Is a hereford bull ok to breed to a first time Holstein/JerseyX

[PattySh]

Would the calf be too large? It's been a few years but my neighbor had herefords and I remember the calves fairly small. Farmer is our hay guy and is new to Herefords (had dairy cows) but has offered to let us run our unbred heifer (20 months) with his small beef herd to try to get her bred. We have had a heck of a time catching her in heat so thinking this is a good option. She has been vet checked and has all her parts, did see one heat but that was early spring. Farmer seems to think the hereford calves run 75# and might be too big. She's getting older and we are fishing for options. Opinions?

 

[Royd Wood]

I doubt it Patty Herefords are great for crossbreeding (just like Galloways lol)
I have a very large Galloway bull but the calves are on the small side but they grow like weeds in a greenhouse
The bull at your neighbours wont have a heck of a time, he will just nail her on the hour
Your farmer friend - has he had any calves born to check out for size ?????

 

[PattySh]

No he hasn't had calves yet. I do know it's a young bull he bought to get his hereford mixed heifers bred. I can't get easy access to a Jersey (my preference) and this sounds like an easy option, she can run with him til fall. Seems cheaper than getting a vet involved to give her a shot to stimulate heat etc. Figured if I can get her bred this time we can use the resulting calf for beef or sell it then next time will be easier to catch her in heat as we'll be milking and more hands on with her.

 

[herfrds]

I will tell you this as a Hereford breeder. Don't do it.
This is an unproven bull so you have no idea how big his calves will be.
We have a heifer bull with a proven 76# avg birth weight. On the low end they are 65 pounds on the high odd end 79 pounds. He throws more lows then highs.

Do you have any info on this bulls breeding? Sire? Dam? EPD's? Anything???????
What was his birth weight? His sires? His Dams?

Our herd bulls were throwing 80#-88# calves this spring.

 

[redtailgal]

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[herfrds]

Well then go ahead.

When they have to pull this calf and have it hip locked and the cow panics and kills the calf can't say I didn't warn them.

Now if this was a proven and I mean proven low birth weight bull I would say go ahead, but NO ONE has any idea of how heavy this bulls calves will weight so I wouldn't do it.

Call the vet and AI her. A heat detector patch and her with another cow, heifer or steer will catch her in heat.

I know about breeders who brag up their 90-100 plus birth weight bulls. Until this bull has calves on the ground and weighted I would not do it.

Especially on a first year heifer.

 

[redtailgal]

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[jhm47]

I agree with herfrds. Unless this Hereford bull is registered, and you at least have some EPD's on him, I'd not take the chance with a heifer. Even with a low birthweight bull there can be problems. Crossing two breeds like this will also usually make the calf bigger due to hybrid vigor.

I'm prejudiced, because I am an AI technician, but I have also had quite a bit of experience with things like this.

 

[OtterCreekRanch]

I would AI her if it was me. That way you can select a bull that is proven to produce small birth weight calves. I would look into an angus bull with a low birth weight and low birth weight EPDs for the first calf. A lot of angus are known to be good heifer bulls. Plus you will get a black polled calf which will make it work a little more if you go to sell it.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

I'm jumping on the AI bandwagon as well, and also agree with Herfrds.. Unless the bull has some papers that actually proves that he is a calving ease bull, and even has the looks of one (conformation of a bull DOES depict if he's going to be easy calving or not!), then it's not worth risk on a JerseyX heifer. Get an AI tech to do it for you, and purchase some Jersey semen to use on her. That's the best route to take, and the least risky.