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  #21  
Old 10/31/12, 11:35 PM
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i may sometimes be more off than on center but i would put the Longhorn bull over the holstine cow, holstine having the large calf issue and longhorn cows being a smaller frame i would NOT want to pull a calf like that let alone out of a wild longhorn brush cow, lol,
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  #22  
Old 11/01/12, 03:53 AM
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Just now dawned on me..................Yes, I know I'm pretty slow to read and actually comprehend sometimes. I've actually seen some longhorn/hosteins before. Before our last dairy in the county was bought out a few years back, one of older dairyman that was milking mostly holsteins let his grandson talk him into using a longhorn bull over some holstein heifers for calving ease and to produce some roping steers for the grandson's hobby. The dairyman didn't care because he knew he was taking the buyout and he didn't need any replacement heifers. Out of the 50 or so that were bred, most of the calves cropped out looking EXACTLY like a red and white holstein when they hit the ground. I never seen any of them get to maturity of calving and milking though.
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  #23  
Old 11/01/12, 08:14 PM
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so it HAS happend at least once, and unless these were all shipped to some feedlot processor then they are out there some where lol,
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  #24  
Old 11/01/12, 08:16 PM
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I would be willing to bet that cross has happened plenty.
Those LH's dont have huge respect for fencing, in my experience.
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  #25  
Old 11/01/12, 08:45 PM
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that is true, i had a great uncle that used a Brahma bull for his ranch, a Longhorn got out from someone elses ranch and tore the brahma up, that years crop were all from the longhorn,

something i did read about and would like to try when i get set back up with some land is a herd of Corentine Cows on range with an Angus bull, then keeping the best heifers to breed back angus to get a good range minimal input cow herd that produced the beef for market
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  #26  
Old 11/04/12, 09:28 AM
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I've gotten a lot of crossbreds in my herd now. I milked until four years ago and they were mainly Holsteins, but I did have some half Jerseys and half Angus now and then.

Holsteins crossed with Angus generally look like black Holsteins with a lot of black on the udder and black all the way down the legs. They milk pretty well. Next generation bred to Angus, then they turn out still a bit rangy, but beefier, and you will get some that go to the Holstein look, and some that go to the Angus look. Keep going to Angus and they look like Angus.

The Jersey crosses with Angus are the same, but they are a smaller animal, finer boned, and they need at least another generation to get something that you would be happy to put in the freezer. I have a half (Red) Angus, 3/8 Jersey, 1/8 Holstein bull right now that I want to get rid of that I might as well put in the freezer as ground meat because he's not going to market for much of anything. His half brother, a cryptorchid bull from a half Angus, half Holstein cow, is a walking pile of meat.

I also have some Milking Shorthorn x Holstein cows and they look like oddly marked Holsteins. That bull was from a milking line. The one beef type Shorthorn I have (she has a picture somewhere in this forum, she's the one who doesn't milk) is a very big beefy looking cow. She calved a while ago to an Angus, and I'm growing out her bull this year to use for a year for breeding.

With the span of time required to grow out cows to breeding age, and the numbers you have to have to cull from, it's a lifetime's work from someone with a big herd to actually create a breed. The old breeds we have today were mainly created by groups of farmers in isolated areas that in effect had a large herd to draw bulls from. That's not to discourage someone from doing it if they want to do it, but you have to look at it with practical eyes. I do it for the fun of it, but I'm perfectly aware that any cow man looking at my place would roll his eyes.
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