Thursday, December 26, 2013

Herd Improvement And Greater Profits With Black Baldy Cattle

By Eugenia Dickerson


The beef production business is one in which profits can never be taken for granted. Breeding stock requires years of care - hard work in all sorts of weather conditions - to produce replacement cows and feedlot animals. Raising young animals to an age where they can be profitably sold is a separate aspect of the business with its own demands. When experience shows that Black Baldy cattle can increase profits by 20% or more, ranchers and feedlot managers take notice.

Mating Aberdeen Angus cows to Hereford bulls produces Baldy calves. They are white-faced from a dominant gene in the Hereford and black-bodied from a dominant gene in the Angus. This coloration is remarkably consistent in this type of hybrid cross that is rapidly growing in popularity.

Breeding an Angus bull to a Hereford cow has been a common practice for cattlemen, since purebred Hereford calves can be large enough to cause difficulties for first births in heifers. The hybrid calves have a lower birth rate and a smaller head, making delivery easier. The results of this cross-breeding is vigorous animals that do well in feed lot situations or on the open range.

Both of these crossbreeding methods produces animals that perform well in breeding or in beef production. The black white-faced cows are known for their fertility, their longevity, and their 'good mother' characteristics. These include a gentle disposition, which makes handling easier, and good milk production to nourish the calf. In the feedlot, both types of offspring are docile and gain weight rapidly on less feed than other breeds might require.

Part of this success comes from what is called hybrid vigor. Pure breeds involve a certain amount of interbreeding. Genetic defects are therefore passed down with ever-increasing frequency. By crossing two sound breeds, the off-spring have a greater chance of escaping the genetic weaknesses of either of the parent breeds. The black, white-faced cows live longer, conceive more readily, and are less susceptible to disease.

There are more Hereford cattle around the world than any other breed, a testimony to the hardiness and adaptability of this great strain. There are those who prefer the taste of Hereford beef to any other, but more people are familiar with the Angus label, which they see on restaurant menus and in the grocery store. Angus beef is renowned for flavor and tenderness.

Being dark colored, the Baldies are not prone to ill effects from the sun, which makes them valuable in Australia and New Zealand. It's also a useful characteristic on the high plains of the American northwest, where this breed is known also as Black Herefords. The cattle do well when raised outdoors in the extremes of weather that these great beef producing countries have.

Black Baldy Cattle have raised profits in many herds by as much as 20%. Go online to see the results of studies and performance reviews and to find out where the crossbred animals can be found.




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