Crossbred cattle and what you are trying to develop/utilize
Jan 9, 2016 14:35:29 GMT -5
Shawn and eon69nc like this
Post by simchah on Jan 9, 2016 14:35:29 GMT -5
Great question and one of the best threads I have enjoyed in some time.
I guess I have two different lists of what I want in a cross. One list is ideals and one is starting with what I have where I want to see improvements.
For the ideal list I want of perfect cow, of course. I guess personality should be high on the list (after reading this thread) but it wasn't since it has not been an issue for us yet. So good temperament - gentle, laid back, hardiness, able to keep condition, throwing meaty calves, good udder attachment, even, high, tight udder with even teats that are long enough to get more than two fingers on but not too long for a machine, I like a medium size animal that is tall enough to not have a problem getting the machine on her. Easy to breed, easy births. A cow that is not too picky about her hay. A cow that produces between four to six gallons a day and maintains the quantity over a long lactation. Easy let down, easy to empty. I know that some of these traits might be in conflict but this is the dream list.
For the more practical list I am taking a good look at what I have, nine year old jersey, and trying to improve it. What I have is a laid back cow who breeds easily and births easily. Peaks at 6 or 7 gallons (while we have had her) and will milk at 4 gallons a day from here to forever. Good flavoured milk and ok cream line. No milk fever or ketosis. A so-so udder - good ligaments, ok attachment, not even, and very low. Teats could be worse but not good, back ones are too short for easy hand milking since we can only get two fingers on them and over all she is hard to milk. She has sub clinical mastitis, looses condition quickly, and is often overly picky about her hay. Nice size overall but her udder is so low we had to shorten the rubber on the machine to keep the claw from sitting on the ground.
Where we are trying to go - our milk cow had a cross heifer (jersey/red angus) that is a couple inches taller than her mom with longer legs so should be easier for the machine, she is fairly beefy and keeps her condition (might be because she eats better than her mom and is not picky about her hay). I have had a number of people come on the place and comment on her so I assume she has a good conformation. She is fairly bouncy but is very respectful of people and we have not had a problem. She is learning to stand in the stanchion and her udder is coming along nicely since she is due next month but beyond that we are still waiting to see how she works out. I want to see her milk well and have good manners while milking if she will be a keeper. IF she is as good as I hope I would like to breed her back to a jersey and get a 3/4 jersey 1/4 red angus out of her that has a high output while being hardier and a bit beefier. I want to keep high production and have beefy calves if they are bred to beef.
I am intrigued by brown swiss and herford and would be interested on adding some of that to the farm in some way, shape, or cross. We are planning on adding a new heifer bottle calf shortly and so I will be trying to get a jersey cross or brown swiss cross when we do.
I guess I have two different lists of what I want in a cross. One list is ideals and one is starting with what I have where I want to see improvements.
For the ideal list I want of perfect cow, of course. I guess personality should be high on the list (after reading this thread) but it wasn't since it has not been an issue for us yet. So good temperament - gentle, laid back, hardiness, able to keep condition, throwing meaty calves, good udder attachment, even, high, tight udder with even teats that are long enough to get more than two fingers on but not too long for a machine, I like a medium size animal that is tall enough to not have a problem getting the machine on her. Easy to breed, easy births. A cow that is not too picky about her hay. A cow that produces between four to six gallons a day and maintains the quantity over a long lactation. Easy let down, easy to empty. I know that some of these traits might be in conflict but this is the dream list.
For the more practical list I am taking a good look at what I have, nine year old jersey, and trying to improve it. What I have is a laid back cow who breeds easily and births easily. Peaks at 6 or 7 gallons (while we have had her) and will milk at 4 gallons a day from here to forever. Good flavoured milk and ok cream line. No milk fever or ketosis. A so-so udder - good ligaments, ok attachment, not even, and very low. Teats could be worse but not good, back ones are too short for easy hand milking since we can only get two fingers on them and over all she is hard to milk. She has sub clinical mastitis, looses condition quickly, and is often overly picky about her hay. Nice size overall but her udder is so low we had to shorten the rubber on the machine to keep the claw from sitting on the ground.
Where we are trying to go - our milk cow had a cross heifer (jersey/red angus) that is a couple inches taller than her mom with longer legs so should be easier for the machine, she is fairly beefy and keeps her condition (might be because she eats better than her mom and is not picky about her hay). I have had a number of people come on the place and comment on her so I assume she has a good conformation. She is fairly bouncy but is very respectful of people and we have not had a problem. She is learning to stand in the stanchion and her udder is coming along nicely since she is due next month but beyond that we are still waiting to see how she works out. I want to see her milk well and have good manners while milking if she will be a keeper. IF she is as good as I hope I would like to breed her back to a jersey and get a 3/4 jersey 1/4 red angus out of her that has a high output while being hardier and a bit beefier. I want to keep high production and have beefy calves if they are bred to beef.
I am intrigued by brown swiss and herford and would be interested on adding some of that to the farm in some way, shape, or cross. We are planning on adding a new heifer bottle calf shortly and so I will be trying to get a jersey cross or brown swiss cross when we do.