Sunday, October 19, 2014

Qualities Of Irish Black Cattle

By Dominique Martin


Raising beef for sale takes a lot of effort for most people. The rancher must remain on the lookout for blood lines that can improve the quality of the herd being maintained for breeding and to raise the ratio of salable cuts of meat to pound of living stock. Many beef ranchers have incorporated Irish Black cattle into their herds to achieve this goal.

Improvements to herds that have this breed introduced to them are well documented. A single bull will be able to impregnate over one hundred cows per season and the calves are guaranteed to carry all the genetic markers of this bull. Regardless of the breed of your cows the calves will look like and be built like the sire. The rate of successful impregnation is rated to be over eighty percent and bulls from this breed can be fertile for up to ten years of age.

The heifers generally weigh around seventy pounds at birth with the males weighing five to seven pounds more. Calves mature to slaughter tenderness within thirteen months and the carcasses contain less fat and excellent marbling for flavorful cuts of meat. The carcass will provide large butts and rib eye steaks up to fourteen inches across. Ranchers can expect dressing percentages between sixty four and sixty seven percent.

When considering increased numbers in the herd these animals will prove to be effective for long and short term goals. Bringing a bull to the current breeding cows will result in calves that are quick to stand and begin vigorously nursing. Adding breeding cows to the herd will supply you with stock to replace older cows in the herd and improve the quality of the overall herd. Heifers mature quickly and are ready for breeding within two years.

Their medium size allows ranchers to spend less money on feeding the herd and this in turn allows them to raise larger herds overall. The high quality of the carcass cuts provides a better return on the initial investment made and also provides the opportunity to enlarge the breeding stock herds without cutting profits on the market.

Another advantage these cows have is their adaptability to different environments. They have shown themselves to thrive at any altitude and in virtually any climate. Their popularity has spread to over twenty states nationwide and they do very well at altitudes over ten thousand feet. Mountain ranches have no reported cases of brisket disease which afflicts other breeds at high altitudes.

After creating what he considered the perfect cow, rancher Maurice Boney imported three Friesian bulls from Europe along with sperm from other Friesians from Spain and Italy. He then set about breeding and documenting the heritage of his special stock. In 1971 he closed the books on linage and today all of this breed can be traced back to the original five cows and three bulls. In the 1990's he obtained a trademark for the line and started the non-profit organization that controls the purity of the breed.

This breed of stock sets a standard of excellence for quality beef production in America and their reputation has grown over the years throughout the world.




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