ugghhh What should I do? (do you raise more than 1 breed)

[LindseysMaine_Angus]

So, I bought a Bred limousin heifer and i wanted my heard to be limi and lim-flex. I really like short horns as well.. I found 2 super nice heifers So What should i do Stick with limi's and lim flex.. or Shorthorns?? Help me out xD ???  ???  ???  ???  ???

 

[ruhtram]

What's wrong with both? It might just take a little more management if your trying to breed them back to their specific breed, but not enough that it would be a factor for me.

 

[LindseysMaine_Angus]

What's wrong with both? It might just take a little more management if your trying to breed them back to their specific breed, but not enough that it would be a factor for me.

Id have them AI'd anyways I wouldnt have a herdbull for a few years. I'll have to think on it. -_-  i :-\

 

[mark tenenbaum]

Check out the good Limm Flex (Shorthorn limmyxchar x ) posted a line or two below here.(first calf from a club calf bull) Shorthorns and Limmys cross ,GREAT,for both temperment and physical reasons (Shorthorn chilled out nature, hip and square backend-limmy thickness,lower quarter,rib,and decent bws-along with the red color.) I SAY -CROSS EM-its a good one and not many people have the foresight to do it. O0

 

[LindseysMaine_Angus]

Check out the good Limm Flex (Shorthorn limmyxchar x ) posted a line or two below here.(first calf from a club calf bull) Shorthorns and Limmys cross ,GREAT,for both temperment and physical reasons (Shorthorn chilled out nature, hip and square backend-limmy thickness,lower quarter,rib,and decent bws-along with the red color.) I SAY -CROSS EM-its a good one and not many people have the foresight to do it. O0

Yeah. My limmy heifer is bred to a limflex bull. Ill cross her to a club calf bull next time shes going to be bred.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Lots of people have a two breed focus.  Look at Express Ranches, Deer Valley Farms, Thomas Ranch, and many others like them do it well. I think it just comes down to management and having breeds that compliment eachother in case you need to streamline them together one day and they appeal to a lot of the same buyers.

 

[justintime]

I think having two breeds is very do-able if you have smaller herds of each breed. There is absolutley nothing wrong with doing this. I have had two breeds on several occasions that were bigger herds( over 100 head of each breed) and what I found was that I was spread too thin between each breed. It was hard for me to prepare two show herds, attend as many breed shows, sales, and breed functions, as I felt I should be attending, etc etc . This could have been a situation that many others would not have, and it was mainly because I only had my father at home to do the work while I was away. I don't think you should have any problems if you are thinking of keeping two herds with smaller numbers. I have alway said that the Shorthorn breed could see huge growth if every Shorthorn breeder would give two heifers to someone with another breed of cattle, and provide them with free semen, with the only payment required being a promise that they register the offspring.

 

[leanbeef]

I run both purebred Simmental & Angus cows and raise Simmental, SimAngus & Angus calves. It DOES take a little more management at times, and I'm mainly talking about running clean up bulls. If your program is 100% AI then that won't be an issue for you. And if the breeds compliment each other & both breeds are being used with one goal in mind,  it isn't as much trouble as if you had two distinctly different programs that didn't cross over. If your goal is to raise club steers, it might even benefit you to have more than one breed in your program. And if you're undecided about breeds, exposure to both imay be the best way to find your path. I recommend owning the best females you can find to add to your program, and don't worry too much about breed until you decide on one breed you want to focus on.

 

[ivychurch]

My grandfather started using Limousin bulls on shorthorn cows in the 70's. It makes a tremendous cross.  The calf you are directed to go see above is an Alias calf out of a cow that is 3/4 limousin, 1/4 shorthorn.

 

[frostback]

I have papers from 5 associations right now and have had two others through out the years. It is just a matter of record keeping and breeding accordingly. You can collect semen rather quickly but thats about the only down thing about more than one breed, that happens no matter what or how many breeds you have, if you AI.  When you need a bull just buy a good one no matter the breed. There are  a lot of associations that have percentage programs too, so that takes care of what breed you get the bull in.

 

[JTM]

A lot depends on where you want to be down the road. If you are looking at growing a herd and starting the foundation then I would say start with one breed. In a few years when you are ready for a herd bull you will be able to get more purebreds by using a purebred bull and grow your purebred numbers faster. Then when the time is right, bring in the second breed for a crossbred animal to grow a commercial herd from or show animals. You could then add a third breed for the ultimate crossbred animal years after that.
Good luck to you! (I prefer Shorthorn, Angus, and Maine Anjou by the way.  ;D)