higland cattle plan

[brownmule]

ok got a question, 1st thanks to all input earlier, i am now in contact with two farmers here in wv that rasie highlands, farmer 1 ,has 3 , two cows and a nice bull, one cow w/calf poss bred back. other 1/2 sister to bull, good price, other farmer#2 has 3, two cows and bull the bull we could use a breed stock or beef him in fall, little higher than farmer 1 but not bad either, now question,i want to get a herd statred,at some time i gonna need a service bull, do i buy one or rent one? which would be the best, i rasie mules, so i have to keep my jack from my mares till im ready for colts, no babies in the middle of winter please, so i'm gonna have to control breeding of the cows also! by best buddy jane{ she got donkey fever too} have this donkey/mule breeding down pat. but we're all new to the bovine. we know when our mares/jennys are in full heat,we have it timed to the day, chart the cycles for months, her jack was born 1 day after breed date only then by 4 hours. we did good! got a lot to learn about momma cows. :cboy: thanks all Rose

 

[warpaint]

Welcome again. Just starting out with 2 or 3 cows, you really wouldn't need to buy a bull. First because you won't have enough to keep him busy and second the expense of having to feed him after their bred. If it was me, I'd check into leasing a good bull and go from there. Hope this helps and good luck. :cboy:

 

[Victoria]

I wouldn't get a bull for only 2 or 3 cows. I would suggest AI'ing them. If you don't know how to do it get a vet or AI technician to help you out. If you decide to lease be careful of VD.

 

[la4angus]

Have them AI'd. And keep the donkeys/jacks away.

 

[DD RANCH]

I rent some land from a guy who has a few highland cows breed's them limosene sure makes a good cross on those shorter cows can't even see the highlander in the calves.Buy a young bull breed the cows than cut him fatten him up and sell or butcher just dont over spend on the cow freshener.

 

[brownmule]

I wouldn't get a bull for only 2 or 3 cows. I would suggest AI'ing them. If you don't know how to do it get a vet or AI technician to help you out. If you decide to lease be careful of VD.

thanks for advice, AI sounds like the plan of the day, i sure dont want any thing scarry like VD or even a yeast infection. when we're breeding my jack, he gets a wash so desnt the mare,then she is taken out of the field, every one get washed again. other wise he be after for days. . not sure a bull would go for that ! LOL that would get the nieghbors talking wouldn't it LOL how long does a cow stay in heat? when it get warm do they go in more regular. is there a week of full heat like a horse or jenny? got a lot to learn. thanks for all your wisdom, ill be bouncing things off you all from time to time.. Thanks again Rose

 

[Victoria]

dun had an excellent post on heats a little while ago check out this page and look for his post:
http://cattletoday.com/forum/post-154960.html

I've never washed a bull or a cow. Glad I don't have mules. ;-)

 

[brownmule]

i printed off the info from that post link, thanks, was wondering about ai ing them, timming is every thing i see, my daughter, amanda is will be going in to vet school next fall, she has worked with vets while she been in college here, one ol cow doc at stock yards. she was telling me that AI was hard you had x amount of time to get this done, { think she was worried i was gonna hit her up for a "freebee" LOL} now i have something else to work out, donks seem so much easier, they love everyone... when they are in heat, got there butts turned to you. when in full heat they wont leave you alone.. my friend jane is gonna go in with us on the cows{she's my mule pal} now gonna be my "cow pal". wait till i tell her a about cow heat ! shell be glad no body has to be the "weenie washer" :shock: LOL should be an intresting summer. what a great group this is lot of info.. thanks for sharing Rose 8)

 

[Victoria]

Weenie Washer now that was priceless! :lol: :lol2:

 

[SimmAngus]

Weenie Washer now that was priceless! :lol: :lol2:

Just be sure you are NOT wearing perfume when you're out there!