by Beverly Cook

Created on: January 05, 2009

I read each of the articles written by the five writers, and found good information in each. I read the title and didn't analysis it as they did. I took the meaning away that you didn't have to have a beef and dairy cow in the same cow. I took the title to mean how will I choose beef cattle and how would I choose a dairy cow.

The writers have mentioned so many breeds, and they are great breeds of cattle. I have raised many cattle over the years, and we raise mostly Angus or an Angus crossbreed. The reason I pick Angus is simply this; they are a reasonably gentle breed to work with, they are marbled well, they have good maternal instincts, they milk well, and for the most part they are a medium sized cow, who tends to eat less than a huge cow, you can put them with any breed of bull and they will calve with ease, unless the bull is bad, and they raise a great calf. The Angus cow will crossbreed with any other and do well. The Angus will still make the animal carcass marble well. also gain at the feed lots and feed yards well. The sale barn or as some people call them livestock auctions where we sell our calves have many buyers who will pay top dollar for choice calves. This is what we want wen we sell, as this pays our bills.

Choosing an animal is simple, no matter what breed of beef you choose. Some of the things not mentioned in the other articles you look for are heifers with straight backs, you look for older cows with small teats, becauseif they are big and she is giving no milk then the udder is ruined. You look for a bull with a straight back, shoulders and hip very uniform, if you have a bull with huge shoulders this could mean hard calving for your cows, which could attribute to calf death and possible cow death.and testicles that are even and not small. Many beef producers operate in different ways, some buy heifers, some buy running age cattle, and some buy broken mouth cows. Each operation have different guidelines, but your Angus is always good in any group.

For the dairy cow, most people buy Holstein, because of the milk produced. The family milk cow is usually a Jersey because they are easily handled and are gentle. The Jersey doesn't give as much milk, but the butterfat content is more than the Holstein so when the milk is sold the money comes out about the same with either animal. The Jersey is cheaper to feed. I have have Jersey, Brown Swiss, and Holstein nurse cows that I put baby calves on, and each of them are unique in they own way. As with the beef cattle, the dairy cows are just a matter of preference.

Look for a cow that has a straight back, the udder in a milk should be level, and all four teats should be pretty well uniform and fairly small, not tiny though. One thing not mentioned in other articles, a 3 teated cow will give as much milk as a four teated cow. The difference though if you milk for a living is that they are harder to milk. They are cheaper to buy however if cost is a concern.

The dairy and beef are great to interbreed, especially for the first calf heifer. They sell better than the holstein bull calf but not as well as the holstein helife. I bought many of these cross breeds from area dairies. I used them as replacement heifers to my herd. They give lots of milk, make good mothers, and are gentle to work with.

I usually butchered part of my Holstein bull calves when they reach 1200 pounds, because they sold cheaper at the sale barn. They are mostly bone, but meat is good. The Angus sells better, has less bone, so as I have moved to Kansas where the small dairy is non existent, I have started to eat one of my Angus calves. They taste great too.

I hope this may have helped you in some way.

Learn more about this author, Beverly Cook.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.