Building up my herd

[icandoit]

Tell me if this makes sense to you men and women. I have 70 acres. 6 is used for the house I'm building and fruit trees, garden etc. 25 is in Jiggs Bermuda that I will use in the wintertime. The rest, 39 acres, will be used for the cows. I plan on cross fencing the 39 acres and getting 2 bulls to rotate the cows through. How's that? Any suggestions? How many cows with the bulls in the equation can I or should I run on that 39 acres?

Thanks For Any Input
Dick

 

[denoginnizer]

Consult your county extension agent on stocking rates. In my area 1 pair to every 5or 6 acres works well. I cant hardly see the need for but one bull and AI may be your best bang foy your buck on a herd that sized. Good luck and have fun.

 

[sidney411]

Hey, I'm not too far from you and If your place is anything like mine (native grass pasture) you will only be able to put about 9 or 10 cows on 39 acres without really overgrazing the place and damaging it. I'm figuring on 39 acres of pasture, if it is wooded or brushy then you may have to adjust your stocking rate accordingly. There is no need for 2 bulls. One will do it and it would be even better if you could A.I. or rent a bull for a couple of months.

I have a place I rent that is 23 acres w/ 17 acres of it being open pasture, the rest is wooded. I put 5 bred cows w/calves on it (it was pretty grown up, grass was nearly knee high) and they have cleared the place! I actually had to move them off a couple of months ago, before I had to start feeding hay.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Consult your county extension agent on stocking rates. In my area 1 pair to every 5or 6 acres works well. I cant hardly see the need for but one bull and AI may be your best bang foy your buck on a herd that sized. Good luck and have fun.

That's a good idea...the County Extension Agent...if there is such a thing that knows anything or is willing to do anything other than advise 4-H projects or schedule home canning activities...

If you find a CEA that is actually knowledgable of farm and ranch operations and is willing to visit your place, will return phone calls or e-mails, or come for a consultation....well...fantastic!

 

[1848]

I agree, two bulls are not needed. Plus your asking for trouble with no space and just fence between them. Even if they are ok with each other normally, cows in heat will probably cause them to fight.

 

[icandoit]

Totally confused, I was lost in the 1 bull thing. Brain started to twitch. Couldn't get it. Had another cup of coffee and relaxed and POW, IT CAME TO ME. One bull, rent the other or AI. DUH, I get it now. :lol:

Remember:

1. I'm a rookie
2. Have too much on my small brain (building a house right now and all my attention is towards that).
3. Can't chew gum and walk at the same time.
4. My sons drove me crazy

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks for the info my friends
Dick Austin

 

[Campground Cattle]

1 Bull be able to handle everything you can run on 39 acres in Flatonia, unless you have all 39 acres sprigged in World Feeder . Ha thats some sorry grass.

 

[icandoit]

The 39 acres will be improved pasture. I'm going to sprig it with coastal bermuda or Tifton 85. I hope that gives everybody a better look at the situation. I should have said that at the beginning. Sorry about that.

Dick

 

[Campground Cattle]

Still just need one bull.

 

[Farmhand]

I don't know about the bull to cow ratio where you are at but I agree it sounds like you will only need 1 bull. We run 1 bull to about 60 cows but we calve three times a year. Find out your bull to cow ratio for your situation then decide how often you want to calve. That will determine how many bulls you need.

 

[la4angus]

The rest, 39 acres, will be used for the cows. I plan on cross fencing the 39 acres and getting 2 bulls to rotate the cows through. How's that? Any suggestions? How many cows with the bulls in the equation can I or should I run on that 39 acres?

Thanks For Any Input
Dick

It would be real hard for you to have to many cows on 39 acres to need more than one mature bull.

 

[denoginnizer]

I worded my response poorly. You wont need but 1 bull. I was thinking that you would probably only have 6 or 8 cows and that buying a bull might not be monetaraily justified because of so few cows. Thats why I mentioned AI. As someone mentioned, renting a bull might even be a better option .

 

[denoginnizer]

Also, If you buy bred cows you could put off using a bull for a while.

 

[Ferdinand D Bull]

Why exactly are you wantin to run 2 bulls? You'll barely be able to run enough cows on 39 acres to keep 1 bull busy. 2 bulls would be downright bored.

What do you plan to do with those Jiggs in the wintertime?

 

[denoginnizer]

The guy is new so lets take it easy on him. We were all beginners at one time or another.

 

[polledbull]

1 Bull be able to handle everything you can
run on 39 acres in Flatonia, unless you have all 39 acres sprigged in World Feeder . Ha thats some sorry grass.

Is the world feeder god grass ??

 

[icandoit]

Why exactly are you wantin to run 2 bulls? You'll barely be able to run enough cows on 39 acres to keep 1 bull busy. 2 bulls would be downright bored.

What do you plan to do with those Jiggs in the wintertime?

This is why I'm asking the questions Ferdinand. My thought process was if you have 2 bulls you eliminate the 1st time heifer breeding back to its poppa. I know now I should have just sent you a PM and ask all my questions directly to you because you knew everything from birth. After all, this is the "Beginners Board". If I would have posted this question on any other board, I would have been in error. The "Beginners Board" is where all these questions should be asked. I also reread my post and I couldn't see anywhere where I said anything about Jigging my pastures. Sprigging and Jigging are two different methods. In case you need and update, I'm sending along a couple of websites for you on Jigging to be read at your leisure. I thank you for the time and effort you put into your response. Now, take some tylenol for that headache you have and relax.


http://southwestfarmpress.com/mag/farmi ... _headache/

http://tcebookstore.org/tmppdfs/4725701-E179.pdf

Dick

 

[Campground Cattle]

World feeder is sorry grass and a hoax

 

[icandoit]

I want to apologise for saying I didn't mention mention Jiggs in my first post. I did. I guess, after reading the post again, that I meant I will plant Jiggs Bermuda Grass, to be baled and used for hay in the wintertime. I apologise for any misinterpretation on my part.

Dick

 

[Ferdinand D Bull]

No problem icandoit. I was a little hard on you about the bulls too. My suggestion on the bulls is to run one at a time. If you keep daughters you can sell him and buy another. No need to run two on that acreage. More trouble than its worth.

As for the Jiggs, wasnt implying you didnt' know sprigging from jiggs. I'd suggest you might think about buying your hay and jsut grazing the extra 25 acres. Its sometimes hard to find a custom baler to agree to cut and bale such a small patch. You'll be down on their list behind the big guys. Jiggs is pretty good grass but check your soil. Tifton might be better. All the tests of Tifton85 have it blowing all other grasses out of the water as far as production goes.

I can tell sarcasm when I hear it but you can pm me anytime you want for more advise.