What to do with (former)show heifer

[rrblack78]

Our target show has been meet and my son had his heifer donated back to him at our county sale so, now what? What do you do with a show girl that hasn't been in the pasture for seven months and looks at grass like it's going to kill her in her sleep? We would ideally like to breed her to something but what? She is 94% beefmaster with a little bit of limousine in the mix. What should we breed her to? My husband wants to try shorthorn on her in hopes of making heifers for our county replacement show but I think we should try to sell her to a commercial herd outfit. I'm going to try to post a pic. Any thoughts welcome on breeding or selling.

 

[rrblack78]

Pic

 

[RankeCattleCo]

She'll eat the grass when she doesn't see grain for a day..

 

[rrblack78]

In a way I like the idea of breeding her to something so my kids can see the whole process and raise their own baby but there is a lot to that. My husbands grandmother has a tank full of semen but it's all pretty old, mostly from brangus and gyr bulls that were popular in the 80's but it's free if we want to try it. I'm on the fence about it. Not crazy about the brangus x beefmaster and the gyr is out of the question.

 

[RyanChandler]

Spend the $20 and buy semen on a modern bull.  I would just turn her out in the pasture- if she transitions reasonably then you will know she's a going to be a good cow, if she falls apart then you know she's ruined.

 

[cowman 52]

With cow market as it is, breed her to something and go on.  Shes worth more every day of her life.

 

[rrblack78]

Lol my husband just told me he would get rid of me before he gets rid of that heifer. He's talking about all this AI stuff I didn't realize he knew so much about. He grew up around his grandparents cows and he says that stuff was "dinner table talk" when he was a kid.

 

[RyanChandler]

He's talking about all this AI stuff I didn't realize he knew so much about. He grew up around his grandparents cows and he says that stuff was "dinner table talk" when he was a kid.

It's a sickness we're stricken with.  I hope you're prepared for it.

 

[rrblack78]

I knew his grandparents owed a lot of cows but WOW, clearly he has been sand bagging on what he knows about this stuff. He just dropped a bombshell on me that his grandpa had some kind of licenses to do AI in the 80's.

 

[OH Breeder]

Our former show heifers depending on how much cover they get put on get put out to pasture to thin down. I have had some that did well in the ring, but I couldn't bring myself to breed because they were too fat. I bred them calve as three year olds. They adjust to pasture quicker than you think. Yeah they will come to the gate and investigate for a bucket for potential remninents of feed after a while but they will transisition. 
I know very little about zebu cattle, I realize Beefmaster are shorthorn x hereford x Brahma but that's it.
Most bulls in the 80's unfortunately my era were racing for size. I would as others have suggested invest in more modern pedigree bull with High CE and BW acc EPD's. Angus, Red Angus, Shorthorn all I think would work on her very nice. I would research the bull and look for more maternal mating if you plan on replacement females. Breeding first time is live calf and establish the cow. I have a few shorthorns that I consistently use for calving ease and wish there were more on the market.
If you feel really frisky you can do pelvic measurements which a very reputable breeder just provided me on a new purchase. It is a good tool to plan matings on what to expect.
Good Luck with breeding!

 

[rrblack78]

Thank you all for your replies and advice. I'm sure we will be keeping her but she will be going to pasture to slim down a little before any breeding takes place. My husband wants to wait until a second calf to attempt AI on her.

 

[coachmac]

Since it sounds like your husband has a better idea than you thought about breeding, I will hold any thoughts I have on that.  While advice around our table is appreciated and considered, it basically comes down to what we decide to do for our situation.  I would like to congratulate you on having someone in your county (sale buyer) that appreciates the hard work and time for kids to successfully feed out and show an animal!  I am sure it is well deserved.  My kids would've had a smile for days if their animal was donated back to them!!!

 

[yellowdog5]

Just curious, why is Gyr out of the question?

 

[rrblack78]

The Gyr are the craziest thing I have ever seen in my life. My husband grandma has a small herd of them and you can walk around them while they graze and they just look at you but the minute you try to pen them to be worked they go insane. They had one that  killed a dog and a horse in same week. Trampled the dog and rammed the horse up against the working pens  and tore a big gash in its neck. I know they are a type of Brahman cattle but their disposition is even worse and I have seen Brahman turn the show ring into a rodeo. I can't imagine the gyr or gyr cross with a lead rope on it. The semen she has is from the same bloodline that's in the pasture.

 

[rrblack78]

Yesterday was an emotional day for me. We took her and my nieces heifer to be put in the pasture. I took it kinda hard, these ones came to us much younger and much earlier in the year than the year before. I spent a lot of time with these calves and was really bonded to them. It didn't help that the processing place called about the steer and emailed us our cheat sheet on the cuts of meat we want.

 

[tenrosesimmental]

This is a lovely heifer, correct structure, length and blending.  Stylish.

It depends on what you would like to do with the progeny.
If you want to add muscle try a traditional Simmental for the muscle bulk.
If you want black try CCC Bettis a black Simmental or Dikemans Sure Bet Black Simmental some muscle/poll.
For red cattle I would use DCR Mr Moonshine Simmental for muscle and poll.
Look for easy calving in the EPD.  I would suggest Dikemans Sure Bet for calving ease, growth and
tremendous genomic data.
Regards,
Sharon.