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CANsteer

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 27, 2010
Messages
333
what do people think would be the best crossbred cows to start a club calf operation?
 

ranchers_wife

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2010
Messages
5
You are safe to stick with angus/ simmental/ herford cross cattle. There are not as many genetic issues. Calving ease and birth weights are not as big an issue for a starter. The ability to cross on these type cows is endless.
 

cdncowboy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
200
Location
Flintoft,Saskatchewan, Canada
My opinion start with straight bred cows, especially if you are breeding clubby and have any intentions of keeping the females.  Even for making steers, the straight bred cows are just a little more predictable.
I've kept the clubby pedigreed females and have discovered that for the most part that breeding them purebred something leads to more consistent results.  If I were to to it all over again I wouldn't have been so quick to replace the straight bred females.  Whatever way your going though keep watch for the best cow families.  We quite the purebred business a dozen years ago and sold most of them, fully one third of the cows we sold traced back to one cow!  With what we kept back we can still trace half of them back to two cow families.  It really is all about the cows, just start with good ones.
 

flacowman

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
673
Maternal powerhouse simmental cattle can (not necessarily will) always turn out good clubby calves.  Make sure they are structurally correct, even a little too soft, big and soggy, and something you can work alone that won't kill you when you tag calves.  cdn nailed it on the head.  If you can find some nice think angus cows they would work well too.  I like a mix of purebred mamas and you can have a nice variety of calves.  We keep mostly purebred mamas and breed mixed cows to purebred bulls for the predictability.  I personally like in this order simm, char, simangus, herf/angus, maine/angus cows for mamas.  Simm/maine are usually a good bet for your calf crop
 

cowboybecoachin

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
198
I think it important to also have cows that will milk. The angus-based cows seem to get along better in our hotter, harsher climate than many of the pure exotics, are usually pretty good grass-converters. Half Angus blood or more can really help you raise a good calf.
 

pds

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2010
Messages
162
Location
Convoy OH
As you can tell everyone has an opinion so here is mine.If you want to raise the best club calves don't wory about breeds look at genetics and cow families. No matter how many cows you want to end up with get a few recipe cows and  buy embryos from the best cows you can afford and use the et calves to start the herd with. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. We went this way and wish we would have done this years ago instead of going all over the country to buy cows. It does come with some risk its alot cheaper than trying to buy the best genetics.
 
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