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Cow Choice

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FunnyFarm14
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1:52p, 1/12/25
AG
Probably beating a topic to death..... but - if a guy could buy some cows, which breed would you select and why? Hobby farm best describes it. 10 head. Enough to be a headache, no where near enough to be profitable, and really just maintaining ag exemption. Calves would be sold / butchered.

Crossing with a Hereford bull.

I'm leaning towards some Baldy or Brangus to start with.

Open to options. Temperament and easy calving is bigger drivers than color in my book. We've got good fences.
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SunrayAg
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1:58p, 1/12/25
AG
We used to have a mixed herd with black, white, and red cows. We would take a load of bull calves and heifers to the sale barn, and the black ones would sell for more than white or red every single time.

So we gradually went to all black limousine.
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84AGEC
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2:03p, 1/12/25
AG
Angus.
Where are you located
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samsal75
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2:11p, 1/12/25
AG
Beefmaster
Gentle, hearty and smallish calves that favors birth but calves put weight on quick.
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Mas89
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3:20p, 1/12/25
AG

I like a variety of Angus plus with some F1s mixed in. Variety in the calf crop is interesting to see.
Trying a new Brangus x Charloais bull this year along with the regular Charloais.

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B-1 83
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3:25p, 1/12/25
AG
Some sort of F1 hybrid cows with that Hereford bull. Three way terminal cross calves have the maximum hybrid vigor.*

*Than you, Dr Frank Litterst
Being in TexAgs jail changes a man……..no, not really
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BQ_90
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3:47p, 1/12/25
AG
I'd buy thin open cows that would gain weight, cycle and breed with ample free grass. Then when you run outta grass sell them all. Rinse and repeat. Winter cows is the biggest expense you;l have so don't do it. In really bad years just have the bull when drought slows down grass production
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The Reg
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3:47p, 1/12/25
AG
As mentioned, black calves will bring more at the sale barn.

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BurnetAggie99
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4:15p, 1/12/25
Santa Gertrudis(Gerts) cows and use a Mainetainer Bull.

https://www.beefcentral.com/sponsored/santa-gertrudis-hitting-the-specs-for-adaptability-sustainability-and-market-flexibility/
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FunnyFarm14
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In reply to B-1 83 • 4:16p, 1/12/25
AG
Should have mentioned between College Station & Madisonville.
Black will sell better, but not that much better over quality cows. I love red angus & charlais crosses too.

Maybe a super baldy.

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Doctor51
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4:17p, 1/12/25
AG
Red angus all day long. Handle the heat incredibly well and can make incredible beef. They are called the maternal breed with phenomenal cows.
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DVM97
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4:29p, 1/12/25
AG
Brangus is a solid choice on a Hereford bull, as a veterinarian who practiced mixed animal early in my career, I always found Brangus to have reasonable temperament and easy calving when crossed with a Hereford bull.

I'm also a fan of Beefmasters.

DVM
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2040huck
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5:23p, 1/12/25
I am a fan of brangus cows with a hereford bull Easy calving and black baldies sell well We had beefmaster. Too much brahma for me
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Spore Ag
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5:55p, 1/12/25
We have 2 herds one black brangus with angus bull. Great temperament no problems and good sell value Second herd trying black brangus with charolais bull. Smokie calves grow big fast again with good sell value. Temperament at least is not as good as the brangus.
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fullback44
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6:02p, 1/12/25
AG
If you want some tame easy to mange cows and your not worried about performance get some angus or Herefords…. They are like pets, especially if you feed them cubes. If your worried about crazy wild breeds stay away from some of the Brahman type cross breeds, we had these cross bread cattle and we had some Craxy wild cattle growing up as a kid. There are probably a few other tame breeds.
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ranchag04
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6:11p, 1/12/25
AG
You can find gentle Brahman cattle. If you are putting a Hereford bull on them not much better $$ than tiger stripe heifers. You could also do Brangus. I have a herd of Brangus and a herd of Brahman with Hereford bulls.

Also have a herd of Brangus with Charolais bulls.
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96ags
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6:15p, 1/12/25
AG
With that Hereford bull, I'd agree with the folks saying Brangus cows. You'll get mostly black baldies which are super popular right now.

