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hereford bulls...horned or polled

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Justin

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like i stated in my last "chore" post, i'm giving some thought about using some hereford bulls on some of my straight black angus cows. i have little to no experience with herefords, so this is my questin(i apolgize in advance if it is a dumb one :? )

do you hereford bull users prefer horned or polled bulls? i had a guy tell me once that the horned bulls are a bit more agressive breeders than the polled bulls. this breeder felt that the polled bulls could get a bit lazy like some angus bulls will....any truth to that? but he also sells horned bulls, so go figure. are there any other differences between the two?

i would like to hear your thoughts....

thanks
 
I'm not a Hereford breeder, so I'm not the guy you really want to listen to. Still, I think when you breed the horns off of a Hereford you also breed the arse off of 'em, from what I've seen. Just my two cents. Have fun with it. :shock:

HP
 
It doesn't make any difference. Put your money into the best bull you can afford. I prefer polled.
As far as docility, they are both the same. Most Hereford are pretty laid back.
 
The genetic diversity in the Polled Herefords is limited when compared to Horned Herefords. If you are selling baldies as feeders and nothing else, go Polled. Keeping replacements? Go Horned.
 
Justin those baldies sure make some nice looking cattle, but have you looked into a good GV bull at all ? Gelbvieh/Angus crosses make some really good looking cattle.

Sorry not trying to jack the thread, but trying to add some more options.. :wink:

Aren't all blk Angus supposed to be homo polled anyways ? :?
 
we have one polled and one horned . I never thought of it before but the horned bull is a little more aggressive with the cows maybe just by chance . I like the horned herefords better than the polled just seem a little framier . if your using true angus cows with out any simmy or something that might have a reseve horn gene i'd go with horned but have your breeder knock them off at least get shorter than the ears :) never can be to careful.
 
hillsdown said:
Justin those baldies sure make some nice looking cattle, but have you looked into a good GV bull at all ? Gelbvieh/Angus crosses make some really good looking cattle.

Sorry not trying to jack the thread, but trying to add some more options.. :wink:

Aren't all blk Angus supposed to be homo polled anyways ? :?
Click to expand...

Now we're talking!... and you can keep them solid colored with good pigment that way (of course I'm a little biased) :D . Actually my friend crossed her balancer cows onto horned herefords and had great results. Her hereford sired calves outweighed the angus sired by 74 pounds :wink: :D . She'll be calving the first brockle face heifers out this spring, and they look pretty fancy.

This will be fun to see what you decide to do :D .
 
WyomingRancher said:
hillsdown said:
Justin those baldies sure make some nice looking cattle, but have you looked into a good GV bull at all ? Gelbvieh/Angus crosses make some really good looking cattle.

Sorry not trying to jack the thread, but trying to add some more options.. :wink:

Aren't all blk Angus supposed to be homo polled anyways ? :?
Click to expand...

Now we're talking!... and you can keep them solid colored with good pigment that way (of course I'm a little biased) :D . Actually my friend crossed her balancer cows onto horned herefords and had great results. Her hereford sired calves outweighed the angus sired by 74 pounds :wink: :D . She'll be calving the first brockle face heifers out this spring, and they look pretty fancy.

This will be fun to see what you decide to do :D .
Click to expand...
that is something I would like to try in the future F1 bladies crossed back to a gel balancer bull. the heterosis ought to be through the roof but it would have to be a terminal cross I feel.
 
nd said:
stick with black bulls :wink:
Click to expand...

I think he wants to add a hereford bull to get that thing called Heterosis.

If he breeds to another black bull he will lose some of that.

Black baldies seem to sell no matter where they are. Just seen some sell for 1550.00 bred to an angus bull.

As for horned of polled. Just remember the first generation will be polled if you have good polled angus cows. Then after that there is a chance for horns and noboby likes horns anymore. I have mostly horned herefords but have a few polled. If you do it right you can dehorn and never have any problems or lose any gain.

So if you can and will dehorn you could go with either because I think both will do what you want them to you just have to decide.

My horned are better than my polled but I have seen polled just as good.
 
If you really want heterosis for a terminal group, a 3 way cross would be even better.


I have way more to say but being a guest here I will shut my mouth.. :p
 
I would be aware of across breed EPD's. And then, use them only for birthweight. I believe you have to add +3 to a Hereford bull's birthweight to compare him to Angus birth EPD's. In doing that, you'll find real high birth weight's on the Hereford. Look for a very low birth EPD on the hereford. Just my 2cents. You can Google "Across Breed EPD's" and find what I'm talking about.
 
DejaVu said:
I would be aware of across breed EPD's. And then, use them only for birthweight. I believe you have to add +3 to a Hereford bull's birthweight to compare him to Angus birth EPD's. In doing that, you'll find real high birth weight's on the Hereford. Look for a very low birth EPD on the hereford. Just my 2cents. You can Google "Across Breed EPD's" and find what I'm talking about.
Click to expand...

Yep-- +2.9 differerence....

http://beefmagazine.com/beef-markets/0515-2009-epd-table/
 
hillsdown said:
Justin those baldies sure make some nice looking cattle, but have you looked into a good GV bull at all ? Gelbvieh/Angus crosses make some really good looking cattle.
Click to expand...

If he goes that far he may as well go all the way and use Blonde bulls :shock: :wink: :D
 
High Plains said:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Just messing with ya' there, Silver...
Click to expand...

If I knew what an EPD was you may have had me goin'! :lol:
 

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