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Herd Improvement 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.

This color also comes when an Angus bull is bred to a Hereford heifer. Hereford cows can have a hard time with their first calf if bred to a bull from the same breed. Breeding a heifer, or young female, to an Angus bull produces a calf with a lighter birth weight and a smaller head, making a difficult birth less likely.

Baldies are becoming known for their docility, their fertility, and their longevity. They are also prized for their thriftiness, or the ability to thrive and grow under range conditions and to gain more weight on less feed in the fattening pens. They make excellent mothers, having ample milk for their calves and taking good care of them. All of these characteristics are valuable when raising beef animals for profit.

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.

In addition, Herefords are an especially strong breed. There are in fact more Herefords in the world than any other type of cow, experts say. This is partly due to the breed's docility and hardiness; these cattle thrive in almost any climate. It may also trace back to the British Empire, when these British cattle were shipped to many countries where the British were in control. Aberdeen Angus is another fine breed, especially noted for a gentle nature and the excellent taste of their meat.

Baldies are popular in areas with hot sun, like Australia, where their dark color minimizes sunburn. In the American northwest, this breed is called Black Hereford. These great beef producing regions have extremes of weather that demand sturdy animals. Ranchers may love their cows but they cannot and do not pamper them.

Black Baldy Cattle are available for breeding stock and for those who want to fatten animals for beef. Check out the results of performance tests that show how this breed can increase production in any aspect of the beef business.




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