Need help choosing Jersey bull for AI

[vclavin]

My three Jersey Heifers will be yearlings soon - end of May, June. Do you breed at same age as beef heifers? Or wait till older?
Also, how do I choose the AI bull. Or does anyone have good suggestions? Not cheap just to get bred bull, I may as well do it right.
Thanks
Valerie

 

[regolith]

Breed at the same age - fifteen months to calve at two years is fine.

Before you start looking for bulls, get hold of the calf's sire and dam's sire - if you don't already have these the dairy you got the calves from should know. Then contact one of the AI companies... semex, abs, wws, whoever you've got local - and ask them which of their bulls will complement those sires and also meet your needs. You might be wanting to emphasise docility, moderate production, good looks - or you might want top indexes, top production and never mind the looks.
They'll probably suggest two or three possible bulls, hopefully give you a catalogue so you can look through and make up your own mind.

 

[vclavin]

Breed at the same age - fifteen months to calve at two years is fine.

Before you start looking for bulls, get hold of the calf's sire and dam's sire - if you don't already have these the dairy you got the calves from should know. Then contact one of the AI companies... semex, abs, wws, whoever you've got local - and ask them which of their bulls will complement those sires and also meet your needs. You might be wanting to emphasise docility, moderate production, good looks - or you might want top indexes, top production and never mind the looks.
They'll probably suggest two or three possible bulls, hopefully give you a catalogue so you can look through and make up your own mind.

The dairy I bought them from was brand new and he bought these girls dams from a sale... no paperwork. They are supposed to be pure Jersey but you know how that goes. Any way, I'm not sure what to do and no absolutely NOTHING about Jersey genetics.
Valerie

 

[cow pollinater]

Jerseys can be pretty productive bred young but it's still best is to wait until they're fourteen/fifteen months.
From ABS: Legal is top notch. Lyndon is a favorite of mine... well balanced in both production and type. Ballards are suposed to be good cows but I haven't seen any so I don't know for sure. Iatola is still the king of fancy and they do well production wise.
Jerseys are fairly inbred as it is but the newer genetics are a little more open. Lyndon is a good choice for unknown genetics as he's got alot of Danish genetics to him that compliment most of our usual suspects. Iatola would be my pick if you knew anything about the genetics but he's related to LOTS of jersey cattle.