buying heifers

limo_100

lads thinking of buying a few heifers this for the bull, gona replace some of the cows. Im gona buy mainly limousins, but anyway i was wondering if any of use have gone back to the black white heads with the increasing prices of meal.
would it be worth my while to buy a few of them or am i better off with the continentals??

bbam

limo_100 wrote: »

lads thinking of buying a few heifers this for the bull, gona replace some of the cows. Im gona buy mainly limousins, but anyway i was wondering if any of use have gone back to the black white heads with the increasing prices of meal.
would it be worth my while to buy a few of them or am i better off with the continentals??

We got out of suckling a few years ago but we had a number of whiteheads..
Personally I think your starting off with a compromise for your final product..
At this stage your better off aiming to have the high end product and personally I don't see herefords falling into that.. SIX or LIX would be better IMHO.

1chippy

i would have to agree with bbam, maybe even the ba, i have been converted with the few i have seen around and the results leg wax is getting. they seem a bit flighty though.
On the flip side i know a couple of finishers who are leaning more towards the traditional breeds lately but its a gamble i wouldnt be willing to commit to.

tim04750

Depends on what you are doing if its weanlings you'll take a fair hit because they're that bit plainer, if you're finishing bulls they'll still make U grade with most in fat class 3 without shoveling meal into 'em. heifers will be back a grade and can get overfat before you get them to a decent weight. but they're auld dotes of cows to work with especially at calving time there's just no drama with them, plenty of milk, high fertility, easy kept, good to calve, they tick a lot of boxes.
If they're out of holsteins leave them there.

limo_100

sorry lads meant to get to use on this thread several times. I get what use are saying about the white head cow there weanlings are lesser than weanlings off continental cows. But ill tell you what i'd do if i had one or 2 id put them in calf to limousin and simmental bulls and and try and breed good breeding heifers off them. Then you'd have continental heifers with lots of milk what do you think of this approach??

Buncha Fives

limo_100 wrote: »

sorry lads meant to get to use on this thread several times. I get what use are saying about the white head cow there weanlings are lesser than weanlings off continental cows. But ill tell you what i'd do if i had one or 2 id put them in calf to limousin and simmental bulls and and try and breed good breeding heifers off them. Then you'd have continental heifers with lots of milk what do you think of this approach??

Personally speaking if I was buying heifers I would make sure to buy something that would have plenty of milk even if she was a bit on the plain side. In the past we have bought shapely limo heifers in the mart and AI'd them and while they had great calves they didnt have enough milk for the calf to really take off.

If you start out with a plainer milkier cow (HExBFR or LMxBFR) a good AI bull will still bring a reasonable calf, with plenty of milk the calf will do well and if you get a heifer calf you will have the ideal replacement for the future. I have often heard it said that its easier to breed shape into cows than it is to breed milk into them.

I am AI'ing a few WHxBFR heifers at the moment and I am using HCA, if I get a heifer calf they will make ideal replacements and if not a bull calf is always welcome!!

Farmer Pudsey

I be going for the LMxBFR if you have a heifer calf they will make a good replacement. A lot of them can have a good temperament and if you cross back to LM or CH you will have a calf of the right colour for the mart. The cow will have plenty of milk and will rear a good sized calf. Also the cow will be a handier size than a pure LM cow.

The other thing about these cows is than if ration stay expensive there will be a move back to traditional breeds for easy finishing and these cows will give a good sized calf from a traditional breed bull

bbam

I've had a good few lads buying HEX heifers from the yard for suckler replacements. TBH while I'm happy to supply them I wouldn't do it myself.

I know these lads aren't finishing stock so they are trying to sell 9-10 month old weanlings and they just won't have a decent profit.

From what I see lads selling weanlings need to be breeding from cows, two generations from the BF cow or there just isn't the beef on the bone to make a profit. HEX cows just aren't throwing calves that will make a profit that justifies keeping the cow.

These are the weanlings selling for €500-700 at 10 months old. It's taken €500 to keep the cow and probably another €100 spent on the 10 month old weanling. It's just not a business model that stands up.

If your in the business of selling 10 month old weanlings they need to be hitting €900-1000 and that level of stock are not coming from first generation HEX cows.

limo_100

bbam wrote: »

I've had a good few lads buying HEX heifers from the yard for suckler replacements. TBH while I'm happy to supply them I wouldn't do it myself.

I know these lads aren't finishing stock so they are trying to sell 9-10 month old weanlings and they just won't have a decent profit.

From what I see lads selling weanlings need to be breeding from cows, two generations from the BF cow or there just isn't the beef on the bone to make a profit. HEX cows just aren't throwing calves that will make a profit that justifies keeping the cow.

These are the weanlings selling for €500-700 at 10 months old. It's taken €500 to keep the cow and probably another €100 spent on the 10 month old weanling. It's just not a business model that stands up.

If your in the business of selling 10 month old weanlings they need to be hitting €900-1000 and that level of stock are not coming from first generation HEX cows.

il tell ya why im looking at them about five years ago we had a white head cow she was sixteen she calved a hkg simmentel heifer calf. we culled her then. fast forward a couple shes on her third calf a limousin heifer calf a good might i add. Her first calf was a charolais heifer and she will be calving in sept. But inbetween the two heifers was a charolais bull calf and at 11months he was 425kg and made €1150 last year. So i have it in my head the used correctly the black white heads can give good results when crossed to a simmental bull.
maybe that example is a once off only down side to having a white head is the bull calf every other year. so i dont no its very hard to get every thing right need to think about it and anyway if the weather doesn't pick up soon none of will be buying much :mad: