Pineywoods Cattle breed

Any permies with expeience with Pineywoods cattle? How does the beef taste? They are a dual purpose heritage breed acclimated to hot humid areas. The sizing seems good for homesteading. And they eat browse. I've read they even pick ticks off on another.

http://www.helium.com/items/1618981-cattle-breed-facts-pineywoods-cattle

http://www.pcrba.org/

Check out Koinonia Partners. www.koinoniapartners.org It's an intentional community in SW GA. One of the farmers there, Brendan, is way into permaculture and he's getting a herd of these cattle started....

Thanks - I've read about them. It's great that they are getting this breed and helping to bring it back from the edge!

We have experience...great cattle. Let us know specific questions.

As far as taste...my family much prefers the pineywoods over our commercial cattle.

Let us know specific questions.

Thanks David.

1. How is their disposition/temperament? The South Polls are super easy going and gentle. I've heard nightmares about Brahmas.

2. Do they breed back consistently?

3. Do they calf without assistance or are you pulling calves?

4. How is their mothering ability? Will the mothers self-wean?

Thanks again!

*They are very easy going. No issues with my cattle and humans.
*Breedback wise, mine seem to breed back a little early every year. I started with April Calving, and am now backed up to late Jan/February calving. Next year am going to keep bull separate until late May.
*Never pulled a calf...even with first time heifers. We've been through four or five calving seasons, and this year calved 19 Mommas and 3 heifers.
*Strong protective Mother's...don't really self wean...they just keep right on milking with the next calf (we keep ours a little over two years before butchering)
The few drawbacks are that the sale barns will heavily discount this breed, and that they seem to take longer to get to finish. Mine usually are well into their 3rd summer before finishing (about 26-30 months). We have never had a need to take to sale barn as have a direct marketing outlet, but it would be nice to have the sale barn as a viable option.

Hey, y'all! I know this is an old post, but I was searching for information on Pineywoods and figured the best place to start is with a post that already exists! I have a few additional questions to the ones above, if you don't mind answering them.

1. What does the final meat product end up looking like? Hanging weight, meat distribution, etc?
2. How much milk do you get each day? Have you tried calf sharing and if so, how much milk then? What's the cream percentage like? Are they small enough to need to put them up on a stand to milk or can a typical stanchion be ok? Is their milk A2/A2?
3. Feed needs? Acreage needs (especially with rotational grazing- although I know this tends to depend on the pasture quality)? How much hay and water do they go through?
4. How long do they live? How long are they able to keep being bred?
5. Are they easy enough to handle for a new homesteader? Are bulls easy to handle? Are they light on the land?
6. I've seen mention of parasite resistance; do they manage to avoid other health issues as well?
7. Any luck grazing them under nut trees? I'm really interested in silvopasture systems.

Thanks so much! I have been considering Dexters for their diminutive size and dual-purpose nature, but I am trying to focus on American-native heritage breeds, so I would love to use Pineywoods. Plus, Dexters seem to be recovering well, and I would love to work toward preserving something as foundational to our culture as the Pineywoods. Trouble is that they're so rare that it's hard to find details about them. I've found a farm that raises them a few hours away, so I plan to visit sometime this fall, but I would also just love to hear whatever y'all might be able to offer about life with these cool cattle!

Hey Chelsea - wow...that is an old post.  I'll take a shot at your questions...
1.  We get about 250 lbs of beef off each finished steer.  Hanging weights around 450.
2.  We don't milk ours.  There is a lady down the highway from us that has though.  She shared with the calf and I think she said she got a gallon milking once/day.  She just put a stool beside her cow...no other setup.
3.  They need grazing.  The cows weigh between 750 and 950, and eat about 2.5% bodyweight dry matter each day...same as most other ruminants.  Figure 20-25 lbs of dry matter daily per cow.  During the winter if there is no grazing, we plan to provide a 4x5 round bale per cow per month...about a bale a day for our herd.  We usually end up with leftover at end of winter though.
4.  I have a friend that has one that is 18 and still calving.  My oldest are 11 now and provide a calf every year.
5.  They are much more docile than the angus herd we have.  Easy enough is hard question for me to answer.  Other than them stepping on my foot every now and again, haven't had any problems.
6.  They don't have health issues.  We've lost one cow and one calf out of an average of 50 head over the past decade.  I belive the two we lost were due to snakebites, but not real sure.
7.  Yes, we graze them in silvopasture part of the time.  Given their small size, I would think they are perfect for a nut orchard.      

Good luck...I suspect you are from somewhere near me.  We sell heifers every year, so find evergreen east farm on facebook and you'll find us.