Belgian Blue Bull

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gilbert07

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i was looking on the internet and came up on this...amazing how much mass this bull has..never heard of this breed before but would mind using a bull like that!!!

 

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justintime

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In Britain, Belgian Blue ( ie: British Blue .... that is what they call them) are used extensively in producing half blood beef cows. I would estimate that Belgian Blue F1 females make up 25-25% of the commercial herd there. I have attached a picture of a typical Blue X bred female that I saw there. Many were outstanding cows. They have excellent udders and seem to milk well. F1s are very fertile and cross well with other breeds.
 

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justintime

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I will try this again.  Belgian Blue do not calve hard when crossed with other breeds. Fullblood Blue females have to be c sectioned to have their calves due to their excessive muscle.
 

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BCCC

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I second that they have great milk!! I have a female that is 1/4 belgian blue and I really like her, cant wait till next year she will actually be bred to a belgian blue bull. She is gona be bred to Witch Dr this go around and from what I have heard He is super on BB females. I have seen some super calves out of 1/2 BB  cows breed to clubby bulls, and they are flat out awesome!!
 

ROMAX

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Why does everyone assume belgian blues are hard calvers,we have used them for years and the only time you get calving problems is the closer you get to prebred.crossbreds calve the same as any thing elsesometimes smaller.If you look up some bulls listed check out there birthweights alot are in the 80-89 pound range.I have a half BB 1/4 angus 1/4 fleck heifer raising an awesome Power Plus bull calfright now.
 

AAOK

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I remember talking to a Belgian breeder years ago at the OK State Fair.  I asked him about calving, and his response was, "It's Great!  Last year we only lost 15% of our calves."  'Nuf said.
 

Dusty

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gilbert07 said:
i was looking on the internet and came up on this...amazing how much mass this bull has..never heard of this breed before but would mind using a bull like that!!!

Now we just need to cross this with a highlander...  I mean imagine 6 inches of hair on that.  
 

BCCC

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AAOK said:

I remember talking to a Belgian breeder years ago at the OK State Fair.  I asked him about calving, and his response was, "It's Great!  Last year we only lost 15% of our calves."  'Nuf said.
And how does that compare to the breeders that breed their whole herd to Heat Wave, and C-section half of them, and lose 1/4 of them to either beening big dumb HW bulls, or SP :'(
 

knabe

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Dusty said:
gilbert07 said:
i was looking on the internet and came up on this...amazing how much mass this bull has..never heard of this breed before but would mind using a bull like that!!!

Now we just need to cross this with a highlander...  I mean imagine 6 inches of hair on that. 

where's that dang llama stud? ;D
 

Show Heifer

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When I went to England in 91, I actually saw Belgium Blues "in real life". I talked to actual breeders of these massive animals.
The only time they pull calves is when they "mis-mate" animals. Meaning a large BW bull to a large BW cow. (Gee, like clubbie people have never done THAT). Most full blood cows can have calves on their own.
They are excellent mothers, milkers and are very docile. They are hardy animals that survive with very little grain and grazes pastures.
And their meat is super lean, yet very tender. You can easily cut it with a folk off the grill.
They have a lot in common with the limi breed and the Blonde D'Arguetine (spelling)

And the breeders of the Blues would kindly decline your offer to "fur these things up".....they are most happy showing off their muscling, udder development and excellent conformation in slick hair form. "We have nothing to hide. Why do they need hair?" A quote from Andy, Worchestershire England.
 

OH Breeder

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BCCC said:
AAOK said:

I remember talking to a Belgian breeder years ago at the OK State Fair.  I asked him about calving, and his response was, "It's Great!  Last year we only lost 15% of our calves."  'Nuf said.
And how does that compare to the breeders that breed their whole herd to Heat Wave, and C-section half of them, and lose 1/4 of them to either beening big dumb HW bulls, or SP :'(

Very true! BCCC
And what is that 15% of. I am a small operator. I lost two out of 14 cows and that is about a 15% loss.
 

justintime

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Belgian Blue sired calves are actually very easilt born. That is one of the reasons they are used as much as they are. The double muscling very seldomlt appears in the half blood offspring, but they have lots of natural muscle, yet they still seem to milk well. I saw several herds of half blood B. Blue cows with Limo, Simmental, Blonde, or Maine sired  calves on them. The calves were outstanding!! One of the best sets of calves I saw were Shorthorn sired a nd the dams were B. Blue X Maine cows. They were thick,well muscled and easy fleshing. Calves like this are topping the markets in Britain, which is one of the main reasons the Bristish breeds are again becoming popular over there.

Many people don't realize how much B. Blue semen is used here in N America. They are extremely popular for use on dairy cows. Here in Canada, more B. Blue semen is sold by Semex than all their other beed sires combined. If you have a good B. Blue AI sire, you can make a tremendous pile of money!
 

justme

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Show Heifer said:
When I went to England in 91, I actually saw Belgium Blues "in real life". I talked to actual breeders of these massive animals.
The only time they pull calves is when they "mis-mate" animals. Meaning a large BW bull to a large BW cow. (Gee, like clubbie people have never done THAT). Most full blood cows can have calves on their own.
They are excellent mothers, milkers and are very docile. They are hardy animals that survive with very little grain and grazes pastures.
And their meat is super lean, yet very tender. You can easily cut it with a folk off the grill.
They have a lot in common with the limi breed and the Blonde D'Arguetine (spelling)

And the breeders of the Blues would kindly decline your offer to "fur these things up".....they are most happy showing off their muscling, udder development and excellent conformation in slick hair form. "We have nothing to hide. Why do they need hair?" A quote from Andy, Worchestershire England.

Not trying to be a smart alleck, but are you going to use them on your herd Jen?  I know you use alot of different breeds and would love to see your calves out of a Belgian blue.  Myself, I'll stick to my Maines. 
 

TJ

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I know someone who raised the crossbreds.  They sold them on contract to someone.  They did OK with them from a commercial standpoint, but they weren't exactly what I would call "show calves".  But they were big butted.
 

Show Heifer

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Not trying to be a smart alleck, but are you going to use them on your herd Jen?  I know you use alot of different breeds and would love to see your calves out of a Belgian blue.  Myself, I'll stick to my Maines. 
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Oh justme, you know my herd of mixed up, heinz 57 crap huh!! GRIN! But no, I haven't tried them....have a local lady that raises them and has some darn good ones. She has tried to tempt me, but no go. Did have thee most awesome steak out of one of her steers that was to die for.
I did try and find some Bonde D'Aquaintine semen to play with, but couldn't get that accomplished either.
Myself, I'll stick to my limiXangus. Isn't this country great!!!???
 
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