Fleckvieh as a beef sire

[Headless chicken]

A guy I sell semen to has some Simmetals out of Holsteins are they are sitting in his herd average of around 7500, he said tgat last year a Char calf out of one of them made 540 quid at a month old.
Although he says his beef calf sales out of his Monty and Fleckvieh cows add up to a lot of money too.

who’s Semen do you sell?

 

[Wishful Thinker]

I thought similar last year, been calving some this winter. Not sold on the idea. I sell the beef heifers before year old and finish the bulls. Fleck ok to calf, odd bull calf hard enough but the premium I think id get with the heifers would be lost with bulls, compared to bb. Very plain albeit I’m extreme Holstein. I think the selling heifer job is over done now too.

 

[The Agrarian]

Better than a Hereford or AA? Really?

AA cross Holstein is not a flashy animal at any stage of its life.

 

[Woolless]

AA cross Holstein is not a flashy animal at any stage of its life.

Very true but I can't see a Fleckvieh improving that, albeit there is the option of milking/selling heifers.

 

[M-J-G]

Very true but I can't see a Fleckvieh improving that, albeit there is the option of milking/selling heifers.

There are Fleckvieh bulls with a higher beef index than some beef Simmentals have.
I happen to have some calves off a German beef Simmental with an beef index of 115 in the same pen as calves off well figured UK Hereford bulls, and the Simmentals are outperforming the Herefords over similarly bred dams, as I would have expected.
But some Fleckvieh bulls will have a beef index in the 120s

 

[Wee Willy]

Very true but I can't see a Fleckvieh improving that, albeit there is the option of milking/selling heifers.

Had a fleck bullock out of a pedigree hol cow kill 400 kg at 22 months (R grade) but usually kill around 330 kg at 24 months.

 

[Stuart1]

Right, hear me out on this one...

Looking to place my semen orders fairly soon and been having a think

Used limousin as my beef sire last year on the cows, but I've had an idea of using conventional fleckvieh this year.
Reason being any bulls born will be decent enough to rear (probably worse than a limo/bb but better than a Hereford or angus) and the heifers could well be worth some money as in-calf heifers - or even fresh if I have room and feedstock to calve them in at the time

It also means should I lose a large quantity of cows to tb or something in the future then I could even keep the flecks and milk them myself. Or if I had the opportunity to expand etc

Heifers would be going to an Angus still

Thoughts?

For a lad that’s already swamped with a heavy workload you’ve lost the plot. Where will you get the extra time to rear/serve/calve never mind all the other bits in between? Keep serving to limousine and sell them young, calf money soon adds up.

 

[M-J-G]

For a lad that’s already swamped with a heavy workload you’ve lost the plot. Where will you get the extra time to rear/serve/calve never mind all the other bits in between? Keep serving to limousine and sell them young, calf money soon adds up.

Probably a sensible post, calf money is underestimated by many.

If you have calves worth £100 more than the average it's extra profit with the same inputs.
The question I ask many is, a x pence profit per litre, how many litres of milk do you produce to make £100 profit.

 

[Chimera]

Probably a sensible post, calf money is underestimated by many.

If you have calves worth £100 more than the average it's extra profit with the same inputs.
The question I ask many is, a x pence profit per litre, how many litres of milk do you produce to make £100 profit.

But no calf in the world is worth more than a wrecked cow!!
The old man would always ask "is the calf ok?" And I always tell him "wrong question, you should be asking "how's the cow? "

 

[M-J-G]

But no calf in the world is worth more than a wrecked cow!!
The old man would always ask "is the calf ok?" And I always tell him "wrong question, you should be asking "how's the cow? "

Why would the cow be wrecked?

 

[Chimera]

Why would the cow be wrecked?

Calves worth£100 more than the average "can" sometimes prove more problematic at birth. (Gurt big bull calf, cow down, legs fudged, 4 days of lifting, then.........)

