# Jersey/ Brahman cross



## Horseychick87 (Jun 4, 2015)

I was cruising around the internet looking at cute calves and stumbled across a few Jersey / Brahman and Jersey/ Zebu crosses. Other than how cute they are I couldn't find too much information on either cross.

Does anyone on here know anything about this cross?

How well do they milk?

Do the steers finish well?

Do they have any faults?

Just curious as I was looking at purebred Jerseys and some Zebu and Florida Cracker cattle and would like to know how these crosses might stack up.

Thank you for any help.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

When we were milking a few years back one of our neighboring dairyman was planning to get out the next year during a buyout offer. As a result of his planning, he used a Brahman bull on all of his Jersey cows for two years prior to getting out. He kept all the heifer calves and raised them on the bottle while milking the mothers. 

The result after two years when he was ready to get out of milking was 60-70 of the best heifers\future mama cows one could have. They milked good but foraged well. He put a black bull on them and the offspring of that was what he ended up keeping for his permanent herd. His son is still raising 100+ of these cows in a closed herd today. They are 1\2 angus, 1/4 jersey, and 1/4 brahman. He's basically got the best set of small brangus cattle around that show 0% dairy look at the sale barn. 

IDK how they finish out as feeders but they sell well at the sale barn.


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## CIW (Oct 2, 2007)

You likely would not have many EPD records to go from either of those breeds of cattle so it would likely be a crap shoot. I'm not saying that you wouldn't have success, just that you would be starting totally blind.
First, definitely figure out what your goals would be, then try it and see. Make informed decisions and cull heavy.
That's how breeds like the Santa Gretrudis cattle were started. They had 2 goals. A cow that milked well and would raise a marketable calf economically in the South Texas plains. They keyed in on a bull named "Monkey Face" for their sucess.


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## Horseychick87 (Jun 4, 2015)

Thank you both for your replies. 

My main goal would be a heat tolerant animal that would do well on the poor grasses we have here (very sandy 'soil' if you can call it soil, haha.) That would hopefully produce a calf that would finish out to a decent weight (I don't need 700 pounds of beef, though I could give some to family members if need be.) And produce enough milk for a small family (3-4 people.) 

I think I'm looking for a fairytale cattle breed.

I know Brahmans do well in the heat, and Jersey's are good milkers, so I was hoping that a cross between the two would put me closer to what I'm looking for. If not I might look into a Jersey/ Florida Cracker cross, or just some Cracker cattle.


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