how much bull power do I need?

[Devin]

I have been wanting to syncronize heat in my replacement heifers for the last few years. I am not setup to AI and I have not had time to educate myself very well on this. My question is this. If all heifers were brought into heat at one time, what would the ratio of heifers to bulls need to be to get a large majority settled that first time? I know there are a lot of variables. The heifers are in great shape and the bulls that I have are 24 months and 36months old. I am not sure how many heifers I am gong to try to get bred. Probably no more than twenty-five. I hope that question makes sense. This is a very educational board and pretty comical too! Thanks in advance.
Devin

 

[certherfbeef]

What do you mean you are not set up to AI?
What type of sync program are you planning to use?

25 heifers in heat all standing within, say, 24 hours...I wouldn't feel confident with less than 4 bulls.

Why not stagger the syncs to be able to better utilize the 2 bulls you have?

 

[Aero]

you could stagger the synchro by a day or 2 to give the bulls some time to spread the wealth.

 

[semen demon]

Bovine Viagra!!! For your bull's sake, spread them out 2 or 3 days apart. Groups of maybe six or so??

 

[Bez!]

What do you mean you are not set up to AI?
What type of sync program are you planning to use?

25 heifers in heat all standing within, say, 24 hours...I wouldn't feel confident with less than 4 bulls.

Why not stagger the syncs to be able to better utilize the 2 bulls you have?

Usually I agree with Certs - but not this time - she is light on the bull numbers. Up the numbers to at least 6 or 7 and hope.

Be that as it may, 2 bulls - IMO you need to stagger so there are no more than 4 in standing heat at any time. And have lots of desserts for the bulls or they will run out of steam.

As per Certs stagger comment:

Better you bring on the heat for groups of 5 every two to 4 days. That way you are closer to what mother nature might want to do. Still keeps you finished inside 20 days. Now that is a nice tight calving schedule - provided thay all catch on the first go around.

Bez!

 

[DD RANCH]

If your set up to sync them you can surely breed them we use cydr's with shot's of gnrh and lute.I had the guy's from GENEX work with me they charged me $10.00 a head if I bought All the semen from them We did 60 head used the cydr's 2 times it averaged $37 a head for drugs,semen and tech fees.If I was going to the work of syncronizing them they darn sure would get A.I. bred then let 1 bull clean them up.We ran a 6 year old bull with 80 cows last summer about 10 of those were a.i. bred This bull is quite a breeder though and we have used him on 60 head before with good results.

 

[cypressfarms]

I have been wanting to syncronize heat in my replacement heifers for the last few years. I am not setup to AI and I have not had time to educate myself very well on this. My question is this. If all heifers were brought into heat at one time, what would the ratio of heifers to bulls need to be to get a large majority settled that first time? I know there are a lot of variables. The heifers are in great shape and the bulls that I have are 24 months and 36months old. I am not sure how many heifers I am gong to try to get bred. Probably no more than twenty-five. I hope that question makes sense. This is a very educational board and pretty comical too! Thanks in advance.
Devin

Devin, unless your going to AI, why would you want to syncronize to bring them all into heat at one time? I can understand you wanting a uniform calf crop, but after 6 months of growing, 1 week difference in birth dates won't make a difference. By using cyder's(preceded by gnrh and followed by lute) you can make them come in when you want. If your gonna go to that trouble, why not stagger them so that your current bulls can do the job without them trying to kill themselves and decreasing the likelihood of all heifers settling?

 

[preston39]

Devin,
Even though the bulls are young you must spread them out a few days to keep the benefit of top semen both in amount and vigor for settling.

Those two bulls can handle 25 if you spread them out over a 12-14 day period. You can extend the bull by allowing him to service each one only 1 -2 times. To do that you must have a good control of their environment as I am sure you know.

Within a 24 hour period allow a bull 1 service to the first one and 2 services to the 2nd one. If you see a major discharge of the semen put her back up and let him service her again. When we do that control we put them in the long shute going up to the head catcher. We see no difference in the settling % when we apply service controlled breeding. However, wouldn't suggest you piggyback another 25 right away.

That 2 week staggered time will mean very little 5 months later in weaning size.

 

[Devin]

Thanks for the input. I happened to talk to a neighbor last night who is having some cows AI'd in the spring and he hooked me up with the AI tech that's helping him. I hope I can get him to help with mine. If not I will stagger the heats like you all suggested. Thanks again.

Devin

 

[hillbilly]

Bull viagra??

When I was a kid my dad had a bull that was lazy and was not
doing his job. The local vet came out and gave him some
blue stuff. He said to just sprinkle it on some feed.

It worked! He bred all our cows then went through the fence and bred our neighbors...

My dad called the vet and said he needed a refill on the drug.
The vet ask him what it was as he couldn't remember?
Dad said, "well it was blue and taisted like liquorish"

hillbilly[/b]

 

[preston39]

hillbilly,

That's a good one. :lol: