Purebred Limousins

CivilEng

Hi All,

I am planning to get into purebred limousins in the next few months. I have around 15k to spend. Im looking for some advice on whether to purchase 3-4 good quality heifers or to puirchase cows with calves at foot etc.
I may also look at purchasing some embryo's.
Any advice greatly appreciated

1chippy

Pure hardship. I had a few and realistically unless you are willing to put serious time into them, by grooming, showing and extremely good calving facilities you would be far better off running a decent commercial herd.
The country is swamped with lads trying to run a herd of purebreds along with other cows and more and more are leaning towards ai now rather than buying stock bulls.
if your adament on going the route of purebreds i would be inclined to buy the best of whatever i could get regardless of whether they are heifers or cows. there are enough plain purebreds out there.

AntrimGlens

Would have to side with Chippy on this one. We got rid of the commericals a good few years ago now and just run a herd of pb's. Myself and the brother both work out and just don't have the time to take bulls to carlisle or stirling for the big sales. Our stock would be okay but we prefer to sell round the doors, i'd say we've sold at least fifty bulls to neighbours and guys within a ten mile radius. The odd bull we'll halter train and take to a society sale but by the time ye pay the fees and insurance you're really needing a decent premium to cover your costs. There is a serious amount of sh1te stock out there with everyone in the last five years thinking that they'll all get the big £20k price for a bull and it'll set them up. all thats happened is theres a serious amount of mud fat bulls that melt when they have to go to work. I know of one pb limo breeder near me and his annual meal bill is £60k and yes he's getting the odd £10-£15k for bulls but seriously how does that stack up. If its a hobby you're looking for i'd find something less expensive, it gives us a interest but you'll always be disappointed with how they turnout.

badshot

1chippy wrote: »

Pure hardship. I had a few and realistically unless you are willing to put serious time into them, by grooming, showing and extremely good calving facilities you would be far better off running a decent commercial herd.
The country is swamped with lads trying to run a herd of purebreds along with other cows and more and more are leaning towards ai now rather than buying stock bulls.
if your adament on going the route of purebreds i would be inclined to buy the best of whatever i could get regardless of whether they are heifers or cows. there are enough plain purebreds out there.

this man is talking a lot of sense

blue5000

OP with 15 k to spend you'd be better of buying horses, that market is a bit flat at present:pac:

Munster Magic

CivilEng wrote: »

Hi All,

I am planning to get into purebred limousins in the next few months. I have around 15k to spend. Im looking for some advice on whether to purchase 3-4 good quality heifers or to puirchase cows with calves at foot etc.
I may also look at purchasing some embryo's.
Any advice greatly appreciated

We started out with a few purebred limousins in 2008 and tbh we have been very lucky with them. I would advise on buying quality rather than quantity.

There is money to be made from them. I'm not sure if it is worth travelling up and down the country for shows though. That will drive up the cost and I don't think the benefits from it are worth it.

If it is something you are interested in I would say go for it. I would recommend going to the premier heifer sale on April 27th in Roscrea as there will be some top quality heifers there

simx

blue5000 wrote: »

OP with 15 k to spend you'd be better of buying horses, that market is a bit flat at present:pac:

forget horses go buy a few freisian weanling bullocks great value to be had at moment, might be easier handle than limmys too

pakalasa

Munster Magic wrote: »

...If it is something you are interested in I would say go for it. I would recommend going to the premier heifer sale on April 27th in Roscrea as there will be some top quality heifers there

Ya, go to a few sales before you buy anything. I will give you a better feel for things. A lot of these sales report high prices but when you are there on the ground, you see a lot of fine heifers go through without being sold.
Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think you have to spend big money to get in the game. €2,000 to €3,000 will but a decent heifer. Study the pedigrees too. There is a big move now towards the star ratings on ICBF which weigh heavily towards the easy calving lines. Do you know any breeders?
I bought my first PB Lim heifer this year. I didn't spend big money on her. She's from a well known herd and has about 4 generations of AI behind her. She's also quiet as a mouse and went in-calf on the first straw.

CivilEng

Thanks Magic,
My father has a hand full of limousins already. We find there is decent money in them at the moment. No problem getting €3000 at home for bulls this year.
I'll prob try and buy a couple in Roscrea, have a few circled. Would be nice to get one of the Newtown heifers but they'l prob end up across the water.
Thanks everyone for all their advice

pakalasa

CivilEng wrote: »

.... Would be nice to get one of the Newtown heifers but they'l prob end up across the water....

Join the queue.:D

reilig

pakalasa wrote: »

Join the queue.:D

I have a Cow off Neuf and a Newtown Cow

She's probably the only good one that I have. Great scores, good feet, easy calver and lots of milk. 3 bulls off her so far!

A few pedigree cows are a grand interest. I can't say that I ever make money from them. I've only been at 1 show with a bull, and I have sold all the bulls privately and kept the heifers as replacements.

I suppose I do it with the hope that maybe just once I will have a truly exceptional bull that will achieve a truly exceptional price (I mean €10k + ). But it's nice to have a few nice stock, something that I can take pride in. In saying that, if i had €15k to "invest" that I wanted a return on, it wouldn't be into pedigree limousins.

pakalasa

My heifer is by Neuf too. The way I see it, I'm doing all AI, so I might as well be AI'ing purebreds. They don't cost anymore to keep, and if the breeding is right, they should be ok for fertility and milk too. I'll take it one step at a time though, and build up numbers slowly. If you are paying out big money, you would really want to know what you are at.

reilig

pakalasa wrote: »

My heifer is by Neuf too. The way I see it, I'm doing all AI, so I might as well be AI'ing purebreds. They don't cost anymore to keep, and if the breeding is right, they should be ok for fertility and milk too. I'll take it one step at a time though, and build up numbers slowly. If you are paying out big money, you would really want to know what you are at.

