Pedigree cows for commercial beef

Davy_g

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co Down
Depends on your farm as you what type and size of cow you have but wither a predominantly continental cow with a native bull or a predominantly native cow crossed to a continental bull.

Many over here are crossing Shorthorn to Blonde and vica verca. A lot of limmy or angus in the back breeding of the cows from previous favourites.
 

South West Ireland

Member
Mixed Farmer
I can't see the point in that type of cow.

A Shorthorn cow with a Lim or BB bull makes more sense in my mind
The docility of the cow is a big factor for me. I know there are farmers that have quiet cows across various breeds but for me you can always be guaranteed with BB that they will be calm and quiet. The pedigree element as oppose to a cross is to increase the BB genetics
 

South West Ireland

Member
Mixed Farmer
If you have got the ped bb's already and fancy a change of bull then crack on but i cant see the point in buying some to do it. No point buying expensive racehorse mares to breed cheap riding ponies is there .
Lets say an opportunity presented itself that half a dozen pedigree BB heifers were going for the little more than cross bred incalf heifers. Would you take the chance ? my biggest concern is around difficulty calving and primarily if a caesarian was to become the norm.
 

Whitepeak

Member
Livestock Farmer
Lets say an opportunity presented itself that half a dozen pedigree BB heifers were going for the little more than cross bred incalf heifers. Would you take the chance ? my biggest concern is around difficulty calving and primarily if a caesarian was to become the norm.
Have them pelvic scored and weed out any with very small pelvis's to reduce chances of calving difficulties and ceasarians
 
The docility of the cow is a big factor for me. I know there are farmers that have quiet cows across various breeds but for me you can always be guaranteed with BB that they will be calm and quiet. The pedigree element as oppose to a cross is to increase the BB genetics
A Shorthorn is as quiet as any breed and will take a lot less keeping than a lean muscular type.

You can add the muscle with the bull.
I'd rather keep one terminal bull than a herd of terminal cows.
 

Davy_g

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co Down
Have them pelvic scored and weed out any with very small pelvis's to reduce chances of calving difficulties and ceasarians
This.
However If they are show type BB's then all other things being equal i'd think most will have difficulty calving naturally as heifers to a show type continental sire. If they cost beef price then not much to loose i suppose.

For the serious show calf id be wanting a Char/blue/blonde cow put to a Limmy.
 

Optimus

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North of Perth
If they were mine.I'd be putting Angus over them.then back to a limmy.that would leave you some smart show calves.also give you half a chance of getting a calf out without needing the vet.
 

Big Hoss

Member
This farm runs BB and BBx cows put to a Simmental, with good results.
 

Agrivator

Member
A Shorthorn is as quiet as any breed and will take a lot less keeping than a lean muscular type.

You can add the muscle with the bull.
I'd rather keep one terminal bull than a herd of terminal cows.

But many Beef Shorthorns are now like bad Dairy Shorthorns. And the ''Beef Shorthorn'' stores I've seen sold as as flighty as any others.

The same goes for Angus crosses. It used to be a quiet breed, but now...........

And Limousins and Limousin crosses are just the opposite. What used to be a breed with a reputation for being wild, is now just about the most docile.
 
But many Beef Shorthorns are now like bad Dairy Shorthorns. And the ''Beef Shorthorn'' stores I've seen sold as as flighty as any others.

The same goes for Angus crosses. It used to be a quiet breed, but now...........

And Limousins and Limousin crosses are just the opposite. What used to be a breed with a reputation for being wild, is now just about the most docile.
I've calved around 40 odd BSH sired cows and heifers for quite a few years and have found them to be just about perfect for temperament. The bullocks are very laid back, and the few pure BSH cows I've had were just about pets.
Yes AA have attitude and any cows that we have here that are dangerous at calving have AA in their background.

I've not had Lims for quite a few years but had quite a bit of experience of them in the past and I ain't going back there, and all traces of them were culled out a long time ago.
I'm not convinced they have improved that much as one of my mates finishes a fair few and most of them are loons. A fat day at St Boswells is mostly Lims, and unless they have improved in recent months the are still too wild for me to be interested in.
I know a few Lim breeders and it seems to be a common theme to have a halter on a cow a few days pre calving so that it's possible to deal with them once they've calved.
 

Whitepeak

Member
Livestock Farmer
But many Beef Shorthorns are now like bad Dairy Shorthorns. And the ''Beef Shorthorn'' stores I've seen sold as as flighty as any others.

The same goes for Angus crosses. It used to be a quiet breed, but now...........

And Limousins and Limousin crosses are just the opposite. What used to be a breed with a reputation for being wild, is now just about the most docile.
I've often wondered about getting a proper traditional dairy shorthorn, feeding it well, blowing its hair up and seeing how it did in beef shorthorn classes 🤣🤣

And I was only chatting to our foot trimmer yesterday who said some of the worst cows in his crush are Angus'. They don't take kindly to being bossed, maybe its a Scottish thing 🤣 Herefords on the other hand he said just plod about.
 
Our mixed bunch of cows has contained Limis, Blues, Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn. in my experience
Angus - Wouldn't have any more, stubborn awkward and can be bad at calving

Blues - Chalk and cheese. Some like pussycats but others as bad as anything else. We have one at the moment which is a 3/4 blue and apart from having to stay well away at calving she will aim a kick if you go passed her.

Limis - Found them nowhere as bad as people say. I think they are more intelligent! They pick up well before the others if something is going to happen out of routine or a stranger comes in. I think this is why they look wild at auction marts or if they move to another farm

Herefords - generally no bother

Shorthorns - Love them, as I get older and move towards only having a small number of cows I want to have more of them
 

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