can I breed these two?

[6ncounting]

A 5yr old jersey cow to a charolais bull. I have seen lots of mixed responses online but for those who have they seem to feel that an experienced cow who has no difficulty calving it should be no prob. Thoughts?

[ksfarmer]

I wouldn't do it, but thats me. Do you have epd's for the bull which would give you an idea of calving weight? (as DaleK says in the next post,,, Charolais aren't known for calving ease.)

[DaleK]

Nope. You might get lucky if it's an easy-calving bull, but Charolais aren't good for calving ease at the best of times. I've had older Holstein cows that I bought that were already bred Charolais and they just about tore themselves up calving.

[6ncounting]

nope he is only a calf now I am planning his future, sounds like it is going to be beef.

[Cliff]

I agree with nope. You'd be putting your Jersey in danger, it's not worth the risk. Charolais would be just about the worst you could choose imo. They have big honkin calves.

[tyusclan]

Another vote no.

Calves are usually way too big.

[Karin L]

#6 vote NO. The Charolais bull is better off cut and fattened for your freezer.

If you want a beef calf out of your Jersey, go Angus, Hereford, or Limousin. Lots of calving ease bulls in those breeds.

[haypoint]

You can breed to Jersey and if you get a bull calf, casterate him, fatten and put him in the freezer. There isn't anything wrong with Jersey meat. Plus you have a 50-50 chance on getting an all Jersey heifer. A year old Jersey heifer should be worth more than a year old beed calf. Trade up.
There is no economical reason for a homestead to own a bull.

[6ncounting]

I asked the seller what weight the calf was at birth and he said that he was between 40 and 50 lbs. That is exceptionally small for this breed right?

[Judith]

Nope Char's are called "cow killers"for a reason. I love char's but the nickname is out there for a reason.

[SpaceCadet12364]

I vote for Scottish Highland. Small calves, you get the hybrid vigor with the cross. Of course, with a jersey, you would still get horns.

Check the Highland association webpage http://www.highlandcattleusa.org/ and see if there are any breeders in your area. You might be able to work something out to borrow or buy a bull, take the cow over for a visit, or something. And, since you probably arent concerned about registration, the local breeders may know of (or have themselves) where to find unregistered grade Highlands.

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by 6ncounting

I asked the seller what weight the calf was at birth and he said that he was between 40 and 50 lbs. That is exceptionally small for this breed right?

Have you ever witnessed the horror of pulling a big calf, and watched the calf and cow die as a result?
It's not worth the risk.
It almost sounds like you're trying to find a way to justify it in your mind.

[Ronney]

Forget it! Charolais can't calve their own calves most of the time without help and your wanting to put a Charolais bull to a Jersey. Jersey might be easy calvers but they're not that bloody easy - and Cliff is right. You watch a vet trying to get a large calf out of a cow and lose both, or even worse, having to cut a large, but alive calf up to get it out to save the cow. Emotionally and physically draining.

You've had more negative responses than you've had positive from people who have had the experience so do yourself and your cow a favour and either stick to same breed or go for something with a reknowned easy calving such as Angus.

I use Angus as a terminal sire over my Jersey cows and wouldn't even consider a Charolais. Nobody in their right mind would.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[Madsaw]

Find something else to breed the poor jersey too. Unless you wnat to put her in the freezer.
I can tell you from experince abotu jerseys and big calves. One of my old cows was huge for a jersey. She would hit a good 1300-1400 in the summer fat. The last calf she had took 2 hrs to get out. It was a holstein cross. I figured it was close to 100 lbs. In the process we cracked her pelvis. After that the calf was out in a just a few minutes. The bull calf died the next day. I lefted and worked with the old girl for 2 weeks before she could get up on her own. I losted her not a yr later. She just never was right after that.
It is not worth the risk. I even say that abotu bredding them to any of the other majior beef breeds. Be carefull and use the calving ease index.
Bob

[ksfarmer]

Originally Posted by 6ncounting

I asked the seller what weight the calf was at birth and he said that he was between 40 and 50 lbs. That is exceptionally small for this breed right?

I would seriously question whether this bull was that small when born. Unless he was a twin or there was some birth defect, he would weigh more like 90 to 120 lbs. Never heard of a 40-50 lb charlois. At any rate, it isn't so much what his weight was, as what the genetics he has will produce.

[Jackie]

I used to live on a cattle ranch. My my husband at the time was the one and only hired hand. He had no say in what went on, but had to pick up the pieces.

One year a neighbors red angus bull got away and bred one of the herford cows. The calf was pure red and the boss decided to keep him as a bull. The boss decided since that bull was 'small' he would use him as his heifer bull. No one knows what the birthweight was, but the bull was fairly small as an adult.

Well, we had to pull every single calf in the heifer corral and we usually lost about a third of the calves and at least 15% of the heifers. The boss didn't see this as a problem.

The bull was NOT big. Not at all. I couldn't even imagine the mess we would have if the cows had of been bred to a Charolais. Are jerseys not a lot smaller than herfords?

More than a few heifers died before they even gave much of a sign that they were in trouble. Just go out and they were dead. The heifers that were alive often took 3 guys pulling as hard as they could to get the calf out.

If you care about your cow you wont do it.

[Jackie]

Originally Posted by 6ncounting

I have seen lots of mixed responses online

Thank goodness there are no mixed responses here from some very experienced people. You should have no problem figuring out what the real answer is.

[farmergirl]

I would not.

[6ncounting]

Thank you all for your spirited responses. I opted not to buy the calf. Thanks again.

[francismilker]

I'm not sure I would do it either. But while talking to my vet one day about a jersey bred to a brangus his reply was, "well, it's going to be half jersey, which gives it a 50/50 chance of being small." As I understand it, jersey have the smallest calves of any conventional sized breed. I'd think that the dam would have some input into the size of the calf. Also, if the cow has had two or three calves on her own without being pulled she might lay down and have it without any problems. You just have to decide if it's worth the risk or not.