Bull all year round

[cypressfarms]

Does it really matter how long the bull is in if he gets his job done right the first time around? He needs to be out of the herd during and after calving for awhile but other than that why not leave him in?

Jim

Why???

 

[MF135]

Does it really matter how long the bull is in if he gets his job done right the first time around? He needs to be out of the herd during and after calving for awhile but other than that why not leave him in?

Jim

Why???

I've never had a problem w/ it either.

 

[Suzie Q]

Our bull is not taken our during and after calving.

 

[fit2btied]

Does it really matter how long the bull is in if he gets his job done right the first time around? He needs to be out of the herd during and after calving for awhile but other than that why not leave him in?

Jim

Why???

I've never had a problem w/ it either.

Don't know why SR thinks that but one calving season we had one bull that would not leave the cows alone when they were trying to calve. He would chase them around and try to mount them, some even with feet sticking out. We had to pen him up so they could lay down long enough to spit out the calf. He only did this one calving season, after he turned 5. He picked up several other little nasty habits about that same time. Don't know how he turned out - he didn't see 6 here.

 

[SRBeef]

Does it really matter how long the bull is in if he gets his job done right the first time around? He needs to be out of the herd during and after calving for awhile but other than that why not leave him in?

Jim

Why???

I take my bull out during and for a period after calving for several reasons, even if he leaves them alone during the calving process itself.

Even at best the cows will calve at a minimum over one cycle or 21 days. Usually it takes 2 cycles or 42 days to get them all calved. Cows come back into heat at various lengths of time after calving.

Leaving the bull in during and after calving WILL have the effect of spreading your calving season more and more every year.

By taking the bull out just ahead of calving and until all cows have calved and hopefully are back cycling and ready to go again (about 60 days after calving start) I can keep a very tight calving period yet have the bull in the herd MOST of the year.

I put the bull in on June 6 last year. Calving will therefore start March 15th or 16th. My goal is to have them all calve by April 15th or sooner.

So the bull is out of the herd from about March 1 to June 6th. By June 6th most cows should be 60 days past calving and cycling again. jmho.

Jim

 

[agmantoo]

I have a cow/calf operation with approximately 100 brood cows and do year round rotational grazing and calving. Hay is fed only during droughts. Most years I can achieve this objective by carrying a cow the full year plus her calf 'til sold at around 550 lbs on 1.4 acres. This reduces the number of bulls required and gives me at least an income 4 times a year. I neither sell all into the low nor the high of the market in doing this. I feel I get an average. The most difficult task for me is trying to balance the available feed to the herd during the various seasons. I do have to be careful not to move the herd any distance and leave a calf behind.

 

[VanC]

I agree as most of mine are on a ten and half to eleven month interval. Have a 14 year old girl that went 15 months this year good teeth and BCS has always calved at eleven months. If she goes past 12 months this year she ship's. She could have slipped a calf in the first trimester.

Caustic,

Using your 'ol gal as an example: First calf at 2 years old, she's now 14. That means calving every 11 months has netted you one extra calf over her 12 reproductive years.

On the other hand, having a 10 1/2 to 11 month calving interval instead of 12 might shorten the reproductive life of the cow by a year or two. So it could end up being a wash. Just a thought.

 

[cypressfarms]

I agree as most of mine are on a ten and half to eleven month interval. Have a 14 year old girl that went 15 months this year good teeth and BCS has always calved at eleven months. If she goes past 12 months this year she ship's. She could have slipped a calf in the first trimester.

Caustic,

Using your 'ol gal as an example: First calf at 2 years old, she's now 14. That means calving every 11 months has netted you one extra calf over her 12 reproductive years.

On the other hand, having a 10 1/2 to 11 month calving interval instead of 12 might shorten the reproductive life of the cow by a year or two. So it could end up being a wash. Just a thought.

Most of the old cows around here that go out, do so because they've lost their teeth and can't forage/keep their shape up. If their teeth are good and they can keep their shape, they can raise a calf. I couldn't see why having that extra calf would cost them productive years. JMO though

 

[backhoeboogie]

I agree on the teeth Cypress. Good teeth make for good cows.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I agree on the teeth Cypress. Good teeth make for good cows.

