implementing a breeding season

[tmaygspeara]

HI, my question is that i how do i go about implementing a breeding season. We have about 230-250 head of cattle. Now we have 2 seperate herds and we have 2 bulls in each herd and we let them run all year long. we want to try have a specific breeding season. my question is which season is the best to breed cows and the best season to have them weaned and to sale.

 

[bigbull338]

HI, my question is that i how do i go about implementing a breeding season. We have about 230-250 head of cattle. Now we have 2 seperate herds and we have 2 bulls in each herd and we let them run all year long. we want to try have a specific breeding season. my question is which season is the best to breed cows and the best season to have them weaned and to sale.

they say to get like a 90 day calving season takes 3yrs todo.i read somewhere that you leave bulls in for 6 months.then pull them for 3 months.an palpate your cows.cull the 1s that missed breeding in that time.unless they have new babies.then put the bulls back in.an slowly set your calving season.

 

[rockridgecattle]

you have alot of questions....cool

When we moved here the bulls were out 10mo of the year. We had to gradually decrease the bulls time with the cows, by a couple of months. It was challenging it took a couple of years and we only had 50 cows at the time.
Breeding season is what works best for you.

For us March is best. They calve while on hay in the spring, when the grass comes the calves are able to handle richer milk. Our winters are really really cold. - 30, -40 Celicus cold. We find it hard to keep up the cows BCS during this time if we keep calves on the cows in the winter. We would then need more hay than what we already use. And that is expensive for us.
Weaning for sale depends on your cycle and when you get the best price.

 

[tmaygspeara]

HI, my question is that i how do i go about implementing a breeding season. We have about 230-250 head of cattle. Now we have 2 seperate herds and we have 2 bulls in each herd and we let them run all year long. we want to try have a specific breeding season. my question is which season is the best to breed cows and the best season to have them weaned and to sale.

they say to get like a 90 day calving season takes 3yrs todo.i read somewhere that you leave bulls in for 6 months.then pull them for 3 months.an palpate your cows.cull the 1s that missed breeding in that time.unless they have new babies.then put the bulls back in.an slowly set your calving season.

ok thanks, when you say cull the ones that missed breeding, how do you know its not the bulls fault. How do you know that the bull didnt "get to her" at the right time. just a question. thanks

 

[bigbull338]

HI, my question is that i how do i go about implementing a breeding season. We have about 230-250 head of cattle. Now we have 2 seperate herds and we have 2 bulls in each herd and we let them run all year long. we want to try have a specific breeding season. my question is which season is the best to breed cows and the best season to have them weaned and to sale.

they say to get like a 90 day calving season takes 3yrs todo.i read somewhere that you leave bulls in for 6 months.then pull them for 3 months.an palpate your cows.cull the 1s that missed breeding in that time.unless they have new babies.then put the bulls back in.an slowly set your calving season.

ok thanks, when you say cull the ones that missed breeding, how do you know its not the bulls fault. How do you know that the bull didnt "get to her" at the right time. just a question. thanks

well to make sure your bulls are good.have them fertility checked before breeding season.in a set breeding season such as 90 or 120 days.some cows wont breed during that time.you may end up culling some good cows due to your breeding season.

 

[rockridgecattle]

but if you can handle a loss for a cow or two, I mean carry a good cow that is later than you want so that she will catch the next season. That is what we did with some of our best who were late just because the bull was out for 10 months and the father in law was okay with calving all year. Still the majority calved in March/April (60%)
The other thing is when selecting breeding stock, replacement heifers, select the best obviously but also select those who were born within the 45 day period of your calving season. Those calves will more than likely cycle proper and keep cycling and calving in your season

 

[hillsdown]

You will probably need more than two bulls per group if you are trying to shorten your calving intervals.We calve starting the second week of Jan.It gets very cold here as well but usually springs are wet and muddy so calving doesn't work as well [a lot of sick calves].Also we have seed-stock so the bulls are mature enough the next year to be used for other producers.

 

[KNERSIE]

You will probably need more than two bulls per group if you are trying to shorten your calving intervals.We calve starting the second week of Jan.It gets very cold here as well but usually springs are wet and muddy so calving doesn't work as well [a lot of sick calves].Also we have seed-stock so the bulls are mature enough the next year to be used for other producers.

