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In the Fall of '97, the last cow
flop fell at Flylo! The cows, realizing there was a severe drought
ahead, decided to 'bulk up'. They wolfed down range cubes and
hay at their own feed bunks, then broke fences to terrorize the
neighboring herds. I mended fence, John rebuilt fence, our fence-sharing
neighbor fixed fence, all so the cows could waltz right through
it.
It was normal for a 'speed trap' of
wandering cows to halt traffic in front of the farm, and we spent
a lot of time on Old Boggy Creek, luring cattle out of the bottoms.
John started eyeing an electric charger
that would stop a rogue elephant and I said 'ENOUGH, I want out!'
He admitted we were whipped, and said, "Ok, if you can get them
penned and hauled pretty quick, I guess we should get rid of them."
I had those brutes sold so fast I wondered why we hadn't made
the attempt years before!
Actually, they were a great herd of
commercial cattle, for someone with much better fences. My Dad
raised Santa Gertrudis in the 1950's and 1960's, and I had his
old record books, and the S. G. 'formula' for breeding them.
I followed a close path for a few
generations: My foundation cows were crossbred Brahma with 1/4
Jersey 'way back' in the bloodline. I used a Shorthorn bull and
kept the heifers from that blend. On those F1 heifers, I went
back with Brahma for the first generation, then started deviating
away from the Santa Gertrudis by using Brangus with the main cow
herd and replacement heifers as well. The result of all this crossbreeding
was a herd of 'tiger stripe' cows, some with horns, and some polled.
All had exceptional mothering and milking abilities, and most
calved on a 13 to 15 month schedule. Please remember this is not
an overnight project. To upgrade or outcross this many generations
can take upward of 16 years!
The downside of so much outcrossing
was there was no real uniformity in the herd nor in the market
calves. And, dispositions were on the questionable side also.
They were all considered rough stock by most of our neighbors.
Today: You guessed it, I'm already
considering refencing and starting over with a 'mellow' herd.
There are many breeds of cattle, and if both beef and dairy types
are considered, that adds many more to the list. Depending on
your acreage, there is a breed to suit every situation. I know
I'm leaving out some obvious breeds, but a rough list includes:
Early European Beef Imports:
Hereford, Black Angus, Shorthorn,
Charolais India
Africa: Brahma,
(Zebu)
Other European Imports: Simmental,
Limousin, Chianina, Maine Anjou are more recent (and still rather
exotic) imports to the US beef producers.
And, every breed
has it's crossbred followers:
Brangus, (Brahma x Angus) Braford
(Brahma x Hereford) Simbra (Simmental x Brahma)
So, you get the idea
that everyone wants a little Brahma in their pedigree. And
for good reason, as they were developed in countries with heat,
forage and water problems. Gray hair with a black skin underneath,
long legged, with short, curved horns and drooping ears, they
are very striking animals. As a whole, the breed can tolerate
'under conditioning' more than the European breeds, and a blend
of the two types will (theoretically) put the meatiness of the
stocky Hereford or Angus on a frame suited for tough conditions.
The down side of Brahma crosses is that they have a reputation
as being wild or nervous or downright mean. Most of the professional
rodeo bulls have a lot of Brahma in them.
(See Mesquite
Rodeo site for some great Texas 'atmosphere'!)
To make things even more confusing
in the beef cattle world, there are also the small types. Belted
Galloway and Dexter
breeds are perfect for small holdings because they are about 1/3
the size of the normal breeds. Considered dual purpose, as they
can be utilized as draft animals for light hauling work. There
is even a 'mini' Zebu breed as well.
Actually, most cattle breeds have
been used as dual purpose livestock. I've heard of many a desperate
rancher's wife taming an Angus or Brahma beef heifer and coaxing
them to stand for milking. So, if you really yearn to be a cattle
'baron' or baroness, and have a few acres of lush grazing, there
is a breed and size to suit every use.
Eventually, I'll go dig out the bovine
associations to make it easier to link up and visit those that
interest you. For now, in case you missed them in the text, check
out:
Mesquite
Rodeo: Those rodeo clowns do an outstanding job of protecting
the riders, and deserve their own fan club. Most bulls are seasoned
professionals and eager to get in the arena to show their stuff.
The riders must be mostly insane to go one-on-one with a tornado!
Professional
Bull Rider's Association:
(Need I say more?)
Dexter
Breed Association
Note, the image is the
Canadian assn, but the link goes to the American Breed Club.
.
Text
and images copyright 1998 Martha
Wells
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