Jersey and freesian bull help

[OzssieDave19]

Hey gang I have a 40 cow beef herd currently an have just given up a lease on a large cropping property. I have been given an option to lease a dairy farm in 18 months time. Just wanting some thoughts on re following. By some jersey and freesian bull calves off a good dairy farmer and rear some bulls that could be mop up bulls after AI in my future dairy hers or indeed be herd sires.

Thanks.

 

[suzorse]

I would AI dairy but run a good low birth weight beef bull for clean up,
I would not raise a bunch of dairy bull calves to use, unless you have a market for selling them at 10 months old Suzanne

 

[regolith]

I would AI dairy but run a good low birth weight beef bull for clean up,
I would not raise a bunch of dairy bull calves to use, unless you have a market for selling them at 10 months old Suzanne

seconded.
You don't need a dairy bull for mop up. You'll get better value if the non-AI calves are a dairy beef cross - low BW high growth beef bull is all you need.
The exception is if you are mating yearling Jerseys or very small cows, in which case mop up with a Jersey bull and shoot the calves.

Your best option for a 'herd sire' will probably always be AI - even if you had the best dairy genetics available in the form of an on-farm bull, that bull is unproven. The AI sires usually have over 100 milking daughters supporting their performance.

 

[bigbull338]

i would go 100% AI on a dairy herd.an cull any open cows after they quit making a profit.

 

[shortybreeder]

I agree completely with bigbull, go 100% AI. Don't waste your time or money buying jersey bull calves to raise as clean-up bulls, they won't throw a single calf that will be worth the 2 month dry-up period. What we have started doing in the past couple years is we breed our dairy cows to good A.I. holstein bulls for 2 tries, then after that we stick beef in everything until it gets pregnant or gets bred 5 times... or 6 times... or 8 times... I don't recommend that though. The advantage of dairy over beef with A.I. is that your cows are tied up twice a day anyways for shots, and you are working with them morning and night to catch natural heats. My suggestion is A.I. them 2-3 times to top dairy bulls, then if they don't get pregnant start running them with a black angus bull. Don't keep any cow over 400 days in lactation, unless she is producing 70+lbs of milk per day (won't happen, I can guarantee it). She should be calving regularly with only a 300-350 day lactation, and a 2 month dry period before calving. After what I have experienced over the past few months, I say get rid of anything that can't get up by itself. $100 of salvage is better than paying $100 for rendering. They don't get better over time, and don't expect more than 6 years out of a good holstein, or more than 8 out of a good jersey. If you want the dairy to thrive, then make sure you pay close attention to your genetics because it doesn't matter how good you feed them, if they don't have the genetic potential for 90lbs, they won't produce 90lbs. And if their feet and legs aren't in good shape, they won't live past their 3rd calf. I'm sure you know these things and you don't want the lecture, my dad "knows" these things but it doesn't matter how many times I remind him, the herd never improves it's greatest flaws. Good luck! It will be a great experience, and a lot of times being a dairyman is very enjoyable! Especially the personal interaction and connection with every calf