Temperament EPDs

[Dale]

Joe Boy--Salers can be a handful.  When I helped work cattle at the bull test station, they were the only breed that made the chute rattle the whole time they were in it.  Yes, many breeds were represented.

We got along better with our Leachman bull that was 50% Red Angus & 50% Salers.  His daughters from Shorthorn cows in our commercial herd were great cows.  Our AI-sired Salers were sometimes outlaws.  Fences and pens designed for Brittish breeds would not hold them.

 

[farmboy]

how are the full flush clones

 

[Show Heifer]

I knew a fella that had a group of EXT daughters that were just plain nuts. If they even THOUGHT they had a seen a human, they were off to the far corner! So he bred them to Lucys Boy. A bull known for his pure hate of the human race. He would rather kill a person than look at them.  The fella's theory: The calves would be so confused as to either run away or run down the person, that they would simply stand there!!! Last time I checked, it didn't work!!!  :-\

 

[justintime]

Dale, you are so right about the Salers cattle. I also have helped weigh bulls at a test station and without any doubt it took 2 or 3 xs more time, to weigh each Salers bull than it took any other breed. I don't remember one bull standing still for even a half second on the scale. They would make Fred Astaire look like a beginner. The Salers breed seems to have two strains, one of which is quite docile and one that is as goofy as any half Chi you have ever seen. I think the Salers breeders are trying to select real hard on temperment, just as the Limo breeders are.

A few years ago, I was asked by a neighbour to bring a trailer load of his purebred Saler heifers home from the test station where he wintered them. They were big framed heifers weighing between 900- 1000 lb. It took quite a while to get them in the trailer and then get the door closed before they all came back out, but eventually with the help of 3 or 4 extra people and probably a little help from God, we did get them in. Even though they were packed in the trailer fairly snuggly, they never quite clawing, and circling in the trailer. I really thought they would have the floor in my trailer wore out before I made the two hour trip to his home farm. I am not real sure how they did this, but they also got the gate on the nose of my trailer open and I actually had two of thes wild creatures up in the nose.
Once loaded, the owner told me that he would not get home for a couple hours after I did, but he told me which large pen to drive into and unload the heifers in. I was not real concerned as I thought that this could not be REAL HARD!!!! I drove into the large pen which was more like a small 5 acre pasture and opened the trailer door. Out they came, jumping over each other, knocking each other over and then jumping up and running at full speed straight ahead. I stood there and watched as they went through one 5 barb fence, and then through the second fence and then through the third fence. They were heading straight west and there was no more fences for at least 30 miles.
I called the owner and told him what had happened. He told me just to leave them as I probably could not stop them by myself. He said that they probably would stop and graze for awhile and then come home for water. It took him, over a month to finally get the last heifers home. Some were almost 50 miles away when they were eventually located. After that, when someone asked me to haul Saler cattle anywhere, I was busy that day!!!

 

[farmboy]

wow

 

[afhm]

Farmboy the Flush clones are gentle as can be.  Do a google search on them and you will find pics of them being petted on in large pens and even in the pasture.  Remember though they were bottle fed so that makes a difference.  I also found that if I go into working with an animal thinking it will be crazy then more times than not it is.  Go into it thinking positive and the results will more than likely be good.  I'll add another one to my bad list THE MAILMAN.  He would reportedly attack a truck in the pasture.  There is a braunvieh bull called Coal Miner that will attack anything with a vengeance but a cow in the pasture

 

[farmboy]

yea, i remeber reading a story about the flush clones in an older sek catalog, bottle fed and more puppy dog like than bull like...

 

[DL]

JIT, Dale, JoeBoy - you are so right about the Salars - I heard from a friend about a herd of Salars that were tame and quiet - but it certainly hasn't been my experience - not a breed I enjoy working.

afhm - I thinkyou got something there with your post too - it is the same thing as being afraid of the horse you are riding, or anxious about showing a dog etc - they sense how we feel and act accordingly

One of my favorite stories is about the guy (and it happened so many times it could be many guys, once a female too with Holsteins of all things) who doesn't really know how cows think or how to efficiently move them but thinks he is big and tough and when the cow doesn't do what he wants he picks up a 2 by 3 or something else and starts swinging and ranting and raving about the stupid cow and the cow runs in the opposite directions and he is still yelling how dumb she is (and other choice words.

Now IMHO running away from a raging lunatic shows good sense, which makes me wonder who is really stupid??

 

[Joe Boy]

Justintime:

great points....

 

[showcattlegal]

Jack Frosts can be worse then any of the full flushs I have been around. The Mailmans too they are really bad.

 

[SWMO]

I haven't been around Braunvieh's for a few years but when we were using some braunvieh genetics there was a definite temperament issue with some of the bloodlines.  Some just plain crazy and some were as gentle as puppy dogs.  There is no doubt in my mind that all breeds should be working toward what the Limi's have been doing and rating the temperament of their cattle.

On the Braunvieh's.  There was a breed with potential a few years ago.  The cattle had alot of good things to offer. Meat, Marbling, Milk.)  However, the Association has not done a good job and I don't believe that the breed is as good today as it was 10 years ago.  I certainly seems that they have gone backwards.  But maybe that is just the cattle that I see around us.  I certainly liked them as a cross on our commercial cows.