[robert waddell]

the advice is wrong    jersey beef has yellow fat  the losses from crossing with large beef types are phenomenal IE dead calves dead cows and both combined the old style Angus was ideal not the Canadian type now produced the other cattle breeds you have to be very cautious (you try squeezing a 16lb baby out ) it can be done BUT you have to restrict the feeding and type of feeding
no experience of Shetlands just jerseys  sorry i would not contemplate crossing with the blue either British or otherwise and certainly not from the other continentals by all means try it and find out the hard way  funny how nobody mentioned herefords?

[loosey]

Haha! I've been doing a lot of research about the Shetlands Rosemary! The selling points for me are ... smaller size, being able to live out, good mum's, nice temperament. These are all really important for me.

I think cows will end up being next years project, having just talked my OH into bringing in the chickens and hopefully sheep this year but I like to have time to plan. I like doing it all slowly so there is more time to sort out our inevitable mistakes!

[princesspiggy]

not trying to influence u at all ( ) but apparently shetlands have wider pelvis so can give birth to a larger xbreed successfully. last year there was a years waiting list for yearling heifers so we got calves instead. i have no knowledge of herefords at all. its all highlands, simmentals and AA's up here locally.
plus apart form being a rare breed, they are triple purpose, ie meat, milk and draft. i thought that was quite cool   

[VSS]

 British Blue x from a Jersey is probably now the norm in dairy herds; it used to be Charollais.

If you can find a cow of this cross, that is just the BEST house cow. See my avatar - Rosie, was a BB Jersey cross. Fantastic cow, and crossed back to a beef bull will give a good beef animal.

I would avoid dexters like the plague. Jerseys are OK, but you may get too much milk and they are prone to milk fever. For the novice, a good crossbred is a safe bet.

[robert waddell]

jerseys are prone to milk fever     only if you over feed them IEconcentrates  grass /hay silage and haylage is ok

[VSS]

I am not sure that feeding some concentrate constitutes overfeeding - I certainly wouldn't expect any of my cows to produce a good yield off grass alone. Some milk, enough to rear a calf, yes, but that would be about all you would get.

[robert waddell]

no wrong we had a herd of jerseys    if they cannot produce from grass alone they are not very good yielders
just from experiance      but then there is grass and grass

[VSS]

Yes, that is a good point - our grass is definately grass rather that grass . That probably accounts for the need for a bit of cake.

[SallyintNorth]

Just catching up after a busy couple of days ...

I have my own Jersey but this is her first lactation and her calf is pure Jersey (aren't I lucky she's a heifer calf!) - everything I have posted about crossing is information given me by more experienced Jersey people.  A neighbour used to have one of the top-performing Jersey herds in the country and she told me that a Jersey will be able to produce a good beef x calf but to take it steady for the first two calves.  She liked to use Limousin or Murray Grey for the second calf and then Murray Grey or Charollais for the third and subsequent.  I asked her about Hereford and she said the Hereford is not a good cross from a Jersey, the calf's rear end will be too narrow.

I do love the sound of a real triple-purpose breed.  The Red Devon used to be such but is now almost entirely suckler.  One of the reasons I chose Red Devon for Hillie's second calf was because I have a daydream about reproducing a double if not triple purpose Red Devony type animal.

(Sadly she didn't hold to that AI and when we got them in again it was the relief man and he didn't know where to find the Red Devon semen, so she's now hopefully growing an MRIx calf.)

It sounds like you don't need to be in a rush to choose, loosey - so enjoy the research and the anticipation, and keep us posted!

[VSS]

the advice is wrong    jersey beef has yellow fat   the losses from crossing with large beef types are phenomenal IE dead calves dead cows and both combined the old style Angus was ideal not the Canadian type now produced the other cattle breeds you have to be very cautious (you try squeezing a 16lb baby out ) it can be done BUT you have to restrict the feeding and type of feeding
no experience of Shetlands just jerseys  sorry i would not contemplate crossing with the blue either British or otherwise and certainly not from the other continentals by all means try it and find out the hard way  funny how nobody mentioned herefords?

One other reason for crossing a jersey with an easy calving blue (and if you look at genus statistics, BB's are now considered to be an easy calving breed) is that the calf comes out looking more like a BB thana jersey. This is an important point if you want to sell it on as a store - you will get a decent price for a BB cross, but next to nothing for a jersey cross steer.

So look for a bull with an easy calving index and also for a short gestation length - this means the calf will not grow quite so big.

[princesspiggy]

For the novice, a good crossbred is a safe bet.

thats such a shame. i think if we have such fantastic native purebred cows that are very rare, we should promote them. my shetlands are sooo quiet and we are complete cow beginners, plus if a novice buys registered purebred stock, then changes their mind, they are alot easier to resell. Shetland heifers seem to command a fair price, and if there is a years waiting list, i think it hints at a sound investment. they are alot stockier than we imagined and will be eating the steers in the future. iv never tried the meat, but im sure if its not the best restaurant beef, itl certainly be better than tesco stuff!
the added benefit of buying purebred for novices, is that there are breed societies that offer support and guidance.

oooh i love a good bovine debate...

[robert waddell]

how much shorter in the gestation period are you talking about VSS
genetics is a funny thing  take for instance the ugly intellectual man that married the the thick beautiful woman intending the children to inherit his intelligence and there mothers stunning good looks what they produced was ugly thick children
now as i said before we have done the crossing from jerseys not every time does the calve take after the bull the best was jersey Xhereford crossed again with simmental
the old style Angus when born hit the floor running compared to the Charolais that sometimes would take up to 2 days  to get full mobile and there front hoof joint would need bandaged to stop them turning back
statistics and verbatim are just that people that have done it carry more clout or do the crossing and find out for yourself

[VSS]

how much shorter in the gestation period are you talking about VSS

There is a degree of variation between breeds, but you are looking at a variation of only a few days (remember though that these are averages figures).

Have a look at this http://www.genusbreeding.co.uk/documents/upload/Ty_Isaf_Diamond_Ice_proven.pdf. This gives a genus average for BBs of 283 days, the average for lims and charollais is longer = bigger claves.

Gives a brief run down of the calving ease and the gestation length for a particular bull. The genus beef breeding site provides this data for all its beef bulls enabling you to make an informed choice about calving and growth data, tailored to what is important to you.

For easy calving go for an Angus, a BB, or a Lim. Avoid Charollais.

[shetlandpaul]

the advice is wrong    jersey beef has yellow fat  the losses from crossing with large beef types are phenomenal IE dead calves dead cows and both combined the old style Angus was ideal not the Canadian type now produced the other cattle breeds you have to be very cautious (you try squeezing a 16lb baby out ) it can be done BUT you have to restrict the feeding and type of feeding
no experience of Shetlands just jerseys  sorry i would not contemplate crossing with the blue either British or otherwise and certainly not from the other continentals by all means try it and find out the hard way  funny how nobody mentioned herefords?

the shetland is often crossed with a beef breed up here. the mums have no problems calfing. our very close neighbour keeps them and often does the cross to stock here freezer.

[poppajohn]

Go for Dexter or Shetland, I saw Shetlands at the Isbisters croft near Scalloway, smashing breed. We kept Dexters at my dads farm before he bought Angus. They are a grand breed. I crofted on Unst a long time ago and the locals kept Ayrshires, all these breeds do well on hilly land and average grass. If I were to go for a housecow now it would be a Shetland, calm and quiet. I remember Dexter bulls being hard to handle at times although the beef is a joy!