Jersey/Simmental cross heifers? Nice cross?

[savinggrace]

Hi,

I saw an ad for three reasonably priced Jersey/Simmental cross heifers, between 12 months and 15 months old.

What do you think of such a cross? What would you suggest they be bred to-considering they will be first time calving- A jersey? And how old or what weight would you wait to breed them?

Thanks

[tyusclan]

The 15 month old heifers are ready to breed. If you want beefier calves and no horns, breed them to an Angus. If you want more of a dairy type, breed them to a Jersey.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by savinggrace

Hi,

I saw an ad for three reasonably priced Jersey/Simmental cross heifers, between 12 months and 15 months old.

What do you think of such a cross? What would you suggest they be bred to-considering they will be first time calving- A jersey? And how old or what weight would you wait to breed them?

Thanks

Sounds to me like their father was a very,very, bad boy who jumped a fence and bred some heifers.
What do you think of such a cross? I think poorly of it. Too much beef to make a good dairy cow and too much Jersey to make a good beef cow.

I think you would be better served to decide if you want a dairy cow or a beef cow, and then take the purchase price of these three and buy two good animals that you want.

[Ronney]

No, not a good cross and about the only breed I would consider crossing a Jersey with is an Angus if I want beef and a Friesian if I want a bloody good produceing cow - and the first cross Friesian/Jersey usually make excellent producers.

I'm assuming your wanting animals for beef? in which case buy something that is a straight breed. I've crossed Jerseys with a Simmental/Friesian/Hereford bull and the results were not outstanding. However, it was a means to an end as I want the milk to feed the pigs and the calves are a bonus but if I was into rearing solely for beef they would be a no-no.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[tyusclan]

OK guys, I'm not trying to be argumentative here, cause I respect both of your opinions very much. I just want to try to understand your thinking a little better. I've had no experience with Simmental/Jersey crosses, so I'm coming at it from that standpoint to begin with. I have, however, had experience with Simmental and just about anything else you can name, Angus, Brahma, Charolais, Limousin, etc., and Simmental's been a good cross on just about anything I've seen. I also have had Jersey/Angus crosses which make an excellent beef calf, and I know of at least one cow that I posted about in another post that produces enough to have stayed in a commercial herd for several years now. Now, my point is, if the Jersey/Angus is beefy enough to be good beef, and at least occasionally, is dairy enough to produce a good milk cow, why can't the Jersey/Simmental do the same thing? I personally would want to look at each heifer and evaluate each one based on what I want to do with her. I wouldn't dismiss them just based on what the cross is. Also, if they're ranging in age from 12 to 15 months, it doesn't sound like a fence jumper. It sounds more like planned breedings to me.

[Up North]

Fair questions Tyusclan, but I cannot for the life of me see someone deliberately breeding a Jersey to Simmental, because of the large calves Simmental produces. And if you had a pure Simmental, why would you breed it to a Jersey?
I just think with 3 of these cross heifers, sooner or later a big huge calf(throwback to Sim genetics) is going to try to come out of a smaller framed heifer or cow, and make for an extremely difficult calving. I'm not real big on buying beef crosses for a milk cow anyways. I just think Melissa could do much better and have less risk buying a straight breed that suits her intended purpose.

[Ronney]

Ty, not argumentative at all

The calving problems that Up North mentions are one very good reason to steer away from this type of cross. The Charolais, Simmental and Limousin are all huge calvers and have problems within their own breed. Although the Jersey is reknowned as a easy calver, it can struggle with the European beef breeds.

My two pure bred Jerseys produced large calves to my Simmental cross but then they proceeded to do - Nothing! They are now 2 years old and about to be worksed and although they are healthy looking, they have no size at all and spent most of thier lives looking scruffy and untidy. These same two cows have also produced calves from an Angus bull - a completely different kettle of fish - small calves but grew well and finished well and looked good from go to woe.

Just my observations but they were enough that when the time came to replace my bull, I bought an Angus.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[savinggrace]

Thank you, all fair opinions and I appreciate the suggestions!

I believe I will pass on them. I suppose I want a milk cow, but aside from that (and seperately) I would like a thrifty, easy calving beef breed or cross. Polled Herefords seem to be quite popular around here, and there are also quite a few black cows around! So obviously both do well enough in this area. Eventually I would love some nice Wagyu stock.

Thanks again!

[Up North]

Not to on this thread, but when I look at a question, I try to look at whole scenario and person's background as well. Savinggrace is an excellent caregiver of animals as evidenced by the success of her poultry and hog projects. So she will probably (undoubtedly) give a cow similar TLC. If she is going to put such effort into raising animals, she will be paid back better if she has some good purebred stock to sell when the growth of her cow numbers gets to where there is a need to sell retail excess stock. She is near enough to WI to sell purebred dairy stock readily at good prices.

[savinggrace]

Thank you Up North

What a great complement, particularly coming from you!