Moving breeding

[Cussin' Gus]

Hello everybody I have lurked around here for years, never signed up until now, figured it was best to keep my mouth shut......The question have is that I have always bred my cows to calve in February to early april. A year ago i lost a lease and pick up a new one that was much larger. So I started looking for a few more cows to make use of this place. I found a man that wanted me to rob him of his 3n1's back in december, but they are fall calvers. I am I overlooking a problem or benefit if i wait until march to ai them? My thinking is it sure would be easier having them all on a schedule that is pretty close to the same.

 

[Isomade]

There is no problem with waiting as far as the cows are concerned. Just a loss of income for a few months while you delay calving. I have done the same.

 

[3waycross]

Hello everybody I have lurked around here for years, never signed up until now, figured it was best to keep my mouth shut......The question have is that I have always bred my cows to calve in February to early april. A year ago i lost a lease and pick up a new one that was much larger. So I started looking for a few more cows to make use of this place. I found a man that wanted me to rob him of his 3n1's back in december, but they are fall calvers. I am I overlooking a problem or benefit if i wait until march to ai them? My thinking is it sure would be easier having them all on a schedule that is pretty close to the same.

If your climate is condusive to fall calving why not just run two herds. For one thing you will get a lot more bang for your buck out of your bulls. And you will get a lot more for those fall calves that you will for spring calves.

 

[cow pollinater]

Another way to do it is to push your spring herd a little harder and only back off a little on the fall calvers, or vice versa depending on which is more ideal for your area. That way instead of losing a bunch of production on half your cows you can get the most out of your best cows and put more calves on the ground instead of less. It will take longer but it does work.

 

[Gunner]

Or I will trade you my spring calving cows for your fall calving cows if your somplace close to Central TX. I am trying to change back to fall calving.

 

[angus9259]

Or I will trade you my spring calving cows for your fall calving cows if your somplace close to Central TX. I am trying to change back to fall calving.

Just completed my (re) conversion to fall calving as well. Calves are starting now and I'm remembering all over again how much I looooooovee it. Of course, everything is relative to where you live. Feb and March around here spell mud, raid, blizzards, in any combination or degree.

 

[angus9259]

Sorry . . . . to your questions . . . . if I were converting a herd, I'd hold one back. It's all done in one year. Pushing cattle forward puts a lot of pressure on the cattle and their owner in my experience.

 

[cow pollinater]

Sorry . . . . to your questions . . . . if I were converting a herd, I'd hold one back. It's all done in one year. Pushing cattle forward puts a lot of pressure on the cattle and their owner in my experience.

I don't disagree with you even though I'm the one who sugested pushing them. :roll: I've done both and the easiest by far is to hold them and you do wind up with a nice tight interval first year but it is costly to have open cows. If you CAN push them harder and are willing to put in the extra effort it does pencil out better but it is harder.
What I'm currently doing is pushing my registered herd, which are all spring calvers and 100% AI, harder for a shorter breeding season and letting anything that doesn't perform fall into the fall calving commercial herd. I have had a few good cows fall through the crack that I'm sorry to see go but they didn't get it done. :cry2: That way my best cows speed up but I'm not culling cows that couldn't perform beyond what is normal.

 

[Cussin' Gus]

Thanks for the input everyone...I'm really thinking that I'm going to push my spring herd a little harder and hold my fall set until then. I'm thinking that the hit i take in pocket book will be worth it in long run. Just trying to avoid a train wreck.