Is this cross would make a good family cow?

[Farmerboy]

How's the Cow and Pigs doing?

Great, but HOT!!!

The hogs


Cooling off.



Eating fresh unsellable greens. Got the greens from where I work, for free! Daily!




Anybody want this cutie? I have 13 piglets total. 7 males, 6 females. They are old enough to be rehome now.




Drum roll!

Maybelle!!

She is 5 weeks old now. She has changed color!


When she was a week old.


I think that she will be reddish color cow when she grows up, what do you all think?

I have been letting Maybelle stay with Bella 24/7, for Bella is producing more milk than what the calf can use.

I have been getting about a gallon or so of milk from Bella at each milking. But lately I am only getting about half a gallon or less. I think that its because it has been so hot, or Maybelle is being very greedy. :/

 

[Symphony]

They look wonderful and happy. Grocery stores and fruit stands are wonderful sources of free food.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Maybelle...she an Angus cross? Remind me because I can't remember since it's been a while since this post was brought up again.

I don't think she'll be a reddish colour, I think she'll get redder and less black as she gets older, to the point where she's actually RED.

Animals look good btw.

 

[Farmerboy]

Symphony- I work at a farm that does strawberries, raspberries, and it have a greenhouse full of greens, etc. So, I bring home stuff that are no good to sell, or too old, over ripe. The hogs go crazy for them.



WildRoseBeef- Maybelle's father is Angus, her mother is Angus/Guernsey. Maybe her father is a red Angus, or carries a red gene? Or the Guernsey side is bringing out the color? Or something else???


I want to A.I Bella with a Guernsey semen, so we can have another heifer that is more Guernsey than Angus. Where can I find a semen that is from a bull that is from good hand milking line, and is A2 quality? Thanks for any help!

Also, yesterday I saw a long mucus looking thing coming out of Bella's um well her bottom. Is that a sign of her being in heat? I have been trying to watch her being in heat, so I can time for her next heat to breed her, since we do not have a bull. I would like to have Bella calve in March or April of next year. Michigan State University can send someone out to show me how to A.I Bella for free!

 

[WildRoseBeef]

The mucus is part of it, yes, but you may be seeing a bit more stranger, more "excited" activity from her, she normally would be acting either like a you-know-what or be actively look like she wants something either from you or from something across the fence that she can't get. The books say that a cow or heifer in heat would also be vocal, but I've seen dairy heifers not be that vocal and still be in heat...one was a bit more quieter and reserved than another, being the Jersey heifer stirring the herd up over the Holstein-cross heifer was doing. So really, how heifers come in heat varies quite a bit, depending on personality and such.

As for Maybelle...who knows, right? Whatever the genetics, she's certainly going to grow up to be a handsome girl.

 

[Farmerboy]

So, the mucus only shows when a cow is in heat? In that case I better put the date on the calender, and count 21 days for the next heat, right? It was 2 days ago, so it will be in 19 days before her next cycle. Better find the stuff to get her bred!

We want an another heifer, so should I try to get sexed semen? Or it is too expensive? What is the average cost? Or just get regular stuff, and hope that it produces a heifer. A pretty brown and white one. Yep, that is my order.

 

[shawnfisher]

Symphony- I work at a farm that does strawberries, raspberries, and it have a greenhouse full of greens, etc. So, I bring home stuff that are no good to sell, or too old, over ripe. The hogs go crazy for them.



WildRoseBeef- Maybelle's father is Angus, her mother is Angus/Guernsey. Maybe her father is a red Angus, or carries a red gene? Or the Guernsey side is bringing out the color? Or something else???


I want to A.I Bella with a Guernsey semen, so we can have another heifer that is more Guernsey than Angus. Where can I find a semen that is from a bull that is from good hand milking line, and is A2 quality? Thanks for any help!

Also, yesterday I saw a long mucus looking thing coming out of Bella's um well her bottom. Is that a sign of her being in heat? I have been trying to watch her being in heat, so I can time for her next heat to breed her, since we do not have a bull. I would like to have Bella calve in March or April of next year. Michigan State University can send someone out to show me how to A.I Bella for free!

The Guernsey color falls into the wild type classification. The wildtype is what more than likely is being expressed in your calf-- it's called Black/ Red-- and it also occurs in the Holstein breed, Chi, and many others. What happens is the cattle will be Red in the summer, and Black in the winter-- matter of fact, we have certain lines of HOL which will have a complete change of color. THe Wildtype gene is dominate.

This is not to be confused with the TINGE that is in Angus cattle that happens when black Angus get turned into brown angus.

