belgian blue x friesan heifers

johnpawl

I was thinking of buying a few BB heifers off a friesan herd to keep as suckler cows. Are they good suckler cows? I would be putting an easy calving part bull on them.. Thanks.

bbam

johnpawl wrote: »

I was thinking of buying a few BB heifers off a friesan herd to keep as suckler cows. Are they good suckler cows? I would be putting an easy calving part bull on them.. Thanks.

I thought the idea was to have the BB on the bull side of the breeding ??

farmerjack

I have a few bbxfriesian hfrs in my herd and they are consistently the best performers especially when crossed with limousin.

johnpawl

bbam wrote: »

I thought the idea was to have the BB on the bull side of the breeding ??

This is off a part bull on a blue cow, thought it might be worth a shot:) Its off their website.


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bbam

johnpawl wrote: »

This is off a part bull on a blue cow, thought it might be worth a shot:) Its off their website.

Nice indeed.. I suppose if the cow was carrying the double muscle gene to pass on it would turn out like that.. Aren't I right in saying the gene is passed on from the cow or did I pick that up wrong ??

johnpawl

bbam wrote: »

Nice indeed.. I suppose if the cow was carrying the double muscle gene to pass on it would turn out like that.. Aren't I right in saying the gene is passed on from the cow or did I pick that up wrong ??

I'm not sure tbh. Its just I know where I could pick up a few BB heifers and didn't want to put a blue on them.

yellow50HX

be very careful what you cross them with. the double muscle gene can be passed from both sides. the calves are fantastic but getting them out can be a problem. the BB cow may look like a FR but they have a big chest so can produce a calve about he same size as a sim cow but have a very small pelvis in comparison. the BB is also very prone to going over time so when the double gene starts to kick in and the calf is still in the womb they are a curse to get out, only solution is a section and if your too late and the calf is already dead then its a curse.

hope you have a good vet and a good place to handle them.

we crossed them with AA a few years back and they through great calves and were easy to get out, also got good valves from a blonde with no trouble, however the Lim was a disaster. Teagasc did a project a few years ago when they crossed a Lim bull with sim/lim and BB cross heifers, if i knew then what i found out after the BB's would never have seen the Lim bull

pakalasa

Like a lot of people here, I've started to breed BB from Lim cows varying from 1/2 bred to 7/8 or more. Bulls are all AI. I really can't believe how small the calves are when born, compared to say Charolais. They are tiny, like little rats. They are all born with no muscle. 3 weeks later and the muscle starts to show. I've only used FHZ and AZL, which are noted easy calving bulls.
I think if the cow is right at the hips and you avoid BB breeding in the cow side of things, then you shouldn't have any problems.

wexf0rd

*the BB is also very prone to going over time*
Its fairly obvous that you havent a clue what your talking about. Blues have on of the shortest gestation of all breeds at about 280 days. Compared to limousin which are up near the 300 mark, It is extremely rare that a blue goes even a week over time. Get your facts right before you start quoting Rubbish

Min

There are people who milk these crosses, I think it was on the IFJ about BBs being milked, BB were originally a dual purpose breed before the concentration came onto their double muscling ability.

Farmer Pudsey

They are used a lot in England they even use BBxHO, like a previous post there was a lad crossing them with Angus and he used to finish them he has a good share of U grade angus for the AA scheme in England and there was an article recently of they being crossed to CH with the calves at big weights at weaning at the end of the summer in England a lot of sucklerts do not calf cows until april as there spring is a good bit later than here so calf's were not that old and I think he was averaging 360 kgs at weaning

they would definstele be an option if you were using a traditional breed bull AA or HE and finishing them yourself as you would have a small calf at birth and a big animal at finishing that would grade well especially if using AA bull

blue5000

I use bb x fr cows to give me replacement heifers, when crossed with an angus bull, works well. But you are limited to the bull you can use on the bb x fr cow as already said above, depends on the breeding though. I reckon use an easy calving breed on them as heifers and judge yourself after that. Used a blonde on one this season and I won't be doing it again.

johnpawl

Ok, thanks for the replies. I think I'll prob pass on them so, as I don't want any sections if possible, and will prob have a part bull running so might be easier to avoid them.

bogman_bass

Most of our cows are BBxFR. like previous posters have stated you have to be sensible with what bull you use but if used right they are good cows. Loads of milk more than a LMxFr IMO
Pure pets of cows that you can scratch in the feild. Not something to be sniffed at either
crosses well with limos
have a Hereford from one cow and I'm very happy with the cross. will try a few more.
would be reluctant to put a pathenaise on a heifer just because I would be unsure if double muscle on double muscle would bring problems. Used REQ and FL22 in the past with good results.

yellow50HX

Well Wexford after having 10 of them a few years back and having horrendous problems with them and having to fork out on a number of sections I think I know what can happen. Took on my vets advice on them and it was they who told me about them going over time as was evidenced by the size of the DEAD calves we ended up with. Granted it was my fault with the bull I had but had little or no problems with the rest of the herd LIM, AA and FR crosses. All the cows were home reared so I can compare them to their mothers and sisters from other breeds.

Like lots of other posts here I also recommended using an easy calving bull like an AA. If you haven't had any issues the good for you for not everyone has had good experience.

Juniorhurler

If you want info on these look up Staffords of Drinagh in Wexford. The journal had an article on them a while back. They have about 220 sucklers at the moment and they are all BB cows out of friesians.
The farm manager there is Larry Coleman and the last time I was talking to him they were calving down 150 of these all to Blonde D'acquitaine stock bulls. They did not have one section out of the 150. He told me one was a serious pull and maybe should have been a section but the cow was not down.
The gestation period of blues though is known for being short, but it is the bull that dictates this more so than the mother so limousin bulls on these could be the problem as limousins are notorious for long gestation. A mate had one that went 318 days.:eek:

leg wax

wexf0rd wrote: »

*the BB is also very prone to going over time*
Its fairly obvous that you havent a clue what your talking about. Blues have on of the shortest gestation of all breeds at about 280 days. Compared to limousin which are up near the 300 mark, It is extremely rare that a blue goes even a week over time. Get your facts right before you start quoting Rubbish

300 days is very normal here with blues in blonde cows,and i do know what i am talking about.

Juniorhurler

How are the bulls figures for gestation? Is that a stock bull or A.I?

pakalasa

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/site/farming-Bedding-suckler-herd-requires-a-big-straw-store-13696.html

yellow50HX

saw that article in the journal, fine shed. makes loads of sense that they are able to use the straw from the tillage side this also is good as they will have plenty good dung to put back onto the stubble.

found the article teagasc did a few years back, i know that breeding has come on a bit since but it makes very intresting reading. gives a good insight into what to check for.
http://www.teagasc.ie/research/reports/beef/4528/eopr-4528.pdf

leg wax

Juniorhurler wrote: »

How are the bulls figures for gestation? Is that a stock bull or A.I?

i have no figures for gestation,both ai and stock bull.i served 5 cows with stq over 2 days,they calved over 2 weeks apart, the cows have a huge part to play in time they carry a calf.no bull could have got them later,my friend over the road has 5 cows and we always compare dates of service and 280 days or near it with blonde cows is gone out the door.

pakalasa

I always think of calving cows as trying to get a box through a doorway. You have 2 choices, you either make the doorway wider or the box smaller. I try and do both.....:D
Belgian Blues have the smallest doorway and Charolais the boggest box. In general terms anyway.......