Belgian Blue

Grueller

I run a blue bull with my sucklers and am a huge fan of them. I am starting to feel isolated and alone though. I see ICBF had a 14% drop on BB calf registrations last year.
I know all of the arguments against.
1. Hard calvings. I have a limousin bull too and this autumn my blue has been easier calved than that red headed madman.
2. Lazy. My lad puts 50 in calf every year no hassle.
3. Lack of longevity. I have had them last up to 8 years old. Not a bad return.
I sold weanlings last week. Top price for a U grade limo was €2.54/kg. I sold blues for up to €3.60/kg at similar weights.
Does anyone else here run one or what are your opinions on them? I think they are a fantastic beef breed and would hate to see them die out in the country but it looks to be heading that way this last few years.

TITANIUM.

Grueller wrote: »

I run a blue bull with my sucklers and am a huge fan of them. I am starting to feel isolated and alone though. I see ICBF had a 14% drop on BB calf registrations last year.
I know all of the arguments against.
1. Hard calvings. I have a limousin bull too and this autumn my blue has been easier calved than that red headed madman.
2. Lazy. My lad puts 50 in calf every year no hassle.
3. Lack of longevity. I have had them last up to 8 years old. Not a bad return.
I sold weanlings last week. Top price for a U grade limo was €2.54/kg. I sold blues for up to €3.60/kg at similar weights.
Does anyone else here run one or what are your opinions on them? I think they are a fantastic beef breed and would hate to see them die out in the country but it looks to be heading that way this last few years.

What type of cows does the blue bull run with Grueller? We've used them allot here and I'm a bit like you, a big fan of um. Most of the cows would have some bit of blue in um and cows that don't would be given blues. By AI as we don't run a bull here. All AI. they'll never die out don't worry. Get um right and there savage classy cattle. Fierce hard to sell a bad blue though.

Lady Haywire

They seem to be a trendy sort of breed. Some years they're everywhere & other years they're scarce on the ground. Had none here this year for the first time in the guts of 20yrs, but will have 5 next year all going well.
Thing is, you can always sell an bad CH or LM & get grand money but a bad blue is hard sold so you need to get your breeding right and the right cow is half the battle. What farmer will stand up & say his cow is the problem, tis 'them fcuks of blues' according to them :pac:

TooOldBoots

They are lovely cattle, but too soft for the west of Ireland. I have used the Sultan STQ on limousin and whitehead heifers in the past. He produced a small calf at birth but went on to develop into serious Weanlens. Shippers loved em, and were hitting close to €1000 average for the bulls in the autumn. Not bad for a first calfer.
Problem now with the Belgian Blue is they are not being shipped in numbers. They were primarily for the Italian market. Grassland farmers don't seem to fancy them for some reason.

jfh

Just out of interest, do you sell as weanlings, stores, finish? I'm not sure about them holding up on the feet in slats over the winter

Dunedin

jfh wrote: »

Just out of interest, do you sell as weanlings, stores, finish? I'm not sure about them holding up on the feet in slats over the winter

That’s my experience of them. Great cattle but soft on feet on slats unless you have mats

charolais0153

2.80 a kilo for that lad is why i don't have more blues. One of best blues i ever had and he didnt even break €3/kg. I think im in wrong part of country for them

TooOldBoots

charolais0153 wrote: »

2.80 a kilo for that lad is why i don't have more blues. One of best blues i ever had and he didnt even break €3/kg. I think im in wrong part of country for them

Super looking animal, and he brought the black color too. Built for the Boat which doesn't look like its going to sail anytime soon

Pidae.m

charolais0153 wrote: »

2.80 a kilo for that lad is why i don't have more blues. One of best blues i ever had and he didnt even break €3/kg. I think im in wrong part of country for them

Bbq? What a calf.

Angus2018

I've a couple of blue cows which have great calves but I had an AI Belgian Blue Bullock that would put me off them in the future. The Angus bullocks made the same amount once the bonus was added on.

jfh

I bought a few bbxfr heifers and crossed to an angus few years back, nice cross.
Depends on the system, if selling weanlings then the blues might be an option

charolais0153

Pidae.m wrote: »

Bbq? What a calf.

Ya

Grueller

Titanium, sorry about the slow reply. Was at a wedding yesterday and sure you know the rest.

First photo is a blue heifer off a lim x blue cow. Photo does nothing for her. She is possibly my best ever heifer even if she could do with a little more length.

2nd photo is a pair of blues off a pair of limo cows. The two dams are actually twins.

3rd photo is a 3/4 bred limo mother and a blue bull calf.

Mac Taylor

Nice stock, are they AI bred, what were they like for calving. One thing that puts me off blues is the calving

Grueller

Mac Taylor wrote: »

Nice stock, are they AI bred, what were they like for calving. One thing that puts me off blues is the calving

After my stock bull all of them. He is bred by adajio du bray. He is easy calved. Calves come small and are unrecognisable at 6 weeks.
They are not the best of them. I off loaded the best of them in 3 batches in late July, mid august and 10 days ago.

tanko

What % of your bulls are exported every year?
Is there an export market for BB heifers?

