Brahma cattle

[smoothmule]

Does anyone here have personal experience with any of the Brahman breeds? We're in SW Missouri and there aren't many here. I understand they don't tolerate really cold winters so that may be pert of it. I really love their look and would like buy a bred cow or two, registered stock. I can provide them shelter in the winter but I'd like to know if there are any big problems with them.

 

[john in wa]

i think they would do fine. we have lots of brahma cattle up her in washington. its been known to reach 20 below here. i am going to try to post a link that might help you.
http://www.ionet.net/~brahman/adapt.html

hope this helps

 

[smoothmule]

Thanks, everywhere else I've read said they needed protection from harsh winters. Now to find some in my area. I don't mind if it's a couple heifers. I can have them AI'd since there is a huge number of good bulls in service. I just can't find a breeder in my area yet.
We just have 40 acres and have horses and mules but we also have 40 acres rented and I'd like to get a couple now, just can't locate any.

 

[jhm47]

Good luck on your brahmans. It would be my opinion that SW Missouri seldom has really "harsh" winters. I would consider a harsh winter to be -20 to -30 with 30 mph winds for up to three to four weeks, like we sometimes have here in SD. While I'm not very familiar with the climate of SW Mo, I doubt that you would ever have anything like that.

When we get a stretch of weather like this, we have to use a lot of straw for the cows to lie down on, and it also takes about 50% more feed each day. Not a profitable scenario.

Some may question why we don't put the cows inside. The reason is that they emit a tremendous amount of water vapor in their normal breathing, and the air quickly becomes saturated, which causes the cows to get pneumonia. An open shed is OK, but it soon becomes full of manure, and it's impossible to clean frozen manure and haul it out to our fields. Therefore it's best to have the cows outside, out of the prevailing winds, and well bedded.

 

[smoothmule]

Thank you for your wise words of wisdom

 

[rittert3]

I have some personal experience with them fairly close to you I'm near Topeka Ks and a feedlot I worked for last winter bought all southern cattle with alot of brahman influence, between the shipping stress, quick change in climate, crowded conditions, and their thin hides we lost alot (5-8%) they also didn't respond to meds as well. So my suggestion would be to buy localy, don't over crowd and give them that shelter.

 

[smoothmule]

I found a Brahman heifer and bought her on Christmas Eve. She's being delivered here today. I just wanted to thank everyone for the information. I'll post photo's of her later. She's 11 months old, grey, purebred but not registered. I plan to breed her the first time to a bull, likely angus, that has low birth weights. After that, I'd like to find a fairly meaty Gir/Gyr type bull that is spotted and ships semen.

 

[smoothmule]

Ritter3,
She will have an open shed for windbreak but I hope to find another cow or heifer so they will have each other for warmth too. It's hanging in the single digits to teens at night here now.

 

[smoothmule]

Eve (Bought her Christmas Eve, plus she's my first Brahman) arrived this afternoon. She came out of the trailer like a wild thang but she quieted quickly and I put my foxtrotter pony filly in with her for company. She seems very inquisitive. I have read they are similar to mules vs horses as far as intelligence so we should get along well since I've raised mules for over 12 years.

She hasn't run the fence at all and ate her sweet feed but wasn't eating the hay till I gave her a buddy.

I have more and better pictures to share but my batteries went out just before I downloaded to the computer. I'm re-charging now and will post more pics later.

 

[smoothmule]

Geez, it's been a while from the dates on my first posts. I thought I'd update here. The heifer I named Eve was a "wild thang". She arrived in a small stock trailer and had obviously had a rough ride but she seemed to settle in fine. Over a short period of time, it was obvious she didn't like people. I was determined she would be my "pet cow" though. She was beautiful and I started out like I have with horses to gentle them that had been roughly handled. I read that the Brahman breed does not take well to abuse and can be dangerous if raised with abuse. She was about a year old when I got her and it took almost 2 years for her to actually "trust me". Now, I never set out to make her a real pet, I just wanted a nice, quiet mamma cow out in the pasture with some of my horses. I don't have the time here to tell the entire story but in a nutshell, she came to be calm in my presence and look to me when she was stressed whether in the pens or pasture. The other thing that was clear was that she did Not like men and that is putting it mildly.

I changed her name to Babe, well that was what always came out of my mouth when I called her so it stuck. She's matured into a beautiful heifer and has been bred to an Angus bull for her first calf in March 2012. She was with 2 black bulls here for 6 months after she turned 2 and she didn't even come into heat which was another thing I read about Brahman cattle, they don't mature as young as other breeds. She was plenty big, over 750 pounds at 2 yrs old but still not ready. When she was ready, the boys had moved the bulls back out with there cows at the rent place so Babe was on her own and you know how a heifer in heat can be. She got out twice, the first time she was up the road (gravel/rural) and I walked up with a bucket and she trotted along behind me all the way home, even stepping over the hotwire when I held it down with a stick for her to come through the gate on the hill. She got out the next heat cycle and ended up in the pasture with the neighbors cattle and found the bull of her dreams. They were great and let her stay there a couple weeks till they moved the herd and they penned her with the bull then loaded them both up later and dropped her off here then took the bull back to the herd. Gotta be thankful for great neighbors.

My son bought a couple of bred cows and put them in the pasture with Babe so they could gentle them to come up for grain before taking them to the rent place. I've discovered she isn't just a "crazy cow" and hates men, she is also a Diva. She has been with these 2 cows for 3 weeks and she still stays as far from them as she can. She loves the horses and mingles with them and stays close but not with these "ordinary" cows, Silly heifer.

In the end, if she doesn't try to kill someone (and she seems to be better) then she gets to stay. I really hope motherhood doesn't create a real monster or we will be eating her. I think she is gorgeous. I love this breed and would like to consider more like her if they aren't all like her. Artificial insemination is out of the question with this girl so I have been looking for a nice Brahman bull calf.

I expect she will have a really nice black calf in March and I will post here when she does. These photo's were taken this evening...

Here are some photo's taken today of my crezy cow, Babe.