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hereford bulls...horned or polled

We have used both Horned and Polled herefords in the past.
I think it's easier to find good horned herefords than it is to find
good polled herefords. Notice I said, "easier", not impossible.

Years ago, we bred our Hereford heifers to Black Angus bulls,
and had some C-sections. But that was before BW were measured...
or BW EPD's...
but we never forgot the experience either.

Mr. FH says nothing is better than a Black Angus Cow and nothing
is better than a Horned Hereford bull... FWIW...

Oh, we did breed 50 cows for years to one Polled Hereford bull and
one Black Angus bull. We never ever saw the Polled Hereford breed a
cow, but every year we got 41 BB calves...
 
hillsdown said:
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
Click to expand...


Our bull Is 1/2 Horned Hereford and 1/2 Shorthorn. He's out of a cow we had that produced until age 16 super thick and easy keeping. We bred him to 47 commercial cows mostly straight blacks but a few baldies and 5 red angus cows. I plan on keeping the heifers back as replacements. I did'nt want any with more than a 1/4 shorthorn these replacements should make some very useful functional cows which could be bred angus or any other terminal cross with good results. We won't breed them to a hereford bull though just not my preferance for this area. I would'nt be afraid of some Charlaios bulls on them when they get produceing but thats years from now.

The pasture he was in did'nt have any open cows for what it's worth and it's our poorest piece of grass.
 
Are you thinking Holstein as part of the mixture.We've got a few cows that are a 1/4 magpie they raise some pretty nice calves.
 
I think you hit Hillsdown's target Denny. :D


Angus x Holstien, breed the F1's Gelbvieh

There ya go Justin. Let us know how those F1 steers work out. :wink:


Edit..... On second thought they might work out fine if you kept them to slaughter weight.
 
The first cows I ever bought came with a 1/2 angus 1/2 holsein cow she was a big ole rip. She would calve in may and by fall have the biggest calf she got caught up with the march calvers her last few years and those calve we giants by fall. A little milk goes a long ways.
 
you can't go wrong with a horned Hereford bull! I have a few cows with the polled gene in them and I do not keep heifers from those cows...I am very anti polled Hereford... if you are gonna cut off his horns, may as well cut off his balls.
 
gcreekrch said:
I think you hit Hillsdown's target Denny. :D


Angus x Holstien, breed the F1's Gelbvieh

There ya go Justin. Let us know how those F1 steers work out. :wink:


Edit..... On second thought they might work out fine if you kept them to slaughter weight.
Click to expand...

The Holsteins I have are flush cows and there would be no way on H I would cross breed them with anything . If your want to buy some embryos let me know ;)

I also raise PB registered GV and had a pretty nice commercial herd until I dispersed it in the fall because of the drought, the GV bulls did a heck of a job on Angus, Charolais, Herf, Sims a Maine's... :D

No Denny, I was not thinking Holstein; but I am sure there is Holstein already in Angus as it is.. :lol: :P
 
Faster horses said:
An old Hereford guy told us more than once, "you cut off their horns and you take away their brains"...all his Herfords had horns. He wouldn't
take them off in any fashion...
Click to expand...

There were a couple ol' "dyed in the wool" Hereford guys up here that used the same saying........... until BC Cattlemen's Assoc. voted in a $10.00 a head horn tax on cattle changing owners.
 
gcreekrch said:
Faster horses said:
An old Hereford guy told us more than once, "you cut off their horns and you take away their brains"...all his Herfords had horns. He wouldn't
take them off in any fashion...
Click to expand...

There were a couple ol' "dyed in the wool" Hereford guys up here that used the same saying........... until BC Cattlemen's Assoc. voted in a $10.00 a head horn tax on cattle changing owners.
Click to expand...

Couldn't someone have filed a discrimination suit? :roll: :wink:
 
Soapweed said:
gcreekrch said:
Faster horses said:
An old Hereford guy told us more than once, "you cut off their horns and you take away their brains"...all his Herfords had horns. He wouldn't
take them off in any fashion...
Click to expand...

There were a couple ol' "dyed in the wool" Hereford guys up here that used the same saying........... until BC Cattlemen's Assoc. voted in a $10.00 a head horn tax on cattle changing owners.
Click to expand...

Couldn't someone have filed a discrimination suit? :roll: :wink:
Click to expand...


There was quite an "upscuddle" ( as Lilly and Haymaker might say) but the horned guys were more than slightly out voted. :wink:
 
hillsdown said:
gcreekrch said:
I think you hit Hillsdown's target Denny. :D


Angus x Holstien, breed the F1's Gelbvieh

There ya go Justin. Let us know how those F1 steers work out. :wink:


Edit..... On second thought they might work out fine if you kept them to slaughter weight.
Click to expand...

