Skip to main content

A herd of Brafords for Cheslyn Rise

I wrote recently about how we were intending to raise steers on Cheslyn Rise with a long term plan to buy a herd of cows to breed cattle, so that we weren't tied to buying and selling through the sale yards.  We were on the look out for a suitable herd, but never expected to find them so quickly!  We are quite picky, we wanted to buy an established herd of about 20 cows that had been together for a few years, they had to be all one breed, and a breed that was suitable for our property, and they were preferably from a cattle tick-free area, so that we didn't have to pay to have them inspected for ticks.




Farmer Pete had been looking on farmstock for cattle, just to keep an eye on prices, when he found a herd of about 20 Braford cows and calves for sale near Wondai, which is tick-free.  So off we went to have a look at the herd.  The owner wasn't actually sure how many cows were there (and they are very difficult to count, as they don't stand still).  Eventually we made an offer which the owner accepted and so began the work to organise for the herd to come to Cheslyn Rise.  This involved transferring the money, booking a transport company, preparing our yards with food and water and then finally, helping to load them on the truck.  In truth we're still trying to figure out how many cows we have!  We have 52 animals in total, and some of the heifers have turned out to be cows, so we think its now 25 cows, 23 small calves and 4 larger steers and heifers.  We are still trying to watch them in the yards to work out which calf belongs to which cow, they don't stay together for long, the calves tend to run around and play together.  We have a friend with a Braford Bull for sale, so he will be coming to the property when we are sure that all the cows have finished calving (so that we can have them all in calf at the same time).


The Braford breed is a consistent cross between Brahman and Hereford cattle, first developed in Australia in the 1940s.  Brahman cattle are originally from India, they are from the Bos Indicus species of cattle, and coming from hotter areas they are better adapted to a hot climate and more resistant to parasites than the European Bos Taurus species.  Brahman typically have a hump on their back, floppy skin around their necks, droopy ears and can be grey or red in colour.  Hereford cattle are a traditional meat breed originating from England.  They were bred on pasture and are known for high efficiency of feed conversion, high fertility, docility and moderate size.  The gives the Braford the following characteristics:
  • Temperament - docile and active, good foragers on pasture
  • Calving ease - small calves at birth, with good weight gain
  • Fertility & heat tolerance  - high calving rate, even in hot weather
  • Resistant to Eye Cancer, bloat & parasites - while these can be problems for Herefords, the addition of the Bos Indicus genes is reported to improve these conditions in Brafords.
  •  Taste - apparently they taste really good, we will find out for ourselves soon enough!
I've written more about the Braford Bull here, and the Braford breed in general here.

What do you think of our new cows?






Comments

  1. A Brahman and Hereford cross has to be a good thing, they are beautiful and you are lucky to get a herd like that. I'll bet that brightened up your winter day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations! Sounds like you've put some thought into it. I've never heard of this mix before but it sounds like they are perfect for your needs. Exciting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. And I thought to just look at them, they were Herefords. Now I have learned about a new breed Brafords. Are they considered a breed in their own right, or are they only considered a hybrid?

    I think it's really exciting to try them out on your new property, and I'm sure you all have much learning to do together.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brilliant news Liz! I've never heard of this cross before but it really sounds like you've got the best beasts for your environment. Brahmas...I think I can picture that type of cow from documentaries on India? Can't wait to hear how they taste (all Hindus please tune off for that post ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks all, Braford is actually a breed, even though it sounds made up. In Australia there are several Brahman crosses that are considered breeds in their own right, including Brangus (Brahman/Angus), Droughtmaster (Brahman/shorthorn) and the USA Santa Gertrudis (also Brahman/shorthorn).

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks, I appreciate all your comments, suggestions and questions, but I don't always get time to reply right away. If you need me to reply personally to a question, please leave your email address in the comment or in your profile, or email me directly on eight.acres.liz at gmail.com

Popular posts from this blog

The new Eight Acres website is live!

Very soon this blogspot address will automatically redirect to the new Eight Acres site, but in the meantime, you can check it out here .  You will find all my soaps, ebooks and beeswax/honey products there, as well as the blog (needs a tidy up, but its all there!).  I will be gradually updating all my social media links and updating and sharing blog posts over the next few months.  I'm very excited to share this new website with you!

Chicken tractor guest post

Sign up for my weekly email updates here , you will find out more about chickens, soap and our farmlife, straight to your inbox, never miss a post!  New soap website and shop opening soon.... Tanya from Lovely Greens invited me to write a guest post on chicken tractors for her blog.  I can't believe how many page views I get for chicken tractors, they seem to be a real area of interest and I hope that the information on my blog has helped people.  I find that when I use something everyday, I forget the details that other people may not be aware of, so in this post for Tanya, I tried to just write everything I could think of that I haven't covered in previous posts.  I tried to explain everything we do and why, so that people in other locations and situations can figure out how best to use chicken tractors with their own chickens. The dogs like to hang out behind the chicken tractors and eat chicken poo.  Dogs are gross! If you want to read more about chicken tractor

How to make soap with beer (and tallow)

I may  have mentioned this before.... soap making is addictive!  Once you start, you just want to keep making more soap.  And not the same soap, you want to try all sorts of different soaps.  I made the mistake of joining a facebook group called Saponification Nation  and now my facebook newsfeed is full of glorious soaps, in all colours and shapes, which makes it even harder to resist the urge to experiment.  One soap that kept popping up a few weeks ago was soap made with beer. I generally prefer not to use ingredients just for the sake of it, I like to know that they are adding something to the properties of the finished soap.   As you know, I don't like to use artificial ingredients either (colours or fragrances).   When I read about beer in soap I found out that beer adds sugar to the mixture, which increases lather.  I use tallow in my soap, which has limited lather, so anything that adds lather could improve the soap.  It also contributes a tan or brown colour to