Any heifers or cows that i have seen off Neuf are good ones!
It's a minefield out there though. The first year I had heifers, Millbrook were the king pins and Tanko and Dartangan was recommended as easy calvers on heifers and the ideal grandfather to commercial weinlings. Their figures changed over night after a lot of sections. Last year I went with Fieldson Alfy (€100 per straw) on one cow and Sauvignon (€30 per straw) on the other. The €70 extra was well spent on Alfy. I have 2 bulls born within 2 days of each other and the Alfy Bull is 100kg heavier and probably worth €1000 more than the sauvignon.

What to choose this year? I don't know. I will be ai'ing 5 pedigree limousins between cows and heifers. I'd love to be able to get straws that other people aren't using. But then again, if I pay €100 for a straw from my ai man, chances are that a lot of other people will have used the same straw either. Doubt if there's too many people out there who will put a €100 straw on a cow.

kboc

Expensive hobby, but if I had the time I would defo do it.

I have nearly bought into these, but hopefully in the future. I visited a few Limo herds. If I were to go down this road I would ensure I was buying top stuff from the outset. To do that I would:

1. buy some commerical females;
2. get them tested for BVD etc;
3. buy some embroyos, UK breeders are way ahead in this, some good value for money out there, which could set you up from the start with top genetics.

If I were to buy, with a fraction of the money you mention, I would look at:

1. http://www.plumtreelimousins.co.uk/For_Sale/for_sale.html;
2. http://www.truemanlimousins.co.uk/forsale.php Trueman Song is a smasher;
3. http://www.wilodge.com/html/for_sale.html this is a serious herd;
4. http://ampertainelimousins.com/ another serious herd;
5.http://s416435843.initial-website.co.uk/embryo-work/ Carmon Penny;
6. http://www.limousins.co.uk/se.shtml a really nice herd


Embryos are the way to go and anything with Wilodge Vantastic is a banker.

Good luck and enjoy

pakalasa

I really like the way WILODGE CERBERUS is breeding, especially the heifers. There is some in-breeding if I use him on my own heifer, but it is back a few generations. He's €80 a straw with Powerful genetics.
You could try Dolcorsllwyn Fabio, at €100 a straw. He's the bull that cost £126,000.:D

bogman_bass

pakalasa wrote: »

There is some in-breeding if I use him on my own heifer, but it is back a few generations.

If it works its line-breeding, if it doesnt its in-breeding:D

farmerjack

€100 a straw for alfy I think I have 10 or 15 of them in my pot, must check! On another note anyone use on dit I have been using him for last couple of years, really happy with the cattle from him, his reliability is rock solid also.

tanko

Am i right in saying that you must have pedigree limousins registered with the limousin society in order to buy straws from them?

reilig

farmerjack wrote: »

€100 a straw for alfy I think I have 10 or 15 of them in my pot, must check! On another note anyone use on dit I have been using him for last couple of years, really happy with the cattle from him, his reliability is rock solid also.

Sorry, made a mistake on that price. Just checked docket and it was 80 which included the technician's fee.

Munster Magic

Have a couple of Cerberus straws that I am hoping to get a few embryos from crossed with an Ideal23 cow next year all going well. Also have a couple of heifers incalf to Abracadabra and a cow to haltcliffe dancer. Hoping the Ideal23 cow is incalf to commander this year

Got a couple of Foreman straws too but havent used them yet, not easy find the right bull to use

Muckit

pakalasa wrote: »

They don't cost anymore to keep....

How do you manage that one? The long acre? :D

pakalasa

Muckit wrote: »

How do you manage that one? The long acre? :D

Well, they don't cost anymore than a commercial cow.

Muckit

pakalasa wrote: »

Well, they don't cost anymore than a commercial cow.

So €500/yr pocket money! Will you register with society? €€€€€

blue5000

Just doing a bit of crystal ball gazing here.

• What is the market for pedigree bulls going to be like in 3-5 years time?
• Suckler farmers are barely hanging on by their finger nails at present
• Dairymen only want an easy calving bull to clean up, with a short geatation
• Everyone wants a 5 star bull at the moment (btap teagasc advice)
• Unless a bull is in ai at stud he will be dead and gone before reliability gets over 80%
• The average suckler herd is about 15 cows in the country.
• Can the average suckler herd financially justify a stock bull?
• There are a lot of poor quality, over fed pedigree cattle at sales, which in my opinion should be taken straight for slaughter.

I know I'm being a bit harsh, but realistically unless you are going to breed cattle good enough for an AI station to be interested, you would probably be better off financially breeding pedigree jack russells at 200yoyo a pup

pakalasa

http://www.irishlimousin.com/html/society_fees.html

pakalasa

blue5000 wrote: »

.... you would probably be better off financially breeding pedigree jack russells at 200yoyo a pup

As the owner of a badly bred, over fed Jack Russell pup myself, I can safely say there is far less work with the purebred cattle.:rolleyes: