Beefmaster ???

pointer_hunter · #1 05/26/04, 09:11 PM

Anyone here know much about the beefmaster breed? I have a 3/4 beefmaster 1/4 hereford cross cow that is due in a week or so. I know that they are primarily bred for beef, but one of their selling points is the milking ability. Would that be just the milking ability to develop a calf or can they actually be milked? Also, I have the chance to breed her back to a beefmaster bull or a simmital (sp?) bull. Neither have papers, so I don't think I'm concerned with 100% beefmaster if the sim would give me a better calf. Anyone have any ideas? I have had lots of animals before, but this is the first cow. (and the last according to the wife!)

james dilley · #2 05/26/04, 10:08 PM

When they talk about milk on a beef cow ,they mean the quanity and quality to raise a calf. and a beefmaster would be a better choice to breed back to as i see it more beef at a earleir age .

pointer_hunter · #3 05/26/04, 10:19 PM

Thanks, that's kind of what I thought, but it doesn't hurt to make sure! The calf this year is going to be a suprise. Someone left the fencer off and all the bulls got in with the cows! :no:
We have it narrowed down:
Black - Angus bull
Curly - Sim. bull
Anything else - Beefmaster bull

Haggis · #4 05/27/04, 07:35 AM

Many years ago my brother lived as a sharecropper on a farm in Bourbon County, Kentucky. He had a couple of Jersey's of his own that he milked, and one day when he called his cows in an Angus cow came with them. She had been brought to the farm the day before by the owner of the farm. Anyway, after he had milked his Jersey's this Angus cow walked right up to the stachion just like his Jerseys had done. This old Angus cow had been broke to milk!!! The farm owner had picked her up at auction and knew nothing about her. Before long the locals were talking about how my brother was milking a Buffalo, and he did milk the old Angus until she dried up. After she had her calf she started coming to the barn again; morning and evening.

Point is, anything from Camel to Horse can be broke to milk. They may not give a lot of milk, but milk what you have and let the rest of the world argue about it.

Haggis @ Wolf Cairn Moor

NRS Farm · #5 06/01/04, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haggis

Many years ago my brother lived as a sharecropper on a farm in Bourbon County, Kentucky. He had a couple of Jersey's of his own that he milked, and one day when he called his cows in an Angus cow came with them. She had been brought to the farm the day before by the owner of the farm. Anyway, after he had milked his Jersey's this Angus cow walked right up to the stachion just like his Jerseys had done. This old Angus cow had been broke to milk!!! The farm owner had picked her up at auction and knew nothing about her. Before long the locals were talking about how my brother was milking a Buffalo, and he did milk the old Angus until she dried up. After she had her calf she started coming to the barn again; morning and evening.

Point is, anything from Camel to Horse can be broke to milk. They may not give a lot of milk, but milk what you have and let the rest of the world argue about it.

Haggis @ Wolf Cairn Moor

Thank you for this post. Never heard it expressed that way but it sure is the truth...about a lot of things.

Phil - MO · #6 06/02/04, 01:47 PM

I bought 8 registered Beefmaster heifers and 1 bull last year. Most people around here want Angus.

I like them because they are each different and easy to recognize, although there are some breeders now breeding for all red or black.

I have had some trouble calving. I lost one heifer and calf, and another calf that was breech. It would have been better if I lived closer to the farm, but I did have somebody checking them daily. I wish I had waited a couple of months before turning the bull in, but I wanted them to calve in the spring.

Another thing I like about them is that they seem to be very tame. Of course this may be partly due to the fact that I feed them range cubes whenever I check them.

I have 4 bull calves with two more waiting to calve, and I can't decide whether to raise a couple of them to sell as bulls or to just sell them as feeder steers. There is one almost black and two solid red. I need to make my mind up soon. Hopefully the next two will be heifers.

Wonder if anybody would want to trade registered bull calves for registered heifers (close to Missouri).

pointer_hunter · #7 06/02/04, 07:49 PM

Well, it looks like the Simmital bull was the father. My cow had a baby bull on June 1. I haven't been up to the farm to look at him yet, but they say he is solid red, with a white spot on his forehead and four white socks. That's about all the detail I got so far. Normally the calves have been comming in at about 90-100 lbs. That's for the experienced cows. We had an angus bull around for the first timers so they would throw a little smaller calf. We have never had to pull one yet. So far this year one beefmaster heifer, one angus/bm bull and then this sim/bm bull.