Are South Poll are great for beginner cattle farmers
SP cattle are an excellent choice for new farmers. To read more in-depth about South Poll cattle straight from the source, read through the South Poll Associations’ official article.
But if you’d like our experiences with them, then read on. We started our farm in 2019 and chose South Poll cattle because of all the reasons most people choose them: heat-tolerant, fly resistant coats, good mothers, and docile. The latter two are why we went with them.
As new farmers, jumping right into cattle husbandry was daunting even with our past experiences. But never had we bought a new herd , had them delivered, and integrated intensive rotational grazing with little fencing besides an old perimeter fence.
When the delivery truck arrived, the cattle were hot and stressed from the 8-hour drive right in the heat of summer. No shade, really. No water. No feed. They were annoyed. We unloaded them into a small fenced-in pasture. They were worried but the moment they hit green grass and found the water, their famous temperaments began to come through.
Initially, we thought they wouldn’t want us around while we sent up poly wire. But our presence didn’t bother them much. Maybe a glance here and there, even the bull. They preferred to pay attention to the tall grasses they were in instead of becoming anxious of there surroundings.
The next day, we started rotationally grazing them. It helped that they came from a breeder [LINK] who practices rotational grazing and that is something you’ll want to look for in a South Poll breeder [LINK}.
So, are South Poll cattle good for inexperienced cattle farmers? Yes!
Are there behavior issues with South Poll bulls?
Fast forward a few months. During calving season, we moved our heifers and cows to a separate pasture and put the South Poll herd bull and the yearling bulls back in the smaller one they were delivered to. This is the moment that concerned us – when the herd bull became bored.
He was bored because he was stuck in a small pasture, constantly ‘playing’ or more like establishing dominance, with the yearling South Poll bulls without a herd of females to follow around. Buckeye, was his unofficial name and Buckeye became bored.
He never did challenge Alex when he was in the pasture, moving them rotationally. But he enjoyed pretend-charging the perimeter at us. And that was that – time to find a buyer for Buckeye and hope our little yearlings get the job done next breeding season. Our tolerance for any non-docile behavior is nil for our herd – that’s why we decided on the South Poll breed but Buckeye seemed to fall slightly out of the typical behavior expected.
Luckily, we found a buyer right away who wasn’t turned off by Buckeye’s behavior.
Fast forward again. The loading trailer came and Buckeye was easily moved into a corral. Then he willingly and obediently loaded onto the trailer. If you’re wondering, we checked in a few months later to see how the South Poll herd bull was doing and there were zero issues and only docility and ‘the best bull ever’ comments.
Do South Poll bulls have behavior issues? Maybe, when they’re bored. And I’m sure there are others who may say they aren’t much different from other bulls. But from our experiences, we’ve never come close to experiencing any dominance displays from bulls since Buckeye’s slight variance from the South Poll expectation. Though keep in mind, minding proper cattle handling procedures, such as keeping an eye on your bull at all times while in the pasture is always important – no matter how docile they are.
Are South Poll cows good mothers?
Another reason we went for South Poll cattle as beginner cattle farmers were their ease of calving. Neither one of us had experience with manually pulling a calf so the thought of wrenching one out of a cow during labor was far from our capability. And it was and still is, far from our wants as farmers.
We chose the breed because they are supposed to be good mothers. Good calving, good mothering instincts, and paired with low-docility – they are supposed to not try to charge and kill any farmers entering their space in the pasture around their newborn.
Is this true? Like, actually true?
We’re headed into our fourth full calving season and yet to have to pull calves. Even when we’ve grazed non-SP cows in our herd and bred them to our South Poll bull, the calves come out small but healthy. If you were to ask us their typical weight at birth, we can’t tell you because we never take them from their mom, even to just weigh them. But if you had to buy them a coat for the winter, I’d say buy an extra-large dog size. At least for the first few days.
Like most healthy calves, the South Poll calf, no matter how small, is up and running about 24-hours later. The burst of true energy, the kind where you can’t catch them if you had to hits around the 3-day mark.
The South Poll moms are calm and gentle with their calves. Their protective instinct ranges from barely there to worried mooing. But never have they ever charged us in the pasture though they are quite uncomfortable with us in that first 24-hours.
We’ve never experienced a cow abandon her calf nor have we had a cow offer to nurse a calf that wasn’t her own, even when we really wish one of them would. They rarely have an issue at weaning time, though weaning time is left to good genetics and mother nature. They usually kick their yearling calves off about a month or two before having another calf. But even the ones who don’t, haven’t had an issue nursing their newborn while maintaining weight, growing their calf, and staying healthy.
To say South Poll cows are good mothers, we’ve learned, is like asking if oranges are orange. Although, we did not know that for sure when we started with them but now, I can hardly believe we ever considered any other breed based on the South Poll’s mothering genetics!
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