Crossbreeding with KiwiCross®

Benefits of KiwiCross

KiwiCross bulls take the guesswork out of crossbreeding. They’re a cross between Holstein-Friesian and Jersey that give you the best of both breeds. 

We launched KiwiCross in 2005 and they are now one our most popular breeds of artificial breeding bulls.

Crossbreeding produces what’s called hybrid vigour — an increase in desirable traits in the crossbred offspring. These include:

• higher productivity
  
• better fertility
  
• greater longevity
  

Use KiwiCross bulls to maintain hybrid vigour in the offspring of cows you’ve crossbred yourself. KiwiCross bulls also maintain hybrid vigour in the offspring of 100% KiwiCross cows.

Choose individual KiwiCross bulls or get a team of bulls

Choose individual Alpha KiwiCross bulls to breed from, or choose a team of Premier Sires KiwiCross bulls.  

You can also buy a No Choice pack to get a team of Alpha KiwiCross bulls with a high Jersey content.

Choose Premier Sires KiwiCross bull teams

Choose individual Alpha KiwiCross bulls

No Choice KiwiCross High Jersey Content Pack — contact your LIC rep.

Hybrid vigour explained

Hybrid vigour happens when you cross animals of different breeds. The resulting offspring tend to perform better than the average of their parents.

Hybrid vigour is strongest in the first cross between parent breeds. That means you’ll get the most benefits when you cross a Holstein-Friesian with a Jersey.

You can maintain 50% hybrid vigour by crossing the resulting animal with one of the parent breeds — or by using a KiwiCross bull.

KiwiCross makes it easy to maintain the best of both breeds in your herd. We do the hard work of making sure you get a good mix of both.

Different breed splits to suit different needs 

In response to demand from farmers the bulls in our Premier Sires KiwiCross Daughter Proven team have a higher percentage of Holstein-Friesian than Jersey. 

For KiwiCross bulls with more Jersey than Holstein-Friesian, buy our No Choice KiwiCross High Jersey Content Pack. It’s one of our Alpha packs and is made up of a team of Daughter Proven KiwiCross bulls with a high Jersey content.