Grueller

tanko wrote: »

What % of your bulls are exported every year?
Is there an export market for BB heifers?

I would say 80% average tanko. There is an export for heifers bug at a lower price per kg and they must be special.

RobinBanks

I used to do very well with blues but sadly over in the west there are not many exporters about. Last year I got €3/kg for my heifers but it was hard work to get a buyer, eventually the Dolan's in Donegal came and bought them. Sold the bulls in the mart for avg. €2.50 and was sickened because they were great animals.

Charolais is king in this part of the world so I will have to consider changing over to them so that I can just go to the mart and sell. I have had blues for 20 odd years I'd say but will have none next spring. All limousin and parthenaise next year.

RobinBanks

charolais0153 wrote: »

2.80 a kilo for that lad is why i don't have more blues. One of best blues i ever had and he didnt even break €3/kg. I think im in wrong part of country for them

You wouldn't be that far from Tuam are ya? I see they have an annual blue sale but I don't know much about it. Would go myself but it would be the guts of 2hrs drive

charolais0153

RobinBanks wrote: »

You wouldn't be that far from Tuam are ya? I see they have an annual blue sale but I don't know much about it. Would go myself but it would be the guts of 2hrs drive

They had a sale a week or teo ago for blues...very bad

charolais0153

RobinBanks wrote: »

I used to do very well with blues but sadly over in the west there are not many exporters about. Last year I got €3/kg for my heifers but it was hard work to get a buyer, eventually the Dolan's in Donegal came and bought them. Sold the bulls in the mart for avg. €2.50 and was sickened because they were great animals.

Charolais is king in this part of the world so I will have to consider changing over to them so that I can just go to the mart and sell. I have had blues for 20 odd years I'd say but will have none next spring. All limousin and parthenaise next year.

I dont see much dufference between Parthaneise and belgian imho, unless your going for heifers. Theyre was fine part heifers in mart yesterday for shocking prices

patsy_mccabe

'Legwax' that used to post on here, always brought his blues to Carnew Mart. If you had enough of them, would it be worth the spin?

Grueller

charolais0153 wrote: »

I dont see much dufference between Parthaneise and belgian imho, unless your going for heifers. Theyre was fine part heifers in mart yesterday for shocking prices

Down south east here and parthenaise would be always €150 - €200 behind an equivalent blue. They are a massively undervalued breed in this area imo.

RobinBanks

charolais0153 wrote: »

I dont see much dufference between Parthaneise and belgian imho, unless your going for heifers. Theyre was fine part heifers in mart yesterday for shocking prices

I won't be using parthenaise again either. Have 6 coming next spring but that's the last of them on my farm.

charolais0153

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

'Legwax' that used to post on here, always brought his blues to Carnew Mart. If you had enough of them, would it be worth the spin?

260km from me... Be a long spin

Lady Haywire

charolais0153 wrote: »

260km from me... Be a long spin

Elphin/Roscommon Mart's an option? Both are pretty good for blues.

patsy_mccabe

charolais0153 wrote: »

260km from me... Be a long spin

It's the same cost for an exporter - when you look at it that way.

charolais0153

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Elphin/Roscommon Mart's an option? Both are pretty good for blues.

80~90km.
This from elphin....Weanling
We had 33% clearance of Male Weanlings with prices back and farmers not willing to sell. Male Weanlings <300 kg with a price of €350 for 265 kg Belgian Blue Male. Weanlings 300-400 kg the average price achieved was €650 with a maximum price of €700 for 370 kg Charolais Male Weanlings.

We had 50% clearance of Female Weanlings with prices easier. Female Weanlings 400-500 kg the average price achieved was €1,250 for a 5 star Limousin Heifer A Charolais Female Weanling weighing 620kg made €1,350.

bogman_bass

RobinBanks wrote: »

I won't be using parthenaise again either. Have 6 coming next spring but that's the last of them on my farm.

I’m the opposite. I’ll be using more of them but i’m finishing the majority of them so can’t comment on how they perform in the mart as weanlings.

TITANIUM.

Hedge your bets lads and go for as charolais outta a blue.

TITANIUM.

Hedge your bets lads and go for as charolais outta a blue.

Grueller

Super calf.
Many on here said in the past that the mousey colour costs money. Not around here though.

TITANIUM.

Grueller wrote: »

Super calf.
Many on here said in the past that the mousey colour costs money. Not around here though.

Ya the colour will come against her alright. She's really wide for a heifer. And a genotyped 5 star if any man was brave enough to put her in calf. What part of the Country are you operating in Grueller?

tanko

Savage calf, whats her breeding?