I'd just advice you have a short leash with any silly acting cows. Brangus are generally really docile, but one bad apple can cause a rodeo!
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CrossTimbersW
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6:25p, 1/12/25
AG
I really only came here to say, username checks out...

I run black commercial cows with registered brangus bulls. I like the mott faced ones with a little ear so that's what I've mostly got my herds looking like. One down side is that the wife and my little girl sure don't like when we have them pretty mott/bald faced bull calves instead of heifers. Below is a little example of the 3 most recent calves that are all <1 week old bulls. My five year old girl already knows that means we're not going to keep them and she can't name them.

Get what you want to look at. At least when they piss you off you'll be able to look at them the next day and still like them. Obviously there's more to it than that but you get my point.
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GottaRide
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7:00p, 1/12/25
S
For your situation you want easy keepers. Hear me out on this- corriente cows (try to get solid colored) and get rid of your bull. Corriente cows can thrive on very little. Bulls eat a lot and are trouble in so many ways. For a small situation like yours, get them AI'd with charolais semen. You will get a damned good looking calf that will have huge gains and will be polled. There are plenty of places that AI and it is much less expensive than keeping a bull.

Edit to add- cows are expensive right now. With Corrientes, that first calf will pay for the cow.
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Ag97
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In reply to CrossTimbersW • 7:02p, 1/12/25
AG
I just started my hobby herd 4 years ago. I've been running a black angus bull with my angus cows. Been working well but I've been thinking I might want to swap my bull out for something else to add a little color to my herd. To get get a black baldy I would just need to run a Hereford bull correct?

I've always liked the red angus my dad used to run and have thought about getting a bull that might throw some red calves. Will running a red angus bull with my black angus cows throw red calves on occasion?
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96ags
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In reply to Ag97 • 7:04p, 1/12/25
AG
Ag97 said:
I just started my hobby herd 4 years ago. I've been running a black angus bull with my angus cows. Been working well but I've been thinking I might want to swap my bull out for something else to add a little color to my herd. To get get a black baldy I would just need to run a Hereford bull correct?

I've always liked the red angus my dad used to run and have thought about getting a bull that might throw some red calves. Will running a red angus bull with my black angus cows throw red calves on occasion?


Yes, Hereford will throw black baldy/black mods.

A Red Bull will throw some red calves, but black is the dominate color so it will probably be 3-1 black
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Bonfire97
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7:44p, 1/12/25
AG
Get you some brangus heifers and run them on the Hereford bull for some black baldy calves as others have stated. If you go with heifers, don't breed them until they are 2 years old and you will have minimal to no calving problems

Also, this is just a personal opinion, but I wouldn't pay for registered cattle. You can find some "close enough" brangus heifers (3/8 Brahman, 5/8 angus) at the auction barn. If you spend money on quality/registered, spend it on the bull. That's half your genetics. I would not go angus. The brahma influence in brangus makes for more robust, heat tolerant cattle, IMO.
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HTownAg98
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In reply to FunnyFarm14 • 7:46p, 1/12/25
FunnyFarm14 said:
Probably beating a topic to death..... but - if a guy could buy some cows, which breed would you select and why? Hobby farm best describes it. 10 head. Enough to be a headache, no where near enough to be profitable, and really just maintaining ag exemption. Calves would be sold / butchered.

Crossing with a Hereford bull.

I'm leaning towards some Baldy or Brangus to start with.

Open to options. Temperament and easy calving is bigger drivers than color in my book. We've got good fences.

With 10 head, I would not try to mess with cows. I would look into growing out weaned heifers, and when they're ready to breed, selling them in a replacement female sale. If you want, you can feed them some depending on your grass situation to make them less crazy and get them used to coming to feed. The key is to get a set that is fairly uniform. You aren't going to get rich doing this, but it will pay for your expenses with minimal headaches. And you don't have to mess with keeping a bull around.
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B-1 83
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In reply to DVM97 • 7:58p, 1/12/25
AG
DVM97 said:
Brangus is a solid choice on a Hereford bull, as a veterinarian who practiced mixed animal early in my career, I always found Brangus to have reasonable temperament and easy calving when crossed with a Hereford bull.

I'm also a fan of Beefmasters.

