Pros and Cons of Gomer Bull

[SEIOWACATTLE]

A neighbor has 30 heifers he would like to have AIed with a minimal amount of drugs or use of cidrs. This is due in part to some bad experiences and success rates using normal breeding protocols and sync programs. I am willing to help him out with this but cant spend all day watching heifers. So I'm thinking heat patches and use of Gomer Bull is the way to go. I've heard stories of bad attitudes, etc, but would like to hear other peoples thoughts or suggestions on gomer bulls. Thanks in advance!

 

[W.B.]

Personally I would just use patches and no goner bull but you need to have some experience in heat detecting. Yearlings typically will start showing signs 48 hrs. Prior to actually standing. The last gomer I had was a two yr. old that we cut epididymous on. He ended up being a pain to work with.
To answer your question the pros of a gomer are he will tell you who is standing. Cons are you have tp put up with him. If you use an intact bull he needs to be disease free. I guess he should be disease free irregardless.

 

[Nesikep]

a gomer bull is everything a normal bull is except useful.. still aggressive, possibly more so.. Only benefit is he'll show you who's in heat. I'd just get a good heifer bull for them and let him do all the work!

 

[cow pollinater]

It depends on the gomer bull... I had a dairy customer that thought they were the way to go for a while. If you get one that is active and covers them all then it's pretty hard to miss heats but if you get a young bull that falls in love with one or two and you're not paying attention it can be easy to miss everything else that's in heat that day. The only real upside that I ever saw was that I had a reason to take my dogs to work with me to keep the useless feed burner away from me.
I think if you can't do it on just heat detection patches on virgin heifers then either he has some major management problems or he needs to look for someone with more experience to help.

 

[pdfangus]

Gomer bulls were useful back in the days before synchrony drugs....
I have used gomers and they do not replace time spent watching for heat....they will sometimes verify the one you suspect but don't see stand...but young ones tend to fall in love with certain females and ignore others.
you find a heifer that has been ridden....you still don't know when she was standing or when to breed her...unless you watched
if synchrony has not worked then something was not done correctly....
I have even had very good success breeding on time with the better synchrony protocols....
I like the Michigan G6G myself and have consistently gotten over 75% conception first service just breeding on time...