Highland/lim crosses
(Old photo, it's not that bad a summer.. Yet)
(Old photo, it's not that bad a summer.. Yet)
Quietest breeds of cattle and sheep
- Thread starter Neddy flanders
- Start date
GenuineRisk
Member
- Location
- Somerset
Blues md blue crosses are usually pretty docile - we also run a Lim for heifers and while he's quiet enough, as most Lim peds are, when crossed with dairies, they're pretty mental. Crossed with Blue luckily Blue takes over as they'll live with our pedigrees!
But all breeds have their loopies, even Blues.
But all breeds have their loopies, even Blues.
A bit off topic but yesterday I was milking a quiet heifer 3 cows into the side. She then lashed out with her front foot and hit her trough, it must of spooked her as she climbed into her feed trough and up over the other 2 cows and out the front of the parlour. It shows just how athletic a cow can be when it wants to be or it's frightened, it would have gone through anything or anyone and I still don't know what spooked it
Those buggers like to kick!!!
- Location
- Durham, UK
Hereford x monty. Bil does a few.
- Location
- Norfolk
Good charolais bull over a herd of them would be some animals to sell as stores
Weasel
Member
- Location
- in the hills
I've had a few luings that we're bampots when they calfed. One especially she came looking for you. If in the shed she used to run at the barrier. Always had a cracking calf. Got a few of her heifer calf's as cows now.A few mental bluegreys aswell. Any breed has it in them. .
Roy_H
Member
You just never can tell....
We had a dear old Jersey house cow that we originally bought as a calf. We put her in calf to a Piemontese and the heifer calf she had was as quiet as a lamb too. Because the above cow was the house cow her calf was bucket fed and became quite a pet. When she grew up she was so gentle just like her mum we decided to keep her back for breeding. Well , she calved and you talk about change of personality. She turned out to be the most ferocious barsteward cow you could ever imagine. We were horrified. Suffice to say she went into the fattening yard.
We had a dear old Jersey house cow that we originally bought as a calf. We put her in calf to a Piemontese and the heifer calf she had was as quiet as a lamb too. Because the above cow was the house cow her calf was bucket fed and became quite a pet. When she grew up she was so gentle just like her mum we decided to keep her back for breeding. Well , she calved and you talk about change of personality. She turned out to be the most ferocious barsteward cow you could ever imagine. We were horrified. Suffice to say she went into the fattening yard.
Weasel
Member
- Location
- in the hills
Strange eh
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
My Beltex sheep are restrained by '4 hole rylock' in half my fields. Lambs that have never seen a bottle are curious enough to want an ear scratch. Scratch their brisket and the tail goes up and wags like a dog. I can walk my dogs through them and they stand and stare or walk up to me for a rub or a lug scratch. Chilled out is quite an overly energetic description of them. The ewes will lie down and graze wherever their nose can reach.
Now, I do spend a lot of time with my sheep but I've never visited any other flock and failed to find placid sheep, and they are a hell of a lot easier to shear than the woolly buggers suggested elsewhere in these replies.
Now, I do spend a lot of time with my sheep but I've never visited any other flock and failed to find placid sheep, and they are a hell of a lot easier to shear than the woolly buggers suggested elsewhere in these replies.
AGN76
Member
- Location
- north Wales
Bopeep1981
Member
- Location
- Gainsborough, Lincs
Another vote for the Hereford (no surprises there!). Temperament was one of the main reasons we opted for the breed, and we haven't been disappointed. We have been lucky enough to have a few visitors lately, and they have commented on how quiet our herd are 
Bopeep1981
Member
- Location
- Gainsborough, Lincs
I don't know if you can view the link, if you don't have a Twitter account, but I saw it and thought of this thread https://twitter.com/Kilsunny_Herd/status/893586503976329216
7600-four pilot
Member
- Location
- Yr Hen Dref........
Limmy x Hf, something not quite right in the head with them. Would try to jump over/through anything they came across, Dad once put one in the freezer for home consumption, still had to put a padlock on it. Quietest without a doubt was Hereford x Hf,pure joy to work with. Mind you a couple of Holstein yearling heifers out of F16 seemed to live up to the name.
Quietest without a doubt was Hereford x Hf,pure joy to work with. Mind you a couple of Holstein yearling heifers out of F16 seemed to live up to the name.
- Location
- Gods country (England)
F@@k me Yes, absolutely crazy. Got one born this year, luckily I planned ahead and used a polled black lim bull so haven't had to handle him yet!
How'd u like your polled black lim?? What are his offspring like??
