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OH Breeder

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I am looking at some nice Highland bulls that are calving ease specific. Thinking of crossing with Shorthorns. Attached are some of the breeders pictures of shorthorn x highland cross. Most of the highland bulls run in the 4.5 to 5 frame score and are noted for calving ease. Just a thought.
 

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chambero

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I don't think they would work too well in Texas.  They might be a little warm in the summertime.
 

knabe

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i thought of these when i saw it.

http://www.caredsheep.com/

by the way, these sheep are supposedly extremely tender.  an ex employee married an montenegran gal (he's armenian), whose family raises these.  for one of their pre wedding ceremonies, they ate all kinds of parts and tried to get him to participate, he declined.  stuff like eyes, tongue, organs etc.  the proverbial fertility rites dinner.  chinese have something similar i attended once.
 

doubled

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chambero said:
I don't think they would work too well in Texas.  They might be a little warm in the summertime.

Oh my they sure are cute
 

DL

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I really like Highland cattle - they are certainly unique and generally well tempered and easy to work with/on. According to Harlan Ritchie the Highlands and the Dexters are the only
true breeds" from the isles - everything else including The Angus (that is like The Ohio State or The Johns Hopkins University) actually have a titch of something else in them. There is a national champion Highland bull in MMI and his semen is available - really nice bull. and imagine they got all that hair without having TH  :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ::) ::) ::)
 

OH Breeder

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DL said:
I really like Highland cattle - they are certainly unique and generally well tempered and easy to work with/on. According to Harlan Ritchie the Highlands and the Dexters are the only
true breeds" from the isles - everything else including The Angus (that is like The Ohio State or The Johns Hopkins University) actually have a titch of something else in them. There is a national champion Highland bull in MMI and his semen is available - really nice bull. and imagine they got all that hair without having TH  :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ::) ::) ::)
My thought was to use some clean genetics that are known calving ease with a twist. I will let you know how it turns out.
 

sjcattleco

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Hey Shawn
There is a breed of cattle called Luing cattle that are solid red and are 3/4 shorthorn and 1/4 Highland.. fairly popular in western Canada..
 

OH Breeder

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sjcattleco said:
Hey Shawn
There is a breed of cattle called Luing cattle that are solid red and are 3/4 shorthorn and 1/4 Highland.. fairly popular in western Canada..

http://www.luingcattlesociety.co.uk/public/links.php

Great sight. Interesting Scott. Thanks for the information.
 

shorthorns r us

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chambero said:
I don't think they would work too well in Texas.  They might be a little warm in the summertime.


i agree about the extreme heat but i did read somewhere that that they don't put on external fat under all that hair.
 

justintime

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The late Sandy Cross, of Rothney Farms, Calgary, AB also had a sizable herd of Luing cattle along with his Shorthorn herd. I saw them  few times and always felt that they deserved a larger place in the industry than they received. According to Sandy, they were hardy, trouble free and extremely easy calving. They had beautiful udders with lots of milk and were great mothers. I still think they were an overlooked breed, and could have worked real well in a cross to develop hardy cows that could work anywhere without needing a corn crib near by.  I am sure there may be some Luing semen stored at one of the major studs.
 

dori36

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justintime said:
The late Sandy Cross, of Rothney Farms, Calgary, AB also had a sizable herd of Luing cattle along with his Shorthorn herd. I saw them  few times and always felt that they deserved a larger place in the industry than they received. According to Sandy, they were hardy, trouble free and extremely easy calving. They had beautiful udders with lots of milk and were great mothers. I still think they were an overlooked breed, and could have worked real well in a cross to develop hardy cows that could work anywhere without needing a corn crib near by.  I am sure there may be some Luing semen stored at one of the major studs.

This is amazing - not the cattle but Sandy  Cross.  I Googled Rothney Farms history to be sure and, taDAA, it is:  In Wyoming, I worked  for a time on the Boot Ranch, east of Casper, for Richard Cross.  He is thte  nephew of Sandy Cross - Sandy being his father's brother.  Richard's dad, Bill, came down from  Canada to start ranching in Wyoming and at one time controlled 250,000 acres in the Douglas, WY, area.  The book of the family history, Braehead, is part of the Boot Ranch's library.  I've been many times to the homestead ranch where the first post office for Douglas was many years ago.  It's  waaay up in the mountains!  I guess most of people living around there were mostly Cross kin and workers.  There are 3 brothers - nephews of Sandy - Rory (William Rory) , Robert, and Richard.  All are still ranching but not all in that area any more.  Rory was Speaker of the House in Wyoming in the mid-90's. Fascinating!  I'll have to ask Richard if he knew Sandy had Highland crosses!

Update and correction:  I called Richard Cross and learned that Sandy of Rothney Farms is/was a cousin, not an uncle.  My mistake!  Cool anyway!
 

OH Breeder

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SRU said:
chambero said:
I don't think they would work too well in Texas.  They might be a little warm in the summertime.


i agree about the extreme heat but i did read somewhere that that they don't put on external fat under all that hair.

When reading, one of the things I found interesting for us up here in the snow belt, is that they say the cattle have thicker winter coats keeping them warmer thus consuming less food in the winter time. That would help my budget out with the way hay prices are going. I might be interesting to try a cross and see what I get. I am sure it will be a hairy bugger, but they say that the cattle easily thin out in the summer time with no problem.
 

garybob

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I don't know whose post to answer first, so I'll start with OH Breeder. Hey, man, the cross would be amazing for several reasons, none of which have much to do with the show ring. First of all, would be heterosis. The net effect of this extreme heterosis would be seen in several areas, especially fertility, and, to answer Chambero, I think that the croosbreds of this mating would work in Texas, even the Badlands along the border (out under the Mesquites, not just an irrigated Bermuda pasture with Pecan trees), because of their extreme "rusticity", so long as they were calved out down there. I'll firmly state that purebred Galloways and Highlands would adapt to a wider array of conditions than would "clubby" genetics with three or four generations of creep feeding and corn silage behind them. In the USA,we are feeding our way into Bankruptcy, while Cattlemen in other nations are prosperous using low-input genetics, and giving cattle an environmental challenge.
 

chambero

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I wouldn't have thought it.  Its a long way from Britain to Texas.  There's lots of people in south Texas that will argue an Angus cow isn't tough enough for our heat and rough country.
 

OH Breeder

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garybob said:
I don't know whose post to answer first, so I'll start with OH Breeder. Hey, man, the cross would be amazing for several reasons, none of which have much to do with the show ring. First of all, would be heterosis. The net effect of this extreme heterosis would be seen in several areas, especially fertility, and, to answer Chambero, I think that the croosbreds of this mating would work in Texas, even the Badlands along the border (out under the Mesquites, not just an irrigated Bermuda pasture with Pecan trees), because of their extreme "rusticity", so long as they were calved out down there. I'll firmly state that purebred Galloways and Highlands would adapt to a wider array of conditions than would "clubby" genetics with three or four generations of creep feeding and corn silage behind them. In the USA,we are feeding our way into Bankruptcy, while Cattlemen in other nations are prosperous using low-input genetics, and giving cattle an environmental challenge.
From what I have been reseraching, they are actually quiet hardy animals and adpat readily to there enviroment. I am with out on introducing fresh genes looking for some hybrid vigor. In one day in Ohio you can go from Air Conditioning to Heater when fall rolls around. I think the would adapt quiet well.
 
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