simental cattle out of british friesian cows

primary 2

i am just wondering whats peoples opinions and exsperiences of semental cattle out of british friesian,i know they grow big and can take well over 30 months to finish but do they do well and do they grade well? just looking for some feed back.even though i notice these cattle seem to be gone scarace in the marts

I said

primary 2 wrote: »

i am just wondering whats peoples opinions and exsperiences of semental cattle out of british friesian,i know they grow big and can take well over 30 months to finish but do they do well and do they grade well? just looking for some feed back.even though i notice these cattle seem to be gone scarace in the marts

You answered your own question "take well over 30 months to finish".
No good for qa.

Irish Beef

I think a lot of them are really only friesian cattle with a simmental head on them,

blue5000

primary 2 wrote: »

i am just wondering whats peoples opinions and exsperiences of semental cattle out of british friesian,i know they grow big and can take well over 30 months to finish but do they do well and do they grade well? just looking for some feed back.even though i notice these cattle seem to be gone scarace in the marts

My opinion?
If you are finishing cattle leave one in every pen, they clean up all the crap in the bottom of the trough that other cattle won't eat. They are the hungriest breed of cattle ever. Some cattle eat 6 kg of DM to put on 1 kg of LW, I reckon sims eat about 10-12 kg to put on 1 kg of LW.

rangler1

Irish Beef wrote: »

I think a lot of them are really only friesian cattle with a simmental head on them,

If they're out of real british friesian, they're a nice animal, i used to have them here as sucklers, they were far too big.....750 to 850kgs when mature, i used to do weighings here for teagasc trials

_Brian

I agree on the size, I helped a fella test a herd one day and I felt like a dwarf beside some of his cows, very hard on land when it's soft.
But as sucklers running with a Ch bull they produced nice calves and fed them very well.

primary 2

some lads near me love these cattle and then others wouldnt touch them,they really seem to divide opinion

primary 2

blue5000 wrote: »

My opinion?
If you are finishing cattle leave one in every pen, they clean up all the crap in the bottom of the trough that other cattle won't eat. They are the hungriest breed of cattle ever. Some cattle eat 6 kg of DM to put on 1 kg of LW, I reckon sims eat about 10-12 kg to put on 1 kg of LW.

have you fattened many of them through the years and how did you find them to grade?

primary 2

rangler1 wrote: »

If they're out of real british friesian, they're a nice animal, i used to have them here as sucklers, they were far too big.....750 to 850kgs when mature, i used to do weighings here for teagasc trials

what would be your views on fattening them? they were very common years ago,i suppose they would run into big weights when they are finished? only ever had a few here through the years and am thinking of buying a few to see what they are like

whelan2

Do many dairy farmers use simmental bulls?

primary 2

whelan2 wrote: »

Do many dairy farmers use simmental bulls?

i remember when i was younger nearly every second dairy farmer near me had a simental bull,but they used to all fatten their cattle then,but alot of neighbours near me that are into sucklers are do be always looking for simental heifers out of british friesian cows,but they are finding it harder every year to get them,they all say they make great sucklers

whelan2

I have to laugh at the mart lads saying calves are out of br/fr, razor back calves not a hope in hell there's any br/fr in their breeding.

Mooooo

Used a few fleickveih, dairy simmental, straws this year, think I'll have 6 calving to them. We used to have simmental stock bulls about 20 years ago on dairy cows, that was the last I remember

primary 2

Mooooo wrote: »

Used a few fleickveih, dairy simmental, straws this year, think I'll have 6 calving to them. We used to have simmental stock bulls about 20 years ago on dairy cows, that was the last I remember

why did you go give them a try again this year? and how did you find them years ago when you had them?

Farrell

primary 2 wrote: »

i remember when i was younger nearly every second dairy farmer near me had a simental bull,but they used to all fatten their cattle then,but alot of neighbours near me that are into sucklers are do be always looking for simental heifers out of british friesian cows,but they are finding it harder every year to get them,they all say they make great sucklers

Blonde cross BF would be a good cross for breeding & feeding

primary 2

Farrell wrote: »

Blonde cross BF would be a good cross for breeding & feeding

would many dairy farmers try this cross?

Farrell

primary 2 wrote: »

would many dairy farmers try this cross?

Sadly not.

Mooooo

primary 2 wrote: »

Mooooo wrote: »

Used a few fleickveih, dairy simmental, straws this year, think I'll have 6 calving to them. We used to have simmental stock bulls about 20 years ago on dairy cows, that was the last I remember

why did you go give them a try again this year? and how did you find them years ago when you had them?

Yera only a little trial, used them on cows that were likely to get a beef bull anyway and see if they would turn out adding much strength. If there is a few heifers I may keep em on and see how they turn out dairy wise depending on number of fr calves and if no good I could sell em on as they should have some beef value
I was only a young lad when the bulls were there. I'd say limited by quota dad was trying to get a bit extra for calves, they were popular at the time iirc.

Mooooo

primary 2 wrote: »

Farrell wrote: »

Blonde cross BF would be a good cross for breeding & feeding

would many dairy farmers try this cross?

Gestation length and calving ease are the main issues nowadays for dairy herds. I'll likely stick with he, aa and blues here anyway

whelan2

Mooooo wrote: »

Gestation length and calving ease are the main issues nowadays for dairy herds. I'll likely stick with he, aa and blues here anyway

Was talking to a farmer yesterday he got rid of his hereford bull as some of the cows were carrying up to 3 weeks over their due date

blue5000

primary 2 wrote: »

have you fattened many of them through the years and how did you find them to grade?

I can remember one in the early 90's I think he was a U. Sire might have been SPO

limo_100

A fella beside us used to milk a Simmental heifer that was of a bf cow I think the bull she was off was a beef bull called star hugo I'v had to listen to the story a few times. He used to tie her in the byre with the freisen as milking he said she was a savage milker with very huge solids butterfat and protein and he used to put her in calf to Charolais and get the big prices for calves

patsy_mccabe

The Fleckvieh cows I saw at the ploughing this year were very beefy looking.

Mooooo

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

The Fleckvieh cows I saw at the ploughing this year were very beefy looking.

Were they purebred or crossbred patsy?

patsy_mccabe

Mooooo wrote: »

Were they purebred or crossbred patsy?

Purebred. Fine looking animals, easily R grade types. Wouldn't be at all crazy to cross them with very beefy type suckler cows, with no milk.

Mooooo

I'll post how the calves land in the spring off dairy cows anyway. If I keep the heifers for milking will the neighbours be wondering what am I at turning a suckler in to the parlour ha

Lady Haywire

We used to milk a few of them, have three sucklers directly relating back to them too, never any issue with milk in them, despite them being two generations down at this stage.