 

[TheRanger]

Calves worth£100 more than the average "can" sometimes prove more problematic at birth. (Gurt big bull calf, cow down, legs fudged, 4 days of lifting, then.........)

Plenty of threads on here every month or so about continental breeds advertised as "easy calving" causing calving difficulties. Happy to stick with AA here and take £100 less per calf. Don't remember the last time we had to pull one, on cows or heifers.

 

[M-J-G]

Calves worth£100 more than the average "can" sometimes prove more problematic at birth. (Gurt big bull calf, cow down, legs fudged, 4 days of lifting, then.........)

Good calves don't have to be difficult calving

 

[O'Reilly]

Good calves don't have to be difficult calving

You don't always find out til it's too late. Someone, somewhere has to be the first to use a bull, to find out if he's 'safe' or not.

 

[M-J-G]

You don't always find out til it's too late. Someone, somewhere has to be the first to use a bull, to find out if he's 'safe' or not.

I'm happy for that someone to be someone else

 

[nails]

Too many bulls being marketed wrongly in the breed.
Nothing wrong with a strong fleshy type, but persistency in lactation needs to be kept an eye on when selecting bulls, the same can be said for BF as well.

I was on a farm last week where they milk 300 pure FKV cows av 8500, the owner pointed out one of his highest yielders and she was one of the least dairy types in his shed.

I've repeatedly said on here that one of the highest yielding fleckvieh herds I've visited in Germany were also of the best fleshed best fleshed herds as well

Cracking looking cattle, i could look at them all day , not so sure about a "Hatrack" Holstein. Is that the type of cattle that are imported from germany ? I see the advert for heifers on Sell My Livestock.

 

[Jdunn55]

Cracking looking cattle, i could look at them all day , not so sure about a "Hatrack" Holstein. Is that the type of cattle that are imported from germany ? I see the advert for heifers on Sell My Livestock.

See I'm the opposite which is why I would be looking at flecks, as I'm not tempted to keep them, no disrespect to anyone with them. Just not my cup of teas as such

Below are 2 photos of my favourite cows of recent years

Unique dempsey cheers
Sky crest mincio prickles

They may take more looking after, but my god they're stunning

However, crossed with an Angus bull and I'm not sure it's a recipe for much of a decent calf (hence the fleck question...)

 

[Jdunn55]

For a lad that’s already swamped with a heavy workload you’ve lost the plot. Where will you get the extra time to rear/serve/calve never mind all the other bits in between? Keep serving to limousine and sell them young, calf money soon adds up.

You're quite possibly right
Although I prefer the phrase "loosing the plot" rather than lost

I was only thinking of trying maybe 10 straws of conventional (so maybe 3 heifers and 3 bulls) and seeing what they sell like before I go full steam ahead with it in a couple of years time and use 50 straws on anything that has already been served once with sexed friesian/holstein

Just really was wondering if anyone had done it, what they turned out like and wether they sold well
If I did it, I would sell the bulls as calves as normal and the heifers I would just run with my friesian heifers and serve with a bull

But yes really don't need to add extra work onto my plate
Maybe next year, see how I feel when I order in a day or two

 

[Holsteinfriesian90]

See I'm the opposite which is why I would be looking at flecks, as I'm not tempted to keep them, no disrespect to anyone with them. Just not my cup of teas as such

Below are 2 photos of my favourite cows of recent years

Unique dempsey cheers
Sky crest mincio prickles

They may take more looking after, but my god they're stunning

However, crossed with an Angus bull and I'm not sure it's a recipe for much of a decent calf (hence the fleck question...)

 

[Rossymons]

See I'm the opposite which is why I would be looking at flecks, as I'm not tempted to keep them, no disrespect to anyone with them. Just not my cup of teas as such

Below are 2 photos of my favourite cows of recent years

Unique dempsey cheers
Sky crest mincio prickles

They may take more looking after, but my god they're stunning

However, crossed with an Angus bull and I'm not sure it's a recipe for much of a decent calf (hence the fleck question...)

Got a hat? You could hang it off either of they