starting out p b simmental

jd06

hi all, was hoping to start buying a couple of pb Simmental heifers in calf or ready to bull every year, and build from there

but im not sure how to get started .

I have a herd of simm/char already.

where is the best place to start, marts, private ,

not sure about either of these as I know nothing about good or bad breeds

who ever I talk to , theres is de best breeds, plus wouldn know how much to be paying, theres such a difference in price

any experience of setting up would be helpful, or pointing in the right direction

cheers

Kovu

We need Mad4Simmental here

No knowledge of pb sims myself by we started out with pb lims by getting in a well bred heifer, keeping all heifers off her.

One piece of advice to stick to though, buy quality. There will always be money for the top style animals. You're as well off with crosses for the middling type stock and you'll have to take the price of registering off their profit.

Any chance of putting in some embryos with a fertile cow of your own?

Miname

I bought 2 recently, one hillcrest king incalf cow and one curaheen apostle heifer. I wouldnt push too much on the purebred side of the simmental, i bought these to breed a couple of big framed cows hopefully. There isnt the premium available with sim that there is with other breeds. Great cows but the bulls can be very hard sold. there is a simmental sale down the west every year i think the next one is a month or two away i'll get onto a mate. He usually brings 30-40 down these would be a mix of both purebred and commercials but all have to be incalf to sim afaik.

LivInt20

Miname wrote: »

I bought 2 recently, one hillcrest king incalf cow and one curaheen apostle heifer. I wouldnt push too much on the purebred side of the simmental, i bought these to breed a couple of big framed cows hopefully. There isnt the premium available with sim that there is with other breeds. Great cows but the bulls can be very hard sold. there is a simmental sale down the west every year i think the next one is a month or two away i'll get onto a mate. He usually brings 30-40 down these would be a mix of both purebred and commercials but all have to be incalf to sim afaik.

Ballymote sale Saturday 4th October

T & Cs

http://www.irishsimmental.com/site/wp-content/uploads/Ballymote_Sale_CondEntry_041014.pdf

jd06

.Kovu. wrote: »

We need Mad4Simmental here

No knowledge of pb sims myself by we started out with pb lims by getting in a well bred heifer, keeping all heifers off her.

One piece of advice to stick to though, buy quality. There will always be money for the top style animals. You're as well off with crosses for the middling type stock and you'll have to take the price of registering off their profit.

Any chance of putting in some embryos with a fertile cow of your own?

thanks I must look into embryos

jd06

Miname wrote: »

I bought 2 recently, one hillcrest king incalf cow and one curaheen apostle heifer. I wouldnt push too much on the purebred side of the simmental, i bought these to breed a couple of big framed cows hopefully. There isnt the premium available with sim that there is with other breeds. Great cows but the bulls can be very hard sold. there is a simmental sale down the west every year i think the next one is a month or two away i'll get onto a mate. He usually brings 30-40 down these would be a mix of both purebred and commercials but all have to be incalf to sim afaik.

was de heifer pb, what kinda mon should I be giving for a heifer like that

I know a lot depends on the heifer
thanks

Mad4simmental

.Kovu. wrote: »

We need Mad4Simmental here

Lol, ya the lads have it covered. There is 3 good sales on in October, as said I wouldn't get hung up on the pb thing. Good heifers are hard got but they are out there.

A few months ago we gave 3.15 kg but they were very good. I think they will be got at a better price this year. Best of luck, might bump into you at the sale.

jd06

Mad4simmental wrote: »

Lol, ya the lads have it covered. There is 3 good sales on in October, as said I wouldn't get hung up on the pb thing. Good heifers are hard got but they are out there.

A few months ago we gave 3.15 kg but they were very good. I think they will be got at a better price this year. Best of luck, might bump into you at the sale.

thanks for that, so you yhink i should buy quality rather than pb,

is there any particular breeds i should look out for

blue5000

I'd say a good place to start is at http://tullamoreshow.com/competitions/competition-sections/livestock/pedigree-cattle

Early start though, 10am. Just chat to ppl around the ring or breeders when they're not too busy. Maybe get a few business cards. They wouldn't be everyone's cup of tae so prices should be reasonable.

onyerbikepat

A lot of farmers got into pedigree breeding during the boom years, so if anything there is an oversupply out there. If you are really interested in it, I would say go for it. Nothing like doing something you have a passion for.
Get as much information as you can first though and maybe start off with one or two first.
One thing to be wary of with simmentals though is the lack of milk in the breeding. Hard to believe, with their reputation for milk, but a lot of bulls out there very poor for milk figures.
I have used a few AI bulls myself with commercial cows and their heifers had very little milk. IS4 for example. A lot more muscle in the modern bulls at the expense of milk and fertility.
Always a great market for milky suckler cows so keep that in mind as your base market, if they don't have a buyer for the PB cows.
I have a few PB limousins myself.

GrandSoftDay

onyerbikepat wrote: »

A lot of farmers got into pedigree breeding during the boom years, so if anything there is an oversupply out there. If you are really interested in it, I would say go for it. Nothing like doing something you have a passion for.
Get as much information as you can first though and maybe start off with one or two first.
One thing to be wary of with simmentals though is the lack of milk in the breeding. Hard to believe, with their reputation for milk, but a lot of bulls out there very poor for milk figures.
I have used a few AI bulls myself with commercial cows and their heifers had very little milk. IS4 for example. A lot more muscle in the modern bulls at the expense of milk and fertility.
Always a great market for milky suckler cows so keep that in mind as your base market, if they don't have a buyer for the PB cows.
I have a few PB limousins myself.

I think nearly more so than any other breed there are a lot of poor pedigree Simmentals in Ireland. I looked up the Simmental bulls on do real today and there was only a few that I would consider good enough and only 1 that really caught my eye. The breed seems to have gone in a different direction over the last 10-15 years I think from where it was. I might be biased though because I will dismiss any bull with tight curly hair straight away.

Mad4simmental

GrandSoftDay wrote: »

I think nearly more so than any other breed there are a lot of poor pedigree Simmentals in Ireland. I looked up the Simmental bulls on do real today and there was only a few that I would consider good enough and only 1 that really caught my eye. The breed seems to have gone in a different direction over the last 10-15 years I think from where it was. I might be biased though because I will dismiss any bull with tight curly hair straight away.

Ya correct, there are allot of very bad examples of the breed kept just Becouse they have papers. I think over the last few months there were one or two adds on the dung deal that I would have conciderd looking at. I know everyone has different tastes but if your dead set on the pb thing buy two really good animals for the price of six average ones.