I agree, 4 bulls isn't enough for 230-250 head in a shorter season.

Typically in multisire matings, the ratio is 3 bulls per 100 cows in a 65-90 day breeding season.

I would look at your records identifying the time of year the majority of your calves are born now, that would be the time best suited to your area season wise from an environmental point of view. That may very well not be the most convenient for you or for your market. Once you've identified this you can decide on your ideal breeding season. Say its a 90 day season.

Now take the bulls out of the cowherds, putting them in 1 month before your ideal season and leave them in for 150 days. Or in other words you have bred for one month longer in the beginning of the season and one month longer at the end.

The purpose for this is to have a comparison for when its the best time to calve and also to still get the bulk of the herd back in calf as soon as possible. Those who had calved at the end of the new breeding season will only be open for 4 months longer than usual. (3 months after calving rest and then the 4 months wait till the start of the breeding season)

The next year you'll have a better idea of the start date of your ideal breeding season, so you put the bulls back in at your prefered date, not a month early this time. You still leave them in a month later than the typical 90 days.

the third season you start again at the same date as the previous year, but cut two weeks off atthe end.

Next year same story, cut another two weeks of at the end.

Keepeing only replacements born in the first 30 days or so of the calving season you should have a determined season after 4 years with minimal loss of income in the first year.

 

[novatech]

You will probably need more than two bulls per group if you are trying to shorten your calving intervals.We calve starting the second week of Jan.It gets very cold here as well but usually springs are wet and muddy so calving doesn't work as well [a lot of sick calves].Also we have seed-stock so the bulls are mature enough the next year to be used for other producers.

I agree, 4 bulls isn't enough for 230-250 head in a shorter season.

Typically in multisire matings, the ratio is 3 bulls per 100 cows in a 65-90 day breeding season.

I would look at your records identifying the time of year the majority of your calves are born now, that would be the time best suited to your area season wise from an environmental point of view. That may very well not be the most convenient for you or for your market. Once you've identified this you can decide on your ideal breeding season. Say its a 90 day season.

Now take the bulls out of the cowherds, putting them in 1 month before your ideal season and leave them in for 150 days. Or in other words you have bred for one month longer in the beginning of the season and one month longer at the end.

The purpose for this is to have a comparison for when its the best time to calve and also to still get the bulk of the herd back in calf as soon as possible. Those who had calved at the end of the new breeding season will only be open for 4 months longer than usual. (3 months after calving rest and then the 4 months wait till the start of the breeding season)

The next year you'll have a better idea of the start date of your ideal breeding season, so you put the bulls back in at your prefered date, not a month early this time. You still leave them in a month later than the typical 90 days.

the third season you start again at the same date as the previous year, but cut two weeks off atthe end.

Next year same story, cut another two weeks of at the end.

Keepeing only replacements born in the first 30 days or so of the calving season you should have a determined season after 4 years with minimal loss of income in the first year.

I'm a little confused here. By reduceing two weeks at the end arn,t you going to have open cows that you would either have to cull or carry over, open, for 11 more months.
I can see that going to a specific breeding season can be very expensive to implement. Some cattle could be open for 10 months.

 

[dun]

I'm a little confused here. By reduceing two weeks at the end arn,t you going to have open cows that you would either have to cull or carry over, open, for 11 more months.
I can see that going to a specific breeding season can be very expensive to implement. Some cattle could be open for 10 months.

Those that are open could be held over for a later (fall) breeding season. That way they wouldn;t be open as long. Once things get settled in, those that calve outside of the desired season could be eliminated as bred coows and any that didn;t settle to the second breeding seaons could be culled as weigh cows.

 

[KNERSIE]

You will probably need more than two bulls per group if you are trying to shorten your calving intervals.We calve starting the second week of Jan.It gets very cold here as well but usually springs are wet and muddy so calving doesn't work as well [a lot of sick calves].Also we have seed-stock so the bulls are mature enough the next year to be used for other producers.

I agree, 4 bulls isn't enough for 230-250 head in a shorter season.

Typically in multisire matings, the ratio is 3 bulls per 100 cows in a 65-90 day breeding season.

