If you can't buy one breed one

[janij]

Hi All,
I have been milking cows almost 4 yrs now. I have jerseys. I read an article a few yrs ago about Guernsey cows and really wanted one but around my parts of Texas they are non existent. So I decided to try and breed my own. I had one of my Jersey girls breed to a Guernsey bull in the spring and waited and waited. I was for certain that since she was late calving I would end up with a steer. But instead I got lucky! Not only did I get a Jersey/Guernsey heifer the other Jersey that calved about the same time gave me a pure breed Jersey heifer! You watch,next yr will be the year of the steers!



THis is Ivy, the 1/2 Guernsey.



Dot the Jersey

[Tango]

Guernseys are wonderful. They are as sweet and personable as Jerseys, maybe a little more laid back also a little bigger. Your mix heifer looks so sweet Congrats on ur heifer year.

[janij]

Thank you Tango! I got 4 jersey steers last fall and was sure I was destined for a repeat this year. The mix heifer is slightly taller but bigger in the legs for sure! I still have a few Guernsey straws left so I think I will breed both these mommas back to a Guernsey and see what I get.

[SueMc]

Congrats! I love Jerseys and all other breeds but I have Guernseys and love their sweet, laid back personalities. They milk great and seem, in my limited experience, to calve easily. I have two cows, a heifer and heifer calf. I also have a steer destined for the freeze in a couple of months. I've tried hard to ignore him but he still comes up for an ear scratching.
If you're interested in registration, here is some info on the different designations:

http://aipl.arsusda.gov/CF-RCS/GetRC...e=ref.130.html

[janij]

Thank you very much SueMc for the registration link! That will be really useful!

[Jersey/guernsey]

Those are some cute heifers! What bulls did you use?
I like that cross myself, very milky cows and not as fragile as straight Gurnseys.

[janij]

Originally Posted by Jersey/guernsey

Those are some cute heifers! What bulls did you use?
I like that cross myself, very milky cows and not as fragile as straight Gurnseys.

I used Grumpy for the Guernsey and Davenport for the Jersey. Both are A2 milkers.
I hope the cross helps them not be as fragile as well!

[Miss Kay]

They are both as cute as they can be. That light color nose leaves no doubt she is part Guernsey. I'd register her and keep using Guernsey straws on her and in a few generations, you won't be able to tell they ever had Jersey. Guernsey's do great here in Texas. We sold a Grumpy bull calf this past spring to a lady somewhere in Mid Texas to breed to her dairy girls to add some Guernsey blood. I'd love to see those calves when they hit the ground. I don't think you need to worry about the Guernseys though, ours have been very healthy and not fragile at all.

[janij]

So I would have to start her as a recorded female since her mom is a jersey/jersey holstein cross. Dad was a mini jersey mom a jersey holstein. And then just start from there. I guess then it would be a registered one at least. I am assuming since she was AI'ed it is no big deal to get the info for the sire.
Miss Kay if you ever get pictures of the babies that would be fun to see!

[SueMc]

Here you go:

http://sitefinity.selectsires.com/pu...ng&Country=USA

I have one Grumpy daughter that I like very much. Also an Alstar daughter who is very nice plus she gave me a gorgeous Yogibear daughter this past June (Friday the 13th). I forget who my third adult female is sired by without looking at her registration.

A number of companies carry Guernsey semen. I tend to work with select sires because there's a rep close to me and they carry more (but not a lot) bulls than I've seen elsewhere. I was lucky that I was able to buy a variety of small amts of semen from the dairyman who I bought my girls from.

I've not had Guernseys long but have also found them hearty. They all did well in last Winter's extreme cold and don't seem bothered by the heat. They pasture with my beef cows and do well though they know the beef cows are the bosses. I recently visited an Amish dairyman who has about 30-40% Guernseys in his commercial dairy with Holsteins and crosses. He loves them and uses a lot of Guernsey semen on his Holsteins. His Guernseys look great with great udders. The guy said he obviously doesn't show but likes cows that look like they could. My vet said that herd is the highest producing herd that his wife tests.
Last year when my first Guernsey was about to freshen I talked to my vet about possible problems. He just said, "she's a Guernsey, they almost never have problems freshening".
That being said, my Yogibear heifer calf was huge and needed a little traction at birth. I was close to calling the vet. A few days later, her mom had surgery for a displaced fourth stomach, which apparently is not that rare in dairy cows after delivery. She had that big surgery standing up with a lot of local and petting. She healed great and kept on milking.

[janij]

Originally Posted by SueMc

Here you go:

http://sitefinity.selectsires.com/pu...ng&Country=USA

I have one Grumpy daughter that I like very much. Also an Alstar daughter who is very nice plus she gave me a gorgeous Yogibear daughter this past June.

A number of companies carry Guernsey semen. I tend to work with select sires because there's a rep close to me and they carry more (but not a lot) bulls than I've seen elsewhere. I was lucky that I was able to buy semen from the dairyman who I bought my girls from.

Thanks Sue Mc! I will get in touch with the Guernsey people this week and get the ball rolling. We have a Select Sires rep close as well and he delivers to the Genetic company nearby and that has been really helpful. I will keep those others sires in mind for down the road!

[Miss Kay]

Talk to the Guernsey association. They have several different levels of registered guernseys. She had a registered dad so she can be registered but not shown in their shows and her papers will show that she is not full blood. Breed her to a registered bull and the calf will be 3/4 and can be registered at the next level and so forth. I think by the 4th generation they get full registrations but you'd have to ask them about that. .