# First time raising cows!



## bizzeeb60 (Mar 23, 2009)

Hey everyone!  I am very new to this cow raising.  We just recently bought our cows.  We bought the first two (both steers)  four weeks ago.









The brown/white (Stanley) is a Brahford (Brahma/Herford mix)  They said the black one (Ollie) is Angus mix, but he seems to be mostly Holstein by his body structure.

Then 3 weeks ago we purchased three heifers.











Ethel is our biggest, she is Angus.  Then there is Lucy (my husbands favorite) our hereford and Carol is the youngest, she is Angus mix

We will breed the Heifers when they are old enough and the steers are strickly for Meat.


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## sparkles2307 (Mar 23, 2009)

Cute babies!


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## Farmer Kitty (Mar 23, 2009)

Ollie maybe an Angus/holstein cross. I do agree his body looks alot like a holsteins.


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## bizzeeb60 (Mar 23, 2009)

That is what we were thinking, Angus/Holstein cross.  They seem to do that quite often here in central Florida.   My husband really wants to eventually have either all herefords or angus.  He has always loved the look of the Herefords, but we know Angus make great beef cattle.


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## wynedot55 (Mar 23, 2009)

you have some nice looking steers an heifers.i know youll enjoy raising them.


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## sparkles2307 (Mar 23, 2009)

I love the floppy ears... my DH is not very adventurous with the breeds... If it isnt Black Angus it cant eat in his pasture


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## GrassFarmerGalloway (Mar 23, 2009)

Welcome to the herd!  

LOVELY bovines!  The red steer has adorable ears!


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## Thewife (Mar 23, 2009)

Welcome to the board bizzeeb60!

I think everybody on this board can tell you what I think of Stanley!
I WANT!
Like sparkles2307, I have a very mean Hubby that wants all black! He won't let me have big ears and pretty colors!
I do have one Brahford, but she is solid red, no pretty markings!


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## sparkles2307 (Mar 23, 2009)

thewife said:
			
		

> Welcome to the board bizzeeb60!
> 
> I think everybody on this board can tell you what I think of Stanley!
> I WANT!
> ...


Us poor girls with mean DHs!  hehe You know I think if I batted my eyes and shed a little tear he would give me whatever I wanted... I just have to FIND someone close by with British Whites and Normandes for sale!!!  Our friends just brought home 6 Corriente's...with very long horns...one has gorgeous coloring, like a Normande with the black, white, red, and brown all swirled together... I want it, minus the horns of course!  

Oh oh question...one (and only ONE) of our yearling heifers has been rubbing and now has 3-4 large (5 inch or better) bald spots around her neck... but no one else shows signs of infestation?


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## Farmer Kitty (Mar 23, 2009)

Could it be she's itching due to shedding? I have one that has rubbed various spots bear due to shedding.


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## bizzeeb60 (Mar 23, 2009)

Well ladies, my DH swears he wants to eventually have ONLY Herefords, but he sure seems pretty fond of Ethel our Angus LOL..I think they are all wonderful


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## Imissmygirls (Mar 23, 2009)

All it takes is one ornery critter of the wrong breed to turn someone off
IMHO, each of the breeds has its own good points. It just depends which points you want to focus on.
 For sale purposes, it seems the market drives the angus prices up.  But really, the only thing that means is that the professional buyers prefer angus, not which carcass tastes best.  Taste depends a lot more on how the animal was fed.

I swear I am gonna stop coming here because I get so frustrated looking at pics of sweet lil babies and I can't have one !!!!!
But... I can't stay away.  sigh.

Can everyone who has baby calves please give 'em a hug and a nuggie for me?


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## wynedot55 (Mar 23, 2009)

i was in the reg polled hereford buiness for 5yrs.an let me tell you them was some wild cows.an i still love them herefords.an now im into reg beefmasters.stull have a stock cow herd.an they are polled hereford holstein crosses.


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## bizzeeb60 (Mar 24, 2009)

Here in my area of Florida, they seem to do alot of cross breeding especially using Brahma Bulls (not sure why.  Theere is only one Ranch that deal strickly in pure bred Herefords and he is expensive.  He will not even sell his calves until they have reached 400-450 pounds and then they are around &1.00 per pound for the "unregistered".  That is why we started with the one unregister and the two Angus heifers, our intention is once they start producing calves, we can sell them and then in turn around and invest in the Herefords.


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## wynedot55 (Mar 24, 2009)

a reg hereford heifer if bred right will cost you $2 a lb.or $800 or $900 a hd.brimmer blood does real good in fla.you might look into reg beefmasters.


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## sparkles2307 (Mar 24, 2009)

DH used to raise Herefords w/his grandpa (we all lived on one homestead in different houses) but when gpa got too old DH sold every last hereford and went angus.  He says they are smarter, but he is just a very impatient man so I think he likes the faster pace of the angus (they are never really very calm).  I want something my kids can bottle raise and show in 4-H, and heaven forbid I ever have the same thing as everyone else....hence the desire for Normande or British Whites, they are very uncommon in this part of Minnesota!


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## WildRoseBeef (Mar 24, 2009)

bizzeeb60 said:
			
		

> Here in my area of Florida, *they seem to do alot of cross breeding especially using Brahma Bulls (not sure why.)*  Theere is only one Ranch that deal strickly in pure bred Herefords and he is expensive.  He will not even sell his calves until they have reached 400-450 pounds and then they are around &1.00 per pound for the "unregistered".  That is why we started with the one unregister and the two Angus heifers, our intention is once they start producing calves, we can sell them and then in turn around and invest in the Herefords.


I was hoping wyne would explain for you, but the reason there's a lot of brahman your way is because of their resistance to heat and insects.  Brahmans tend to do better in the heat and bug-infested pastures than other breeds of cattle, like Angus, and will be out grazing in the sunshine during the day than standing in the shade  or spending their time in the pond like other less-heat and bug-resistant breeds do.  The crossbreeding is so that they can express the favorable characteristics of the other breeds like Simmental or Angus or Shorthorn with things like milk production, carcass weight and grade, etc. but still keep the heat and bug tolerance typical of Bos indicus.

Brahma babies are darned cute too. 

Oh and btw,  .


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## wynedot55 (Mar 24, 2009)

karin you did a great job of why theres lots of brimmers an brimmer crosses.them angus will be in the pool cooling.the f1s an beefmasters will be out grazing the pasture.


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## bizzeeb60 (Mar 24, 2009)

Hey thanks Wildrosebeef

Now I have more knowledge to pass on to DH.  I've always heard the expression about standing out in the hot sun like a Brahma but wasn't sure why...now I know.  

Boy how I like this site, just like BYC I learn something new everyday and the people are so nice!


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## WildRoseBeef (Mar 24, 2009)

bizzeeb60 said:
			
		

> Hey thanks Wildrosebeef
> 
> Now I have more knowledge to pass on to DH.  I've always heard the expression about standing out in the hot sun like a Brahma but wasn't sure why...now I know.
> 
> Boy how I like this site, just like BYC I learn something new everyday and the people are so nice!


Your very welcome.   And thank you wyne.


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