Is this the thickest Shorthorn heifer you've seen?

[Gargan]

In my opinion this is a belgian blue,or piedmontese cross calf.probably a wrong labelled semen straw.Notice how fine boned she is and that is a trait of both those breeds.

I think that's a trait of all double muscled animals-- I've never seen one that wasn't extremely fine boned...

I think it might also be an optical illusion, based off of how massive they are up high==- making it appear as if they are really frail down low-- where in all reality.. they aren't any different bone wise than a normal animal.

Roger that!! A lot of the old timers around here refer to them as teaswaters or teiswaters (spelling?). Any1 ever heard of doubled muscled calves being called this?

 

[knabe]

Igenity I think tests for 5 variants.

 

[vanridge]

No limo bull in the neighbour's pasture? Does the calf walk okay? Her back legs look stiff... JMHO

 

[Shady Lane]

Lot's of people are figuring this calf is a crossbred, I would not be at all surprised to find that she is a purebred Shorthorn.

Calves that express the double muscled trait to this extent are fairly rare, but I have seen a couple show up over the years. And they came from "Old School" Scotch, non appendix bloodlines.

The double muscling gene definitely exists in some Shorthorn populations, iGenity has a test for it.

I'd be sending her to town in the fall with the steers.

 

[lightnin4]

She does remind me alot of my neighbor's Piedmontese cattle.

 

[farmboy]

We've had 2 calves like this a long time ago. High % maines. Feed them out and butcher them. Some of the best steaks ever were eaten that year  (lol)

 

[sackshowcattle]

no its not optical illusion they are finer boned. 25 yrs ago when we only raised a few freezer calves dad always ran a piedmont bull on the cows. they would typically only loose 30 to 35 percent due to finer bone and extra muscle.  when we started the show herd dad was mad that all that cross got hauled off. It was a shock to see how much more loss there was with more conventional breeds the first few hauled in. to this day he tells me we should have kept some of those going. I didnt want to risk a bull geting into wrong pasture and all the extra hassle for just a few freezer calves every year.

 

[irishshorthorns]

A guy sent me this picture and asked me to post it on here for him.

Cool calf. Any updates for us Coyote?

 

[coyote]

The guy that owns her hasn't updated any pictures to me lately.
Irishshorthorns when you say cool what do you mean? I see a few pictures of cattle from across the pond that look like this. Is it a trait that breeders are looking for, or is it just certain breeds that want this look?

 

[Ohioteerchick]

Double muscled I'd say, but when you look at her she looks like she has a showpigs rear end haha

Those were my thoughts too.

Prime example of why you don't breed a pig to a cow.
Haha

 

[irishshorthorns]

The guy that owns her hasn't updated any pictures to me lately.
Irishshorthorns when you say cool what do you mean? I see a few pictures of cattle from across the pond that look like this. Is it a trait that breeders are looking for, or is it just certain breeds that want this look?

 

What I meant is that she is certainly a calf that would turn heads. We definitely don't want or need that sort of muscling in the Shorthorn breed, but perhaps if she was mated to a more moderate type bull the progeny might have a role. The Shorthorn breed is by it's nature a maternal breed and we must always keep our females right in their makeup and  phenotype - legs, feet, udders and pelvises while at the same time keeping birth weights moderate, but over here our payment system on carcases is based on meat yield and carcase shape - loin and backside. If you are sending a steer for slaughter he has to have a butt or you just won't get paid. I personally like bulls like Alta Cedar Code Red 24S and Perfect Storm 11U as they breed great females and the bulls you have to steer weigh and pay due to their shape. I also like Muridale Buster 14K but unfortunately we weren't able to get his semen over to this part of the world.

 

[frostback]

Double muscled I'd say, but when you look at her she looks like she has a showpigs rear end haha

Those were my thoughts too.

Prime example of why you don't breed a pig to a cow.
Haha

 

[wyatt]

a heifer up by us is double muscled and she was a wreck about the time they weaned her and now she is walking better than she ever has so i dont know how shes gonna do as a cow should be intresing <alien>

 

[colosteers]

I have a freezer full of a Maine X double muscled steer that we raised.  Biggest, leanest, chunk of red meat I ever seen.  Figured it was going to be tuff and dry--  but suprisingly, fairly tender, juicy and tasteless.

I am cooking it almost all on the bbq grill and adding alot of mesquite or hickory chips to get alot of smoke flavor, so it has some kind of taste.  Shouldnt complain about eating a steak that more than covers a plate, but real disappointed in no flavor.  The locker was concerned that it might not of had enuff of a fat cover to let it hang for 21 days, but was hanging over Christmas and through new yrs untill like the 3rd of January when they opened back up.

probably will eat another one if we have one born since we sell the best and eat the rest--  but hope we dont have another

Have a good one

 

[everybreedcounts]

that looks like the butt on a 2 year old bull. really bad. that heifer needs to be butchered. do notttttt breed her.

 

[knabe]

do notttttt breed her.

the only reason to breed an animal like this is if she scored really well on genetic tests and the genetic tests actually worked.

i know of a similar situation with two full sibs, one is a dm carrier, the other clean, but they have a lot of markers.  a few older maine bulls were dm carriers.  so are some fairly recent ones.  i think fear this was a dm carrier.

 

[Aussie]

knabe is it right that some French maine breeders are selecting and breeding for double muscling. I have a traditional maine breeder near me who showed me some pics from France and many looked dm

 

[knabe]

Yes they breed for dm and uglieness for some reason.

I think 4 of the 5 recently imported to aus are dm carriers.

 

[aj]

That is scary about the French deal.