilder
. I have a batch of 80 cows incalf to the blonde 35 have already calved and iv not touched one. Maybe don’t have quite the same vigour as a BB & SH when born but they soon catch up unlike the char and sim.
I have many breeds of sucklers and stock bulls and the blondes for me are now averaging 45KG heavier than the chars, BB and last of my lim calves at 12/13 months now and I’m keeping all the blonde heifers for sucklers. They are also longer, not so hard muscled and much easier calved. These lims were turning out into BB but just much wilder
. I have a batch of 80 cows incalf to the blonde 35 have already calved and iv not touched one. Maybe don’t have quite the same vigour as a BB & SH when born but they soon catch up unlike the char and sim.
- Location
- Scotland
I’ll also be heading to Carlisle in may to bring home at least 2 bull's as I’m so happy with the calves I have to replace my lim stock bulls I had 6 at 1 point. Might also get a few heifers to go into pedigree breeding with them. That’s how happy I really am with them.
When it comes to finishing- The blonde is a leaner animal. Put them in with a Lim that IS finished and the blonde will still always have a higher kill out rate because of their stronger thinner bone structure and their length. They haven't got as much fat cover but they will always have more meat! Ideal for millennials
Blondes are ideal on natives. You get the fat cover from the natives and growth and weight from the Blonde plus retain higher KO % than Lim.
What are blonde X Angus like as replacement females?
I cant comment as the chap I know who crosses them kills them all (He has blonde and blonde x (blue/hereford) cows that he puts the angus bull to. He oves the cross and the angus bonus scheme makes them die well in profit. I suppose the next big question is what do you put the retained blonde x angus to?