I would look at your records identifying the time of year the majority of your calves are born now, that would be the time best suited to your area season wise from an environmental point of view. That may very well not be the most convenient for you or for your market. Once you've identified this you can decide on your ideal breeding season. Say its a 90 day season.

Now take the bulls out of the cowherds, putting them in 1 month before your ideal season and leave them in for 150 days. Or in other words you have bred for one month longer in the beginning of the season and one month longer at the end.

The purpose for this is to have a comparison for when its the best time to calve and also to still get the bulk of the herd back in calf as soon as possible. Those who had calved at the end of the new breeding season will only be open for 4 months longer than usual. (3 months after calving rest and then the 4 months wait till the start of the breeding season)

The next year you'll have a better idea of the start date of your ideal breeding season, so you put the bulls back in at your prefered date, not a month early this time. You still leave them in a month later than the typical 90 days.

the third season you start again at the same date as the previous year, but cut two weeks off atthe end.

Next year same story, cut another two weeks of at the end.

Keepeing only replacements born in the first 30 days or so of the calving season you should have a determined season after 4 years with minimal loss of income in the first year.

I'm a little confused here. By reduceing two weeks at the end arn,t you going to have open cows that you would either have to cull or carry over, open, for 11 more months.
I can see that going to a specific breeding season can be very expensive to implement. Some cattle could be open for 10 months.

Sorry, what I neglected to say was its only the first year that you carry open cows over to the next breeding season, after that all the open cows are culled as usual. This will neccesarily result in a few culls, but in reality very few good cows will only settle in the last two weeks of the breeding season. Those cows are typically those who would have been high on the cull list anyway because of the lack of the ability to maintain a satisfactory breeding condition or just being subfertile.

the extra month in the beginning of the first season will give you more early born replacements to compensate for the higher than normal cull rate.

There is certainly a cost involved, but for most of us with a variable fodder flow or other hardships mother nature bestowe on us, the advantages outweigh the initial lack of income for the first 6 months.

 

[BC]

One way to get a more uniform calf crop is to go to a fall calving season and a spring calving season. I noticed that you are in Louisiana. This should be fairly easy to accomplish as your winters are not that harsh.

Mother nature will have the majority of your calves born in February and March. That is because the best pastures occurs in April, May and the first half of June when the cows are being bred. It reallly is a matter of better nutrition.

If you go with just one season, be preapred to carry over open cows or to sell the open cows. Keep your replacement heifers from the first month of the calving season. They will be the ones that are bigger and growthier and have a beter chance of getting bred in the window you want.

 

[novatech]

I'm a little confused here. By reduceing two weeks at the end arn,t you going to have open cows that you would either have to cull or carry over, open, for 11 more months.
I can see that going to a specific breeding season can be very expensive to implement. Some cattle could be open for 10 months.

Those that are open could be held over for a later (fall) breeding season. That way they wouldn;t be open as long. Once things get settled in, those that calve outside of the desired season could be eliminated as bred coows and any that didn;t settle to the second breeding seaons could be culled as weigh cows.

This would also make for better use of the bulls as he would have to by more if he had only one season.
I am doing the same but have to few cows to implement two seasons. I have to leave one open for 6 months and have another that won't calf until a month after the majority. This will cause her to be way out of synch with the others. I have spent way to much money on genetics to cull any of what I have but would still like to get them together as it would work a lot better with my AI program.

 

[Green Creek]

We have two herds, one for spring calving and one for fall. It has worked out great with use of the bulls but it keeps you hopping all year long with calving, working cattle, shipping, etc. We are going to try to combine into a fall herd next year although it will be costly at first, we will at least have some time off in the spring.

 

[KNERSIE]

We have two herds, one for spring calving and one for fall. It has worked out great with use of the bulls but it keeps you hopping all year long with calving, working cattle, shipping, etc. We are going to try to combine into a fall herd next year although it will be costly at first, we will at least have some time off in the spring.

I have also given up on spring calving, for me its about getting the opportunity to overseed my summer pastures with rhye and clover early enough to have winter grazing. With the spring calvers still on pasture it either means weaning early and feeding or overseeding too late resulting in a struggle for grazing all winter long.

In my opinion year round calving is probably still better than two calving seasons, unless there is a real time of abundance where the two herd of lactating cows can overlap.