The Holsteins I have are flush cows and there would be no way on H I would cross breed them with anything . If your want to buy some embryos let me know ;)

I also raise PB registered GV and had a pretty nice commercial herd until I dispersed it in the fall because of the drought, the GV bulls did a heck of a job on Angus, Charolais, Herf, Sims a Maine's... :D

No Denny, I was not thinking Holstein; but I am sure there is Holstein already in Angus as it is.. :lol: :P
Click to expand...

I have some GV x Angus cows in my multicultural herd. They are good moderate framed cows.

Edit..... I really like the GV breed from the side view and as a mother cow in a xbred. I find a lot of them narrow as a breed. There are some really thick ones but they can be hard to find.
 
We were at a meeting a few nights back and they were doing studies on mature cow weights the GV were the lightest angus were 3rd hereford 4th and I don't remember much from there.
 
Glad to see you are thinking about using Hereford bulls on your black cows. Some things to consider are they Angus or just black cows. If they are just black cows, you will probobly get a group of red calvs and red baldy calves along with some horned calves. Just leads to more sorts at sale time. If they are Angus cows they will be polled black baldy's the first generation,unless a cow or two has a red carrier gean. Some people on here seem to think that to be a good Hereford bull he has to have horns that is a crock. I have had both and their good bulls without horns as well as with horns. The horn thing is just a matter economics, why pay to put them on just to pay to take them off. As it seems everyone on here is into low imput ranching horns are just another cost. Hereford bulls last longer and are easier to get along with, not that their can't be exceptions. As you can tell I sell Polled Hereford bulls and this is not a sales pitch just my opinion. Most of the bulls I sell breed black cows and I am glad when these guys come to buy bulls as it good for us both. :D :D :D
 
Faster horses said:
We have used both Horned and Polled herefords in the past.
I think it's easier to find good horned herefords than it is to find
good polled herefords. Notice I said, "easier", not impossible.

Years ago, we bred our Hereford heifers to Black Angus bulls,
and had some C-sections. But that was before BW were measured...
or BW EPD's...
but we never forgot the experience either.

Mr. FH says nothing is better than a Black Angus Cow and nothing
is better than a Horned Hereford bull... FWIW...

Oh, we did breed 50 cows for years to one Polled Hereford bull and
one Black Angus bull. We never ever saw the Polled Hereford breed a
cow, but every year we got 41 BB calves...
Click to expand...

Angus - the performance breed :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:



Denny said:
Are you thinking Holstein as part of the mixture.We've got a few cows that are a 1/4 magpie they raise some pretty nice calves.
Click to expand...
Maybe a hard type of cow to winter graze though eh? :shock: :lol: :lol:
 
Sorry I am late getting to this post but I was gone all day yesterday.

I am going to reccomend horned emphatically, not just because I sell horned bulls but because that is what works in big country Western SD. I run a cow to work for me, I do not help with the calving, getting up and sucking process. I have yet to watch a polled outfit at calving that doesn't watch pretty close. My expierience has been that horned herefords are more energetic during the first 24 hours and if you calve out in a large pasture, that is hugely important.

With the herd of black cows that are just commercial blacks, you could get 3-5 horns per bull each year. A good job dehorning that many isn't hard and takes less time than going out to get a cow in because the calf hasn't sucked.

You might also get 1-5 red baldies but depending on where you market your calves, there is no reason that a red baldie steer shouldn't go with the blacks. Heifers will probally always get sorted, but the extra 20+ pounds per calf will make up for a few heifers that bring 10$ head less.

When you get to the baldie cows, that is where things get real good. An extra year of life, more pounds of calf raised, and does so on no more feed than a straight bred cow. Heterosis is a win-win-win situation.
 
Doug Thorson said:
Sorry I am late getting to this post but I was gone all day yesterday.

I am going to reccomend horned emphatically, not just because I sell horned bulls but because that is what works in big country Western SD. I run a cow to work for me, I do not help with the calving, getting up and sucking process. I have yet to watch a polled outfit at calving that doesn't watch pretty close. My expierience has been that horned herefords are more energetic during the first 24 hours and if you calve out in a large pasture, that is hugely important.

With the herd of black cows that are just commercial blacks, you could get 3-5 horns per bull each year. A good job dehorning that many isn't hard and takes less time than going out to get a cow in because the calf hasn't sucked.

You might also get 1-5 red baldies but depending on where you market your calves, there is no reason that a red baldie steer shouldn't go with the blacks. Heifers will probally always get sorted, but the extra 20+ pounds per calf will make up for a few heifers that bring 10$ head less.

When you get to the baldie cows, that is where things get real good. An extra year of life, more pounds of calf raised, and does so on no more feed than a straight bred cow. Heterosis is a win-win-win situation.
Click to expand...

:agree:
 

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