management question

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sporder

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have small herd of herefords that are all together in one field. the calves are now 8-9 months old so i need to split them from the bull. the herd wont come in for the winter for another month or so. should i bring the bull in now ( would be on his own ) or should i bring the calves in . my first thought was to bring the bull in but then thought it may be better to wean the calves from the cows and start to feed them a little harder. what would you do?
 
My personal preference is to have my calves weened by 7 months. Gives the cow time to recover and maintain body condition before having another calf at side. It also helps when rebreeding to have more flesh on your cows. JMHO
 
sporder":1q2u7lnt said:
have small herd of herefords that are all together in one field. the calves are now 8-9 months old so i need to split them from the bull. the herd wont come in for the winter for another month or so. should i bring the bull in now ( would be on his own ) or should i bring the calves in . my first thought was to bring the bull in but then thought it may be better to wean the calves from the cows and start to feed them a little harder. what would you do?

I would fenceline wean the calves asap. Have the vet give the heifer calves a shot of lute also in case they might have been bred already when you give them shots and pour on this fall. Lute is insurance. Leave the bull with the cows. That's what I have done. Then pull the bull a month or so ahead of calving and after weaning is complete and put him in with the steers so he is away from the cows at calving time. When I move the bull out of the cows I also put the weaned, retained heifers back in with the cows. This way you only have two groups to manage rather than three. Bull stays happier. Also jmho. Good luck. Jim
 
I would wean the calves and feed them but not long than 30 days because corn prices are calling to go up so I would wean and get them out as fast as possible before prices start hurtin'
 
i have pulled the calves except one which runs a mile when you go near her (mother is the same). the bull is also in at the moment. have nt seen the calves in heat but i know that means nothing. i would have thought the bull would struggle to mount them without squashing them.
 
sporder":2rqammn0 said:
i have pulled the calves except one which runs a mile when you go near her (mother is the same). the bull is also in at the moment. have nt seen the calves in heat but i know that means nothing. i would have thought the bull would struggle to mount them without squashing them.
An athletic bull actaully puts very little wheight on the cow when he's breeding. His thrusts may knock her down but not his weight. Then there are those like our old bull Pedro, he knocked down everything he bred and fell on top of them.
 
keeping the bull in with the cows and fenceline weanin can cause a bit of a train wreck as when i got home the other day ti noticed one of my hiefers that isnt spose3d to be in wioth the cows was on the wrong pasture...course when i got up to the house and seen the gate and the fence tore down i knew why..eight hiefer calfs mixed in with 8 cows and 3 steers and the bull..at 8.30...pm...
was fater 10 til i got the bull in pasture by himself and then the next day before they got sorted back the the pasture their sposed to be in.

once theyre in heat the bull is gonna wanna go there...so keep the fence between tight high and strong cuz yer gonna be needing all ya can git..

my nieghbor told me that i got a nascar bull on a go cart track....well i own em so im off to build fence is what i told him

gary
 
dieselbeef":2eho7vqq said:
keeping the bull in with the cows and fenceline weanin can cause a bit of a train wreck as when i got home the other day ti noticed one of my hiefers that isnt spose3d to be in wioth the cows was on the wrong pasture...course when i got up to the house and seen the gate and the fence tore down i knew why..eight hiefer calfs mixed in with 8 cows and 3 steers and the bull..at 8.30...pm...
was fater 10 til i got the bull in pasture by himself and then the next day before they got sorted back the the pasture their sposed to be in.

once theyre in heat the bull is gonna wanna go there...so keep the fence between tight high and strong cuz yer gonna be needing all ya can git..

my nieghbor told me that i got a nascar bull on a go cart track....well i own em so im off to build fence is what i told him

gary

I have very hot wires on standoffs at nose height on both sides of my weaning fence. No problems. Jim
 
i have such problems with hot wires i gave up...sooooo dry here the rod doesnt seem to be able to make good ground

not to hijack the thread but could i run the 2 close enough for the top to be the hot and the next one a ft lower to be the ground?? stick the lower one out a 6'' standoff on both sides of the fence and the top one over the top ...

gary
 
dieselbeef":rnlsk8nb said:
i have such problems with hot wires i gave up...sooooo dry here the rod doesnt seem to be able to make good ground

not to hijack the thread but could i run the 2 close enough for the top to be the hot and the next one a ft lower to be the ground?? stick the lower one out a 6'' standoff on both sides of the fence and the top one over the top ...

gary

Since the problem is more likely on the bull side than the heifer side you could run two hot wires on standoffs just a couple inches apart vertically. I would make the lower of the pair the ground. That should give him a jolt. Good luck. Jim
 
The rule of thumb for heifers is not breed them until they reach 65% of their adult weight. They also need to be at 85% of adult weight by the time they calve. It usually takes 12-15 months before breeding.
 
Red Bull Breeder":14gv778y said:
Corn prices here in the US likely don't effect Sporder much sim angus.

Just wean your calves, and leave the bull with the cows.
Maybe not in where your at but at the corn capital corn is dictator over cattle prices
 

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