Suckler Beef Sire

[Contadino]

I keep a welsh black suckler herd and have been running them with a charollais bull for years. Although the calves are brilliant, I am fed up with calving problems. Too many caesareans and the stress on me and the cows during calving means its time to change it up. What bulls are people using for easy calving but maintaining good calves?

 

[Whitepeak]

I keep a welsh black suckler herd and have been running them with a charollais bull for years. Although the calves are brilliant, I am fed up with calving problems. Too many caesareans and the stress on me and the cows during calving means its time to change it up. What bulls are people using for easy calving but maintaining good calves?

Blonde!
Fine boned, slender calves that muscle up after a few weeks. Great get up and go, very very rarely have to stick one on. I'm running at about 90% unassisted the last few years.
Calves grow well, and sell well. I would imagine they would be similar colour to your Charly calves out of Welsh black cows.

 

[Optimus]

When we had them we ran them with the Charollais an blonde.both were very good crosses.never had calving issues with them.just the cows that usually wanted to kill you just after calving.

 

[AGN76]

We cross our blacks with Simmental, then serve the WB x Sim to BB. Works well.

 

[Welderloon]

We cross our blacks with Simmental, then serve the WB x Sim to BB. Works well.

Do you get any crazies with that particular cross @AGN76 ?

 

[Tractorboy67]

Bazadaise Good calves grade well fat & quiet

 

[hendrebc]

Limousine cross well with anything

 

[Anymulewilldo]

I keep a welsh black suckler herd and have been running them with a charollais bull for years. Although the calves are brilliant, I am fed up with calving problems. Too many caesareans and the stress on me and the cows during calving means its time to change it up. What bulls are people using for easy calving but maintaining good calves?

Mate of mine crosses limmy onto his WB cows. He gets some belting calves and hardly touches any at calving. His lim x WB heifers that he’s kept as cows have made real tidy sucklers too that live on the same moor as the Pures

 

[nails]

I would choose a Limousin and i breed Simmentals . Get the right Limousin bull and you will have very few calving issues. What their temperament will be i cant say . Easy calving is the absolute key in Suckler production . The cost of difficult calvings is not just the calving itself.

 

[Ysgythan]

I keep a welsh black suckler herd and have been running them with a charollais bull for years. Although the calves are brilliant, I am fed up with calving problems. Too many caesareans and the stress on me and the cows during calving means its time to change it up. What bulls are people using for easy calving but maintaining good calves?

Longhorn - pretty black calves with white stripes

 

[JSmith]

I keep a welsh black suckler herd and have been running them with a charollais bull for years. Although the calves are brilliant, I am fed up with calving problems. Too many caesareans and the stress on me and the cows during calving means its time to change it up. What bulls are people using for easy calving but maintaining good calves?

Beef shorthorn, easy calving, good hardy grazers, retain the heifers if you like, very saleable

 

[AGN76]

Do you get any crazies with that particular cross @AGN76 ?

No, absolutely fine.

 

[choochter]

There are a few Bazadaise herds in Wales, check the website
www.bazadaise.org.uk or the facebook page

The good bit about Bazadaise is that the calves are born without much muscling, that comes later, so they are in the main easily born.
In my 22 cow herd of half pedigree Baz half Baz/Lim cross I havent used my calving jack since March 2020.
No deaths at birth since 2021 (and that was ibr). Thank goodness.
Plus whole herd calving interval always under 365 days.

So, they bounce back after an easy calving. My view is that with such a small herd no loss at calving is acceptable, neither is any slippage in calving interval. A WB/Baz heifer calf would also be suitable for breeding.

edit: Barry is for sale right now , he's in Lancashire...

 

[Nort o the Galt]

Buy an easy calving charolais

 

[choochter]

Buy an easy calving charolais

surely the calves will still be bigger at birth? cos the breeds big

 

[Henarar]

surely the calves will still be bigger at birth? cos the breeds big

is there such thing as a short gestation Charolais?

 

[Henarar]

I keep a welsh black suckler herd and have been running them with a charollais bull for years. Although the calves are brilliant, I am fed up with calving problems. Too many caesareans and the stress on me and the cows during calving means its time to change it up. What bulls are people using for easy calving but maintaining good calves?

We use British blues.
What time of year do you calve ?

 

[Nort o the Galt]

surely the calves will still be bigger at birth? cos the breeds big

I have calved to an easy calving Gretnahouse Charolaise bull for three years. As easy as my Shorthorn and Simmental bulls!

 

[BAF]

We're just calving the dairy cattle now. Had a trial run of long horn over some of the diary cattle as part of a scheme for butelair. Very impressed with what I've seen. Normally use Angus over anything that isn't going black and white or doesn't hold to black and white. But from what we've seen these long horn crosses make the Angus look like they don't try. Almost looking for the teat as soon as their head is out. Up and sucking within 10 minutes of calving. Plenty of length and shape to them and they're piling condition on. Probably trial them over heifers next time because they've been so easy calving. Even the old boy I work for had to admit its been a good experiment and he hates change!

 

[Skintagain]

You’ll struggle to beat limo imo cymro