 

[Symphony]

Actually Black and Red Angus are the exact same family or breed its just the color difference. Before there was a separate herd books both Red and Black Angus where in the same breed so Red is possible though rare from a Black Angus.

I think the calve will have a beautiful dark red color to her when she grows up.

 

[shawnfisher]

Actually Black and Red Angus are the exact same family or breed its just the color difference. Before there was a separate herd books both Red and Black Angus where in the same breed so Red is possible though rare from a Black Angus.

I think the calve will have a beautiful dark red color to her when she grows up.

Kinda right, but wrong... Originally the reds were sports coming from the blacks- back in the beginning of reds- a couple of outfits-- mainly Beckton Ranch-- went around buying up all the pop-up Red Angus-- and started their own deal from there.

The blacks and reds now have a separate herd book-- and the black's discriminant hugely against the reds-- at least in the US. Canada, I believe still keeps them in the same herd book. The main difference now- is the black herdbook is closed, and will remain so-- where as the Red herd book is open and including an appendix or upgrading program-- so theoretically the red angus of today, might not be purebred.

See how this calf has black ears, black around her muzzle, and a black stripe down the back--- that's wildtype color pattern expressing it'self in textbook fashion.

The likelihood that this calf has an Angus parent with the red gene is possible-- but I highly doubt that's the case--

to the OP-- if you're wanting a heifer calf-- then sexed semen might be the way to go-- but it will cost you roughly twice the price of conventional-- and it won't have as good of a fertility rate- b/c the semen will have less vigor and motility. The concentration will be about the same though- as you'll buy sexed semen in 2.1 mil straws, or 5 mil straws for flushing.

if you want a brown and white, and have specific goals-- I'd suggest finding what you want and buying it-- you'll be better off than trying to make it yourself. When you are dealing with black- you'll have a tough time getting anything other than black from them, and black in the solid state.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Symphony- I work at a farm that does strawberries, raspberries, and it have a greenhouse full of greens, etc. So, I bring home stuff that are no good to sell, or too old, over ripe. The hogs go crazy for them.



WildRoseBeef- Maybelle's father is Angus, her mother is Angus/Guernsey. Maybe her father is a red Angus, or carries a red gene? Or the Guernsey side is bringing out the color? Or something else???


I want to A.I Bella with a Guernsey semen, so we can have another heifer that is more Guernsey than Angus. Where can I find a semen that is from a bull that is from good hand milking line, and is A2 quality? Thanks for any help!

Also, yesterday I saw a long mucus looking thing coming out of Bella's um well her bottom. Is that a sign of her being in heat? I have been trying to watch her being in heat, so I can time for her next heat to breed her, since we do not have a bull. I would like to have Bella calve in March or April of next year. Michigan State University can send someone out to show me how to A.I Bella for free!

The Guernsey color falls into the wild type classification. The wildtype is what more than likely is being expressed in your calf-- it's called Black/ Red-- and it also occurs in the Holstein breed, Chi, and many others. What happens is the cattle will be Red in the summer, and Black in the winter-- matter of fact, we have certain lines of HOL which will have a complete change of color. THe Wildtype gene is dominate.

This is not to be confused with the TINGE that is in Angus cattle that happens when black Angus get turned into brown angus.

Yeah, but this is a young calf were talking about here, not an adult cow. I've seen calves change to a completely different colour from what they were born with, and not like what you're describing. For instance, the Holstein-Jersey cross bull calves that were brought here when they were only a few days old were brown. As they got older they turned black. As with this calf, as she's getting older she's going the opposite, going more red (not brown, which is typical of a wild-type allele in genetics) than black to the point where she'll be more red than black or probably all red as she grows older, regardless of the change in seasons. Your point about the wild-type allele is believable, not arguing that, it's just that you seem to be referring to the older or adult cattle, not young calves as they grow and get closer to maturity.

But, to see if your point is indeed viable and applicable to Maybelle, maybe Farmerboy should post a picture of her come fall/winter to see if she does turns back to black, or if she gets more red. We can't really tell by discussing this on here; we can talk about it til we're blue in the face, but the ultimate deciding factor is Time and Wait and See. Besides, it's a good way to see how she's progressed in a few months time anyway!

And of course the reddish/brown tinge in black angus cattle in the summer may be more due to a copper deficiency than an actual change in colouration. I've seen it before in the Angus steer calves we had. We put a trace mineral block out for them (I know it's just trace...) and the amount of reddish tinge in those calves seemed to decrease significantly from those in past years when we only fed those blue blocks to them. A lot of the calves slicked out nice and black, from what I can remember.