Good grass make for good teeth = longevity, I got some girls old enough to vote.

 

[VanC]

Caustic,

Using your 'ol gal as an example: First calf at 2 years old, she's now 14. That means calving every 11 months has netted you one extra calf over her 12 reproductive years.

On the other hand, having a 10 1/2 to 11 month calving interval instead of 12 might shorten the reproductive life of the cow by a year or two. So it could end up being a wash. Just a thought.

Most of the old cows around here that go out, do so because they've lost their teeth and can't forage/keep their shape up. If their teeth are good and they can keep their shape, they can raise a calf. I couldn't see why having that extra calf would cost them productive years. JMO though

Because being pregnant and nursing a calf is harder on the cow. She is basically feeding two instead of one. I figured maybe taking a short break from that each year might lenghthen her life span. I could be wrong, and I have nothing to back up my theory. As I said, just a thought.

 

[cypressfarms]

Back to the original reason of the post:
I went back and looked at my records for the cows/calving. The past three years have been kind of hap-hazard with me being sick and a couple of other things. For various reasons, my bull has stayed with the cows longer than in years before. As a result I have three cows that have jumped from calving in March to now calving this year in November. While the rest of the cows may have moved up some, none moved like these three girls. So with that in mind, wouldn't the heifers from these three cows be more fertile than the "average"?, and wouldn't it make more sense to retain these first? If the bull had only been in a short period of time, I would not have known that these three girls were this fertile.

 

[TexasBred]

I agree on the teeth Cypress. Good teeth make for good cows.

Good grass make for good teeth = longevity, I got some girls old enough to vote.

Bet they got good feet too...don't need the teeth if they can't get to the groceries. Lots of young cattle culled every year because of bad feet.

 

[whitewing]

I guess I've got a mix of things going on here. I've got a group of young bulls that I'm evaluating and keep them together with my "padrote" or herd bull, separated from the cows. Several really young bulls I run with the cows to alert us when one comes into season. Once a cow or heifer is ready, I decide which bull I'm going to use and put them together in a separate pen. Within a short time the deed is done and all is noted in my ledger.

My Charolais, at least when I initially started with them, produced most of their calves in May and June, which just happens to coincide with the beginning of the rainy season. I guess that's logical and a good thing.

This past July, we bred a total of about 50 cows/heifers so April of next year should be a big month for us.

 

[9:4Ranch]

I know there are proponents for both sides of the bull issue; whether to have a specified time to keep the bull in (like 60 days), and then there are those that keep the bull all year round. I never was a all year rounder because eventually the calf crop will become un-uniform. Well I now have a new perspective.

Let me first say that over the last year I've been lucky enough to secure a contract with some local nursing homes to supply their beef.

I switched over to letting the bull stay with the cows year round. My thoughts were that I needed calves to supply my customers with meat all year, and I expected some cows to continually "move up" their birth date because of their better fertility. Most of the cows will drop a calf once a year, a third of my cows will move up a month or more each year of they are exposed to a bull.

So it's not even the 2nd week of November and I already have 7 calves on the ground. I think I like this spaced timing. The "normal" cows that pop out a calf once a year will still do o.k., but I'll just have to watch for the cows that don't keep that year calving interval up. Heck, I'd really like all of the cows to move up a month or two every year.(These are the cows that I really consider keepers and usually will think long and hard about retaining their heifers) As it stands, I'll have to buy 10 or more calves this December just to keep up with the demand. Hopefully the price will go down somewhat, and I can get some deals over the winter for my next crop due in April. Even if I bought 6 weights in January, I'd still be in good shape come April.

Just thought I'd bring a new view on an old argument.

Well I know this is old but how's this goin? I'm runnin a small heard(never more than 15) to sell by the cut or occasional side. We won't be sending calves off to sell with maybe the rare exception. Do you like your spacing? Any major breeding issues?