DCA farm
Well-known member
How long do y'all leave bull on small group of cows less than 8 cows bought as opens and turned out with bull
How long to leave bull on small group of cows
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DCA farm
Well-known member
2 are pairs with month old babies
If you want a tight calving window then 60 days. I don't mind stragglers so we put the bulls in at one time and leave them 8-9 months. The majority of the herd breeds back in 60 days. Basically we have 75-80 that calve in the Spring and 20-25 that calve late summer to early fall.
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
The only time I move a bull is if I need him elsewhere.
On a group that small everything should get knocked up in 60 days. Except those 2 with new calves ... might , might not
On a group that small everything should get knocked up in 60 days. Except those 2 with new calves ... might , might not
76 Bar
Well-known member
10 acres or 10,000? PT sale e.g. verified history or via auction e.g. buyer beware ? Age of cows? Etc.
Depends on your goals & operation. Do you have just the 8 cows? I turn out the bulls in the central pasture with the cows for appx 90 days. Calving starts toward the end of Feb, most have calved by the end of April but there's always a couple stragglers. I pull the bulls a good 6 weeks prior to weaning (so the heifer calves don't get bred) and move them with the retained heifers & their bull in another pasture. Spring calving, one 'n done.
DCA farm
Well-known member
TCRanch said:
They the only ones on this place
DCA farm
Well-known member
76 Bar said:
2 year old bull
6 3 year olds
1 4 year old
1 6 year old
These are all corriente cows and a corriente bull on good fertilizer Bermuda/Baha'i/ native pasture and mineral the 2 pair are barn cows others I bought of a local fella
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
The ones with month old calves are gonna be the questionable ones.
Probly need 90 days for good measure
Probly need 90 days for good measure
T & B farms
Well-known member
70 days. Sell the opens and make no excuses for them. Couple years of that you can make a pretty productive, profitable herd.
76 Bar
Well-known member
I would be concerned about exposure to STD's on the bull and cows. The two pair with month old calves not so much.
Son of Butch
Well-known member
63 or 84 days .... if the reason you are asking is you're renting the bull or want to sell him.
WFfarm
Well-known member
If you own the bull, then leave in with the herd all year except the 2-3 months they start calving until you want to start breading. You can always have preg. checked for ones that didn't get bred in your window. Or sell any that haven't calved 3 months after the herd starts calving. We start calving in April on 30 cow herd. The bulls stay with the cows all summer, fall, and winter, and are separated when the first calves arrives until July 1st. It's easier not having to feed an extra couple head separately.
crossbredcalves
Well-known member
My bull stays with the cows year round. My calving window isn't as tight as I would like, but my cows are just a part time hobby, so it doesn't really bother me if I have to hold a calf or two back to sale at a later time. I'm seriously considering holding off when I change bulls so that my window gets tighter in the next coulple years.
midTN_Brangusman
Well-known member
anewcomer said:
This is what i do, a good quality young short bred cow can usually be sold well over kill price.
Nesikep
Well-known member
WFfarm said:
Yup, that's what I do, my bulls seem to be calmer when they live with the herd.. I also usually know which ones might be a bit later, and I'll leave them with the bull(s) while most of the herd calves and pull them out gradually.. they don't seem to make as much of a fuss about it that way. My bulls seem to be fine around the babies, most of them are used to being chored with babysitting duty
bird dog
Well-known member
I am a big believer in a short calving season but its not a big deal if it ain't. Depends on the operation. When I bought this place four years ago it screwed up everything I had going. First I had to sell two places to buy it, which meant consolidating two herds with different calving periods and I also need to change the main calving period from winter to fall to better match the environment.
As a result my calving period has about half in the first 45 days with another 1/4 in the next 45 days and the rest a few weeks after that. Add in the fact of new cows coming into the herd sometimes makes things somewhat wacky and adds a few more to the last group. Sale barn vets are not very accurate sometimes. So what I have done is gone to weaning calves every 45 days or so which matches the time of rotation through my 9 pastures. When they come around to the pasture with the pens, the calves 6 1/2 to 8 months old get weaned.
From there they go to the precondition group after biggest trailer load from that group are removed to sell. Yes its a little more work but since I am a one man operation, it actually works to the better. I can sort from the herd and work 25 or so in about three hours. After the first group, I always have some long weaned calves to turn the new ones into. They transition from the fence line wean to the pasture and feed bunks very easily when the calves there already know the ropes. It also spreads out my sell dates to even out the seasonal pricing fluctuations. Since I also have a smaller group of spring calvers at another place, the whole process goes on from the first weaning in March to the last sale of precondition calves in December.
So do what works best for you even if it doesn't match what the experts say.
As a result my calving period has about half in the first 45 days with another 1/4 in the next 45 days and the rest a few weeks after that. Add in the fact of new cows coming into the herd sometimes makes things somewhat wacky and adds a few more to the last group. Sale barn vets are not very accurate sometimes. So what I have done is gone to weaning calves every 45 days or so which matches the time of rotation through my 9 pastures. When they come around to the pasture with the pens, the calves 6 1/2 to 8 months old get weaned.
From there they go to the precondition group after biggest trailer load from that group are removed to sell. Yes its a little more work but since I am a one man operation, it actually works to the better. I can sort from the herd and work 25 or so in about three hours. After the first group, I always have some long weaned calves to turn the new ones into. They transition from the fence line wean to the pasture and feed bunks very easily when the calves there already know the ropes. It also spreads out my sell dates to even out the seasonal pricing fluctuations. Since I also have a smaller group of spring calvers at another place, the whole process goes on from the first weaning in March to the last sale of precondition calves in December.
So do what works best for you even if it doesn't match what the experts say.
