Brown swiss or ayrshire

mahoney_j

Right as part of my 2015 expansion plans i am aiming on keepin my Purebreed holstein freisan herd and increasing them by 15 head but i really want to try a different breed.(roughly 15 ainmals)The jersey is the obvious choice but im not a huge fan due to their small stacture and also temperement is meant to be an isssue.2 breeds that really have taken my eye is the brown swiss(Simillar in stacture to holstein,Very docile excellent feet and legs and ability to milk 7 to 8 k litres of milk with good solids) and the ayrshire for same reasons as brown swiss.Just wondering if anyone has experience of working with or milking either breed.Not interested in x breeding(sorry delaval).

bogman_bass

if you are a fan of type then ayrshire are the way to go. lovely silky udders.

brown swiss calves are ment to be hard to train to drink but this may be hear say

mf240

http://www.brownswiss.com/

delaval

mahoney_j wrote: »

Right as part of my 2015 expansion plans i am aiming on keepin my Purebreed holstein freisan herd and increasing them by 15 head but i really want to try a different breed.(roughly 15 ainmals)The jersey is the obvious choice but im not a huge fan due to their small stacture and also temperement is meant to be an isssue.2 breeds that really have taken my eye is the brown swiss(Simillar in stacture to holstein,Very docile excellent feet and legs and ability to milk 7 to 8 k litres of milk with good solids) and the ayrshire for same reasons as brown swiss.Just wondering if anyone has experience of working with or milking either breed.Not interested in x breeding(sorry delaval).

A friend has Brown Swiss says feet are not and need a lot of maintanence. Cows are as thick as bottled boar shyte his exact words not mine. He recons it was the single biggest mistake of his career. I have visited a herd of Ayreshires in the UK magnicifant animals with super type.
If you go for US or Danish Jersey you will get cows capable of 8k byt the US are larger. Neither of these strains are suitable for xbreeding. I was on a farm in the US where they milked both hols and jerseys seperatly. Hols for fresh milk and jerseys for cheese very little difference in yield. When I asked about crossing he said no way as he believed he would get the worst of both worlds where as I with my system feel I get the best of both.

Mahoney if you said you were xbreeding I would do my best to talk you out of it as I have done with others. My reason for xbreeding is down to numbers. I couldn't afford to provide the facilities for the number of pure bredd Hols I would have. I also want a herd where one size fits all, and above all i need a cow that can walk long distances.

With xbreds I can double my numbers in the years post quota if I choose, land is my limiting fator not facilities as I don't need massive inestment to winter xbred cows.

For me it would be Jersey or Ayrehire. If I was to take over your farm tomorrow I would continue at what your at as I know land availability is an issiue in your area where as with me it's not I lease 3 farms surrounding my land and was approached by the owners in all cases. Wher as if your cows arrived here I would xbreed because I recon I would breed the perfect cow from yours.

TEAT SQUEEZER

the old man reckons the ayrshire calls it a day very early in her lactation... theres a company..red and white sires i think.. who advertise in the journal sometimes, re ayrshire semen etc

jaymla627

If your looking for Ayrshire straws abs Ireland is really the only ai company worth talking about in Ireland , have a great selection of bulls from the Scandinavian countries they call Ayrshire Viking red over there, really rate the Ayrshire crossed of a milky Holstein you get a really good functional cow with good production, feet, fertility, and solids on par with a jersey x bred and you get a bull calf that's actually worth something.

bogman_bass

Pg have taken over from Red and white sires and carry all their straws now

djmc

having a lot of dairy breeds including brown swiss I would go with ayrshire I have some swedish reds x fr a lot like ayrshire and they are great cows plenty milk and go in calf every year

TEAT SQUEEZER

i think op wants to go the purebred route so does that cancel out the scanda reds... i think there recognised as a composite not a pure breed.... op why bother at all? sorry to put it bluntly.....

bogman_bass

if you go back far enough all breeds are composites of some kind or another.
There is a lot of shorthorn blood in Charolais and blues for example

Going forward...

Red Holstein. The colour you want with none of the downsides.;)

mf240

TEAT SQUEEZER wrote: »

i


... op why bother at all? sorry to put it bluntly.....

I agree if it's not broke don't fix it.

By the sounds of it you.have a very good herd of cows as it is.

kowtow

How much smaller is the ayrshire than a black and white?

Would they lie down on a 2m (or 2.10m) cubicle?

djmc

Probably the size of british fr but a lighter frame like the Holstein but not as tall
the brown swiss are bigger than everything but I found the pure breads finicky and not great milkers

mahoney_j

Some interesting points there folks ,Much appreciated.I do like my holsteins and am constantly looking at different bulls for type,Good milk,Solids and importantly fertility.My aim is to have an 8k litre a year cow that will do 500 kg solids per year on beteween 1 and 1.5 tonnes of meal and a much grazed grass as possible in a creamry milk system.I am currently not too far off it but would love to have more cows ,2015 is comming though and i am going to sit at current nos till then.Dont want to have to hold cows back in spring or dry off early due to quota issues.Some of my cows though are becomming a bit too fine (big tall cow milking 10 to 11 k litres of milk)but interestingly these cows are holding their own in my system due to been fed to yield.im

the reason for wanting another breed is i just want to give something different a go and from my own research the 2 breeds that stood out where the brown swiss and ayrshire.I would at this stage have a preference for the ayrshire and am hopeing to purchase about 10 autumn 2012 born heifers before year end and put them in calf next may with my own heifers.It worries me a bit though buying in stock to my herd where i have years of info re bvd,Ibr and scc in praticular.If i find approiate ainmals i will insist on
1 Milk recording records from mothers
2 Must ne ai bred
3 Must be screened and clear of bvd and ibr
4 Passed a tb test in previous 3 months
5 be registered