Unfortunately colour does matter a lot around here.

charolais0153

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Hedge your bets lads and go for as charolais outta a blue.

What age....fantastic heifer..fiston i suppose

RobinBanks

bogman_bass wrote: »

I’m the opposite. I’ll be using more of them but i’m finishing the majority of them so can’t comment on how they perform in the mart as weanlings.

Lad down the road killed a few of them. Said they weighed like lead. Great killout

charolais0153

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Hedge your bets lads and go for as charolais outta a blue.

She'd do well at fatstock in carrick I'd say

Mac Taylor

Ch is the number one around here, yellow sells better than pure while, so a lm x ch works well, I think though that the ch bull is not really the bull for a p/t farmer..

What about blonde? Suppose to cross very well with lm and ch cows?

Grueller

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Ya the colour will come against her alright. She's really wide for a heifer. And a genotyped 5 star if any man was brave enough to put her in calf. What part of the Country are you operating in Grueller?

North Wexford/South Wicklow

TITANIUM.

She'll be 12months mid October. Yep a Fiston out of an EDJ cow. Quite as a lamb aswell.

patsy_mccabe

TITANIUM. wrote: »

She'll be 12months mid October. Yep a Fiston out of an EDJ cow. Quite as a lamb aswell.

Fiston isn't hard calving.

TITANIUM.

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Fiston isn't hard calving.

He's not Very handy calved. They don't come out looking like that. Same animal as suck.

TITANIUM.

Try again

TITANIUM.

Try again

Cavanjack

Fattened our share of them here over the years. Serious as Bulls to put on weight and they achieve excellent kill outs. On the downside I find they can have more health related problems than other breeds. Sore feet, eyes and find if they are bought straight from the cow they can be soft and more susceptible to pneumonia.
I find a lot of the good BB weanlings sold in the marts are pumped with meal and when they settle onto their winter regime here they just melt. You'd probably want to keep the meal to them.
They are also a good cross with a friesian cow better tgan a Charolais imo and they can be bought at right money as stores.
Saying all that I like them and have no problem buying them.

Never wrestle with pigs

Mac Taylor wrote: »

Ch is the number one around here, yellow sells better than pure while, so a lm x ch works well, I think though that the ch bull is not really the bull for a p/t farmer..

What about blonde? Suppose to cross very well with lm and ch cows?

Had a few blonde bulls here over the years and can't fault them. Easy calved and the hardest little calves you'll ever see. Come out like little farts and are nearly looking for the spins before they hit the ground. I've had them up and suckling in under 5 minutes, really unreal get up and go in them. Good for heifers too as they have really fine bone and no muscle when born and transform 4/5 weeks later. I've the wrong cows for them (SIM). Go all British breeding for muscle and style and French breeding for keeping females and slightly less style. They make super cows too. If you get the right type of long heifer out of a lim they are super cows. Big frame with style and milk and plenty of options for any breed of bull clicks with them.

Hard Knocks

Never wrestle with pigs wrote: »

Had a few blonde bulls here over the years and can't fault them. Easy calved and the hardest little calves you'll ever see. Come out like little farts and are nearly looking for the spins before they hit the ground. I've had them up and suckling in under 5 minutes, really unreal get up and go in them. Good for heifers too as they have really fine bone and no muscle when born and transform 4/5 weeks later. I've the wrong cows for them (SIM). Go all British breeding for muscle and style and French breeding for keeping females and slightly less style. They make super cows too. If you get the right type of long heifer out of a lim they are super cows. Big frame with style and milk and plenty of options for any breed of bull clicks with them.

Would the British type crossed with BF give the ideal suckler cow?

charolais0153

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Try again

Some turnaround. A miserable looking calf in all honesty

anthony500_1

Never wrestle with pigs wrote:

Had a few blonde bulls here over the years and can't fault them. Easy calved and the hardest little calves you'll ever see. Come out like little farts and are nearly looking for the spins before they hit the ground. I've had them up and suckling in under 5 minutes, really unreal get up and go in them. Good for heifers too as they have really fine bone and no muscle when born and transform 4/5 weeks later. I've the wrong cows for them (SIM). Go all British breeding for muscle and style and French breeding for keeping females and slightly less style. They make super cows too. If you get the right type of long heifer out of a lim they are super cows. Big frame with style and milk and plenty of options for any breed of bull clicks with them.

Out of interest what bulls do you run with the simmentals, and are you breeding for beef or replacement market???

charolais0153

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Would the British type crossed with BF give the ideal suckler cow?

Ideal suckler cow imo is never going to have 50% friesian in it

Never wrestle with pigs

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Would the British type crossed with BF give the ideal suckler cow?

Yes, man down the road has bf cows and a handful of sucklers too. Blonde out of his bf is most of his sucklers. Right good cows and All u grading calve out of them no problem. Gets some black calves in the next generation too but he kills everything himself so this doesn't matter to him.