Untitled Document

Southend was founded by Max & Margaret Wise in 1994. They have been breeding cattle for 45 years.

After years as stud Poll Hereford in the 1960’s they changed out of the cattle into stud Merino breeding. But they could not stay away from cattle, with the purchase of a coastal property to run commercial cattle herd.

This was their first introduction to the Murray Grey Breed, as they were terrific performance, easy calving with quiet temperaments. With this sparked a desire to breed Murray Grey Bulls for other commercial cattleman

In 1994 they purchased a selection of stud Murray Grey females from the Wee-Gun dispersal sale, including Willalooka Heidi who was purchased with bull calf at foot, Wee-Gun Rambo MKF R821.

He became our foundation sire, and has left a lasting mark on our herd. In 1994 there was 19 active females on the stud’s inventory. Southend is now going into it’s 14th year of breeding superior, quality stud Murray Grey’s with a herd of between 110-120 pure silver breeding females.

Annual production is now between 30-40 stud bulls and 20 females including cows/ calf units and heifers.

The stud has it’s annual on-property sale in Katanning Western Australia, on the first Monday in February, which has solid sale results yearly with cliental returning each year.

Southend has had many milestone moments through the years, with many show successes, including Supreme Champion Murray Grey 2003 with a cow calf unit, Grand Champion MG Female at the Perth Royal in 2004 and Reserve Champion Murray Grey Bull at the Perth Royal 2005, and all breeds bull at Wagin Woolorama 2003.

The highlight of the studs success was during the auction of the elite stud WA females, where Southend Z – Urban Jewel was sold for the record price for an unmated heifer of $13,500.

Followed by the record price at the annual production sale in 2006, where Southend Zulu sold for the Southend Stud record of $10,750.

Currently at Southend Murray Grey Stud we have around 110-130 purebred Murray Grey Female on our active inventory. Every animal carries a 100% Murray Grey status; we have no Angus infusion in our cattle.
We pride ourselves in producing well-muscled, structurally correct bulls, with great growth for age. We maintain a type of cattle, with evenness being major factor in the successful breeding of Southend stock. They have smooth silver coats with soft fleshing ideal for the commercial market.

Southend has strict guidelines in ensuring that the main attributes of a Murray Grey are maintained, one feature being the particular attention to low birthweight, high growth cattle. We extensively are researching within our own herd with particular use of measurements and weights.

As yearling we measure the pin setting on the yearling females to ensure they reach our minimum width. Then each calf when born is weighed and the head is measured across the widest part, and recorded in our “Stud Day book”.

This gives us a better idea of which sires and dams are producing what size calves. These measurements are then correlated with the weaning weight, the mid year weight and mature weights to aid us to improve our breeding herd and to give the buyers more facts come sale day.

We are part of breedplan, but not put much emphasis on using the information it provides. We are firm believers in breeding cattle with a focus on the outlook of the animal and the actual data we collect on the animal, to get the optimum results for our clients. We have fantastic feedback from our clients on how useful our methods are, and the breedplan is there for those who wish to use it.