Quite fancy one myself
AGN76
Member
- Location
- north Wales
They are not too bad, it's difficult to tell you what I think of them as they didn't go on the best cows. They don't have much power but they do have a good frame. I would use him again on a couple of blue cows and see what happened. And not having to dehorn is such a bonus!
choochter
Member
- Location
- aberdeenshire
I don't really know which is the quietest breed of cattle but I do know that an investment of time and effort in managing potential replacement heifers pays off.
I start the selection process after weaning or during the winter, walk among them daily, scratch their tailheads, stand and watch, teach them about walking quietly into the race to get weighed and other things.
By the time they are 15 months they are comfortable around me and with me touching them and they'll come willingly when I ask because they trust me. If not, they won't enter the breeding herd.
I have virtually no trouble calving heifers, they take to their calves no bother and get back in calf again fine.
I appreciate its not always possible to be so hands on with a larger herd but I do think that spending time with replacement heifers is a good investment for the future.
I start the selection process after weaning or during the winter, walk among them daily, scratch their tailheads, stand and watch, teach them about walking quietly into the race to get weighed and other things.
By the time they are 15 months they are comfortable around me and with me touching them and they'll come willingly when I ask because they trust me. If not, they won't enter the breeding herd.
I have virtually no trouble calving heifers, they take to their calves no bother and get back in calf again fine.
I appreciate its not always possible to be so hands on with a larger herd but I do think that spending time with replacement heifers is a good investment for the future.
Recoil
Member
- Location
- South East Wales
Herefords and Blues are nice quiet cattle. The trouble with the Blues is that they are sometimes too quiet and they are too big to push through the race. You've just got to wait until they decide to go through.
Regarding sheep, we started off with Welsh Mountain ewes and have tupped with Welsh, Suffolk, Hampshire Down and Texel rams. I can't tell any difference in the temperament between the breeds, but the sheep have definitely calmed down as they've got used to us and our farm. The first bunch we bought were wild and would either go under or over fences but now we only have one or two like that and the rest are quiet.
Regarding sheep, we started off with Welsh Mountain ewes and have tupped with Welsh, Suffolk, Hampshire Down and Texel rams. I can't tell any difference in the temperament between the breeds, but the sheep have definitely calmed down as they've got used to us and our farm. The first bunch we bought were wild and would either go under or over fences but now we only have one or two like that and the rest are quiet.
- Location
- South West
Quietest cow I have ever seen was a Lincoln Red but boy wasn't she stubborn, if she decided not to go in a cattle crush or through a gateway you couldn't make her, end of.
Ruby Red Devon's are just as stubborn.
I run all but pure breed limo's on to a pedigree Limo bull and find them generally very easy to deal with as pure breed cattle generally are far easier to deal with than cross breed's for some reason.
I'd love to use a British Blue bull as I have seen some lovely calves on this cross but unsure if calves would have such a good temperament
, if she decided not to go in a cattle crush or through a gateway you couldn't make her, end of.Ruby Red Devon's are just as stubborn.
I run all but pure breed limo's on to a pedigree Limo bull and find them generally very easy to deal with as pure breed cattle generally are far easier to deal with than cross breed's for some reason.
I'd love to use a British Blue bull as I have seen some lovely calves on this cross but unsure if calves would have such a good temperament
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Shadow
Member
- Location
- South Wales
I agree @choochter handling makes all the difference. We set up a new herd of Angus cows last year, buying the main bunch from a retirement sale and a few others from a local herd. They were used to minimal handling and pretty lairy to handle so we spent alot of time over winter walking the sheds talking to them and scratching them. By turnout time you would have a bunch of cows coming to say hi and get their scratch as soon as they heard the gate. It has paid off massively as they are much quieter to walk through in the fields and go through the handling system much better.
As it happens I was talking to someone the other day who knows the local herd we bought from and commented on how wild those cows were. He was fairly gobsmacked when I told him one of them came up to me in the field with her week old calf for a scratch that morning.....
To be honest I'm half tempted to separate off the replacement heifers and tie them up in the old (unused) cow byre for the winter for a bit more handling! Not sure what my better half would say to that idea mind you
As it happens I was talking to someone the other day who knows the local herd we bought from and commented on how wild those cows were. He was fairly gobsmacked when I told him one of them came up to me in the field with her week old calf for a scratch that morning.....
To be honest I'm half tempted to separate off the replacement heifers and tie them up in the old (unused) cow byre for the winter for a bit more handling! Not sure what my better half would say to that idea mind you