Bigfoot":2lr0sf58 said:
Everybodies approach would be different. I'd tighten them to calve from feb-April, and a second group from sep-nov. I'd even give them a couple of calf crops to get in those windows. I'm sure there good cows, that calve every 12 months. Keep good records, and I'd only sell the ones going over a year. Just my opinion. If later, you prefer one calving cycle over the other, you could focus accordingly.
A neighbor of ours had the same problem. It wasn't long before he realized he didn't want it. You can't compare cows' production, you can't sell for as much (too small of groups), and you really can't tell the fertility of the cows--all bad. For the sake of your finances, I would have all the cows preg checked by a vet who can tell if they are 30+ days bred. If they have a calf that is 4 months old and are not bred, wean the calf and sell the cow. After weaning, sell the calf even if it is a heifer you want to keep. You don't want more cows like this in the herd. The only exception I would consider is if the calf was extremely large--and probably only if the cow was under 4. But exceptions mean that you have a cow that is outside of your normal breeding season, and an exception would have to be very significant to want to bother with a cow that wants to be different.
Then separate the cows into two calf crops--one will be spring and the other fall. (If you do not have the pasture for two herds, then leave them together.) Cows with small calves move into the nearest calving season. Each bred cow then is part of the nearest calving season. I'm not sure where you are, but if lots of snow, then maybe turn the bull out in May-July. Some bulls go sterile in summer, so I'd have him Breeding Soundness Examined (BSE) to make sure he isn't sterile or not producing semen.
August 1, after he's been with the cows for 3 months and probably didn't have more than 25 cows to breed (and a bull should be able to do this easily in 2 months), put him in his own pen and let him rest until December. If it was my herd and I wanted to keep as many as I could, I would have them preg checked about September 15. Then I'd know who was bred for sure and who was not. (If you're trying to preserve as many of the cows as you can, leave him in 4 months at a time the first year--that will give nearly every cow a chance to get bred, but the second year, they need to do it in the 3 month period, and if you want to push the cows, move him after 2.5 months--that is 3 heat cycles, and if they can't get bred in 3 heat cycles, they're either a heifer (who still should) or a cow that is not fertile or aged and losing fertility.)
The first part of December, put him in with the other cows (or if you only have one pasture, put him back in with the herd). By now the second set should have calved or be very close. Leave him in with them until the end of February giving him 3 months to get them bred. Then pull him again from March 1 through May 1--preg checking about 45 days after he is removed. Put him back in the herd on May 1.
At the end of each breeding season, I'd either call a vet to examine each animal (other than the ones he found pregnant the time before) or I'd use blood testing to see if they are bred. (Blood testing you have to wait almost 30 days after the bull is pulled, then you send the blood to BioPryn and they are very accurate--costs about $3 a cow (they need to have calved something like 72 days prior to the test)). Any cow that was not bred and had a calf that was over 4 months would go down the road. (To calve within a 12 month period, she needs to be pregnant when the calf is 3 months old.) If she can't get bred in 90 days, she has a problem. If she calved in the 30 days before you pulled the bull, she still needs to be pregnant so she will be within the range of when the bull is put in next year. So if not bred, she needs to go. You will only need the vet out twice a year for this, and it is worth it to be sure you have cows that are fitting in a year calving cycle.
Any cow that does not produce a calf in the last 13-15 months must go. In fact, you'd be better off not keeping cows that didn't produce a calf in the last 12 months, but some have reasons to skip. If you give skippers a break, they might continue to skip every other year. The only time I would give a skipper a break is if she is on her first calf or if she has produced exceptional calves--again see the comment above. Skippers that go over 15 months need to go down the road. Even if they produce big calves, they need to go unless you want to spread your calving season back over a whole year again.
If you have one pasture but make two breeding seasons by putting the bull in to correspond to when you want calves, you will have split the cows into two herds, you will get money twice a year on the herd, and those that are late breeding will be gone. If you can split the herd into two, it would be better yet. I would suggest that you continue having the vet come out every six months and continue culling. If it costs $500 to feed a cow for a year, she needs to be producing something to pay for her keep.
If you have only one pasture, I would pull him March 1 through May 1, and August 1 through December 1 so you can sort the cows out into two calving seasons. Although you will have some that get missed and carry over, any cow that didn't calve within a 90 day period would be sold, but more importantly, a cow that didn't calve within a 12 month period needs to go down the road, and a heifer that doesn't calve within 14 months should be looked at carefully to leave--you don't want this type of production. Cow prices are too good right now to keep cows that are being a problem.
That's just my thoughts on your dilemma.
