To buy a bull or not to buy?

[farmertucker]

Is there anybody on here that have less than 5 heifers and keep a bull? I am trying to decide either to buy a bull and keep it for couple months and get rid of him or to keep one permanently(3years) and share with my buddies farm a couple miles away or something else? Any suggestions or how do most people do it with small herds?

 

[Limomike]

May as well rent a bull, or have them AI'd

 

[slick4591]

Unless you have a special reason for having one with that few cows, I wouldn't buy. I bought one while owning only five, but did it because of the advertisement aspect with the breed. This may be the last year I use him, tho. He is costing me more money than an AI program would.

 

[Dave]

For five heifers I would rent a bull or AI. Maybe buy one if you can keep him rented or loaned out most of the year. They cost a lot, they eat a lot, and even the gentle ones tear lots of stuff up by accident. Ten months out of the year they are a pain in the backside to have around.

 

[dun]

As a follow up to a question that is sure to be asked, NO, you don;t need a bull for cleanup when you AI. Anything that doesn;t stick with a max of 2 AI services goes down the road.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

As a follow up to a question that is sure to be asked, NO, you don;t need a bull for cleanup when you AI. Anything that doesn;t stick with a max of 2 AI services goes down the road.

I agree with Dunn. We run 20 plus cows and heifers, and have never had a bull other than calves we raise and sell by the time they are one. We strictly AI or put embryos in. No bull needed

 

[hopalong]

excellent advice by all...
90% of my customers are just like you 10 or less head and at the cost of hay around here you can hire me to do a small herd TIA or natural for less than the cost of hay a bull will eat saying nothing about the wear and tear and meds needed to keep a bull around...

I got back into A.I. for this very reason, a lot of techs do not want to service a small herd leaving the small guy out in the woods for service,,, being retired this supplements my income and gets me out of the way of my beloved bride

 

[Bigfoot]

The bull want be classy, but you could buy one at the stock yard and sell it after the heifers are bred. He might gain a little weight while you have him, and bring a few bucks more when you sell him. I've gotten a decent bull that way a couple times.

 

[highgrit]

What do you have the heifers for?? The reason I ask is I have 2 neighbors that only have a few cows each. And they share one of my bulls. They keep the cows around to mow the grass and keep the ponds looking good. They both make more money off their cows than anybody I know, and their calves usually sell at the bottom end of the market. They don't see a roll of hay each per year, and the only mineral is what they get off of a trace mineral block. I talked one into worming their cows, and one of them miscarried, so they will never do that again. If you don't feed a bull how does he cost you any money??

 

[j&lfarms]

I've got three heifers, a cow, a bull calf, and a yearling bull. The only reason I have that bull is because my neighbor had him cheap and I bought him this spring to sale in the fall. I leased a bull this year because by the time I payed the A.I guy synchronized my heifers and went through the trouble of getting them up and running them through the chute twice it was easier and cheaper to just lease the bull. However, I am going to start building my herd up so I am probably buying a pretty good angus bull next February. I think that AI is good for some and not for others. AI didn't bennefit me like it did others so I stuck with the natural way. Also I like keeping a bull around because you don't have to worry about if the AI stuck or if a cow aborts three months from now or anything like that.

 

[Wyattc02]

May want to be careful with the rent thing and definitely the purchase at a sale barn thing, great way to pick up a disease and spread to all of your nice heifers. AI is great for that small herd, but you will be lucky if you get 100% in a controlled breeding season, say 60 day spread. Very few technicians are that good. Even a bull don't always get all of 'em. Ease and convenience is not always the best way, never heard of cattle ranching easy or convenient.

 

[j&lfarms]

It isn't easy or convenient, but why would you not make it easier or more convenient when you had the chance?

 

[Warrior2154]

May want to be careful with the rent thing and definitely the purchase at a sale barn thing, great way to pick up a disease and spread to all of your nice heifers. AI is great for that small herd, but you will be lucky if you get 100% in a controlled breeding season, say 60 day spread. Very few technicians are that good. Even a bull don't always get all of 'em. Ease and convenience is not always the best way, never heard of cattle ranching easy or convenient.

Totally agree about the disease part. I would recommend AI. Average is around 60% success rate on AI but the big thing is you can use super bulls that are proven calving ease and have growth. The big studs are select sires, abs, GeneX, and accelerated. I like select sires a lot. Very good bulls but all 4 have good bulls to pick from. Just my 2 cents.