GEtting new HEifers in calf...

bigtomm

hi Folks..
advise needed;

this will be my first year putting heifers in calf...currently 5 heifers here,all limousine..all at over 2 year old mark.

I would like to switch to another breed calf for some..

any ideas? nothing too muscularly or anything huge...

Q:is hereford or angus a good mix? or is there some old irish breeds anybody favours?

cheers
T

Corkfarmer

I'm in the process of starting up a small suckler herd aswel due to an unexpected arrival from a bought in heifer, we said we'd keep a few sucklers around the place. In your case I would think from my research if you're looking to build numbers, breeding to limousin and keeping the heifers might be the best plan. I've picked a few heifers we had for fattening, they're a mix of lm, aa and saler and thats my plan. Perhaps Charolais if you're looking to sell as weanlings. I'm sure some of the more experienced guys on here will be able to shed a bit more light on this.

Kovu

If they're two years I'd expect them to be able to have an easy calving CH no problem. Something like S2014 (Sicilien) that would be good on the maternal side in order to keep your milk right if you plan to keep the females. Even if you don't get heifers you'd have nice enough weanlings come autumn. Hope for the goldies!

(We manly use Dovea here so I'm not too knowledgeable about other AI companies)

bigtomm

Kovu wrote: »

If they're two years I'd expect them to be able to have an easy calving CH no problem. Something like S2014 (Sicilien) that would be good on the maternal side in order to keep your milk right if you plan to keep the females. Even if you don't get heifers you'd have nice enough weanlings come autumn. Hope for the goldies!

(We manly use Dovea here so I'm not too knowledgeable about other AI companies)

the goldies?:) charrlies?

actually , i just wanna keep things ticking over..not aiming at going very high...ideally i would like 8-10 heifers max...

so how it was done here was call the 1890 number with herd no. then ask for breed desired..

i would love an irish breed..whatever that is?

not meaning to ramble on but i think limosinces are rather cross beggers:) lovely animals of course

Kovu

You mean traditional Irish breeds? You'd be looking at Shorthorn, Angus, Hereford so. Any of those would be fine on heifers so long as you don't pick massive bulls and overfeed the heifers.
Have you looked at what ai companies/AI men are around you? There's PG (Progressive Genetics), Dovea, Bova, Munster AI, Eurogene, you can look at their ai books online and discuss it with them. Many are happy to give advice as well.

Limos can be cross alright, they need a good bit of handling early on in life or else they never settle around people.

blue5000

Aubrac is another easy calving option, what market are you aiming at, weanlings/forward store/finishing them yourself?

bigtomm

Kovu wrote: »

You mean traditional Irish breeds? You'd be looking at Shorthorn, Angus, Hereford so. Any of those would be fine on heifers so long as you don't pick massive bulls and overfeed the heifers.
Have you looked at what ai companies/AI men are around you? There's PG (Progressive Genetics), Dovea, Bova, Munster AI, Eurogene, you can look at their ai books online and discuss it with them. Many are happy to give advice as well.

Limos can be cross alright, they need a good bit of handling early on in life or else they never settle around people.

hah ha...yip..i was moving them this morning back down to another field with grass and outa the one theyve been in for last few months with silage in circulars...they made through a line and into the barn,got them in the end..i was kinda laughing after i was running around...
exactly they were not handled much... Munster ai was what was always used...

bigtomm

blue5000 wrote: »

Aubrac is another easy calving option, what market are you aiming at, weanlings/forward store/finishing them yourself?

blue....just maybe finish them off here..18 months type thing...to mart...but who knows...

blue5000

Angus or Hereford then, get the breed bonus as well. Main thing with heifers is to use easy calving bull, it's a big help to get them back in calf on time again.

High bike

Maybe Simmental,normally easy calving and if you get heifer calves you have lovely replacements

Farrell

High bike wrote: »

Maybe Simmental,normally easy calving and if you get heifer calves you have lovely replacements

Yes but if you get a bull, you'll take a hit if selling as weanling
if you can, use sexed semen, it'll give you a better odds

oldsmokey

I'd chance Simmental, Apz, good quality, and you'll end up with a good colour calf to sell. Charolais calves in my view would break your heart to 'get going' when born. But maybe if numbers are small you'd be prepared for that caper.Angus another option, fine lively calves. Lm are fine, just pick a bull with good docility figures - and spend time with your cattle in the field, makes all the difference.

bigtomm

oldsmokey wrote: »

I'd chance Simmental, Apz, good quality, and you'll end up with a good colour calf to sell. Charolais calves in my view would break your heart to 'get going' when born. But maybe if numbers are small you'd be prepared for that caper.Angus another option, fine lively calves. Lm are fine, just pick a bull with good docility figures - and spend time with your cattle in the field, makes all the difference.

advice taken and yes the last point makes alot of sense..cheers smokey:)

High bike

oldsmokey wrote: »

I'd chance Simmental, Apz, good quality, and you'll end up with a good colour calf to sell. Charolais calves in my view would break your heart to 'get going' when born. But maybe if numbers are small you'd be prepared for that caper.Angus another option, fine lively calves. Lm are fine, just pick a bull with good docility figures - and spend time with your cattle in the field, makes all the difference.

Can you get sexed semen from Apz ?

bigtomm

OFFTHREAD*
did anyone here, hear of the td from clare who was saying the deer were impregnating cattle?
beacause there was suspicious looking cattle with strange heads around!

NO joke....

this was on radio and paper a few years back....

back to thread....points im taking from all you guys...easier calfing...stay with cattle to make docile..
one thing i do is feed them nuts...i bring them in to the yard and stand around them...not eyeing them up or anything..just be around and turn on lyricfm and work away at something,woddcraft..etc...
Because loading them into trailors has been a nightmare at times with cattle jumping 6 foot gates!

oldsmokey

High bike wrote: »

Can you get sexed semen from Apz ?

Nope, is available for Auroch Deuter (SM) alright...

High bike

oldsmokey wrote: »

Nope, is available for Auroch Deuter (SM) alright...

Any feedback on him smokey