DVM
Max hybrid vigor likely there……..
Being in TexAgs jail changes a man……..no, not really
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BlueSmoke
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8:10p, 1/12/25
No mention of Corriente cattle? Super hardy. Minimal inputs in terms of feed. Good temperament. We've been running g them for years now for the local rodeo circuit.
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Shoefly!
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In reply to GottaRide • 8:42p, 1/12/25
AG
GottaRide said:
For your situation you want easy keepers. Hear me out on this- corriente cows (try to get solid colored) and get rid of your bull. Corriente cows can thrive on very little. Bulls eat a lot and are trouble in so many ways. For a small situation like yours, get them AI'd with charolais semen. You will get a damned good looking calf that will have huge gains and will be polled. There are plenty of places that AI and it is much less expensive than keeping a bull.

Edit to add- cows are expensive right now. With Corrientes, that first calf will pay for the cow.

Wow, nice to know!
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BlueSmoke
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In reply to GottaRide • 9:14p, 1/12/25
GottaRide said:
For your situation you want easy keepers. Hear me out on this- corriente cows (try to get solid colored) and get rid of your bull. Corriente cows can thrive on very little. Bulls eat a lot and are trouble in so many ways. For a small situation like yours, get them AI'd with charolais semen. You will get a damned good looking calf that will have huge gains and will be polled. There are plenty of places that AI and it is much less expensive than keeping a bull.

Edit to add- cows are expensive right now. With Corrientes, that first calf will pay for the cow.


Nevermind. Didn't see this bit seconded. We've run them for years and they are great.
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WaldoWings
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9:18p, 1/12/25
I took over the pasture this year when my dad sold his cows. I got santa gertrudis just because I like how they look and they are red when both neighbors have black. Will make it easy to spot any foreigners when the creek gets low and calves can get through the water gaps.
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hammerhead
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9:35p, 1/12/25
Simmental genetics or get left behind.

We run purebred Simbrah and 3/4 Simbrah cows with Simmental and Simbrah bulls. Resulting calves are polled and solid black or red with an occasional white face. Minimal sheath and leather while maintaining the advantages of Brahman influence in central Texas.

Great momma cows with calving ease, docility and great growth.
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Courtesy Flush
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10:11p, 1/12/25
AG
Get a set of young Gerts. Those red mottly faced calves sell and if you ever wanted to market to show calves they make a really nice calf for a kid's FFA project.
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cavjock88
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In reply to B-1 83 • 10:20p, 1/12/25
AG
B-1 83 said:
Some sort of F1 hybrid cows with that Hereford bull. Three way terminal cross calves have the maximum hybrid vigor.*

*Than you, Dr Frank Litterst


EOT with that Hereford bull. Mr. Frank was one of the best. Taught Beef Cattle Production at A&M for years. One of the most memorable and educating visits of my life on the beef industry was spending an evening in his house talking cattle with him and Dr. Joe Paschal.
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Pasquale Liucci
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In reply to hammerhead • 10:22p, 1/12/25
AG
hammerhead said:
Simmental genetics or get left behind.

We run purebred Simbrah and 3/4 Simbrah cows with Simmental and Simbrah bulls. Resulting calves are polled and solid black or red with an occasional white face. Minimal sheath and leather while maintaining the advantages of Brahman influence in central Texas.

Great momma cows with calving ease, docility and great growth.


Was gonna ask about Simmental. My dad had no formal education in herd management but was the son of sharecroppers and ran what would be the definition of a subsistence herd. Always ran Simmental crossed with Angus. Lots of fond memories of penning beautiful white faced calves and asking him why they had white faces when the moms were black/red and him imploring to me in his north Texas redneck manner the value of Simmental genes
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GSS
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In reply to Courtesy Flush • 10:24p, 1/12/25
Courtesy Flush said:
Get a set of young Gerts. Those red mottly faced calves sell and if you ever wanted to market to show calves they make a really nice calf for a kid's FFA project.


We have two Gert bulls on our (mostly) Hereford herd...
NRA Life
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Courtesy Flush
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In reply to GSS • 10:27p, 1/12/25
AG
Here's some of my Gert - Hereford cross calves
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jja79
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10:54p, 1/12/25
AG
He's getting 10 head. Buy 10 bred cows, calve them. Buy 1, sell 2.
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