What do you think?

[cmf1]

If all goes right I'm planning on doing AI on the herd (Only a dozen cows now) and using him for cleanup in May/June.
Birthweight should be well low enough for heifers. Weaned at 202 days 495lbs., 1000 lb momma.
Pix just turned 10 mos.
Friend keeping him for lack of space, and been feeding him.
Registered MG

 

[hillsdown]

His hooves look a little growthy and will probably need to be trimmed soon.


Will his calves be terminal ?

 

[cmf1]

Hey HD,
He is probably getting too much feed and not enough walking right now. Should go to pasture this month with bred heifers then I will check his feet. He is about an hour away right now and I do not have complete control over the situation.

I am guessing if you are asking about terminal you are not seeing much?

 

[hillsdown]

Hey HD,
He is probably getting too much feed and not enough walking right now. Should go to pasture this month with bred heifers then I will check his feet. He is about an hour away right now and I do not have complete control over the situation.

I am guessing if you are asking about terminal you are not seeing much?

Actually I think there is potential in him, but he looks to be a later maturing bull.

I think he will be a small brith weight bull, and I do know many folks that use a terminal ,low BW bull on heifers just to get a healthy ,live calf and a healthy first calver .

 

[3waycross]

I like him......I also agree with Hillsdown.....of course :cowboy:

 

[double v]

for sure herd bull prospect, fine display :bday:

 

[Anonymous]

Just curious. If you have him over on a friends place because of lack of space, what are you going to do when you double up because of calves hitting the ground?

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Hope your cows take the AI good.

 

[hillsdown]

Just curious. If you have him over on a friends place because of lack of space, what are you going to do when you double up because of calves hitting the ground?

Lack of space could mean lack of separate corrals/pastures not necessarily "area" .

 

[Anonymous]

True. That's why I was curious what was meant. Not being accusatory or condescending

 

[cmf1]

I should have said facilities I guess.
Plenty of space, hay and grass right now but I don't want to keep a bull all by himself for an extended period without a sizable bullproof paddock. I never seen a bull being alone for long periods to be good for their temperament either but that's just my experience.
I knew I was going to have a long calving season because of changes I made due to early drought last year.
First calf hit the ground Dec 10th. last one could be as late as late April.
I'd like to get back to a tighter schedule so I didn't want nothing breeding nothing until March this year.
I also am gonna try to get genetics I think I'd like so I didn't want any accidents before hand.
Buddy of mine offered to keep him cause he liked him enough and it seemed to work for what I am wanting to do.
I liked this little guy from about 1 month on. Looked like a lanky puppy when he was born and then just started getting thicker and thicker. It shows somewhat in the pix but he's really stouter than what they show. So I kept him intact. Time will tell.

 

[Anonymous]

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification

 

[cow pollinater]

I think I'd go at least two services on the AI and then if what we're seeing as "later maturing" turns into a big ugly steer with nuts you've limited your damage. If he does turn into a top notch bull then you can keep him around longer as you won't have as many progeny out of him.

 

[Old_man_emu]

My first thought was those feet don't look flash for a bull so young.
My sencond thought was those numbers are light for MG's at least for what I am used to seeing.
What bull are you looking to use in your AI programme?

 

[cmf1]

Same question I'm asking myself now emu.
Been putting a pencil to it since you asked because I've been vexing for a while now.

5 heifers, 2 second timers, 6 cows from 4 to 12 yo.
Of all 8 moderate frame, 5 moderate to large.
2 heavy milkers, 11 decent to good.
WWs, I'll take what improvements I can get without drastically upping BWs.
Lot s of other factors I have considered but these would be the main considerations on Bull choice unless you point out more.

I know nothing other than what I have read on AI.
Through producers that are friends as well, I have a well qualified tech available to me.
So before going further into bull choices would you,..
Pick one bull for all and let that be the basis of the program..
or,
Try to choose different bulls for for each mating?
Is that the true value of AI?
Or does that just screw up attempt at uniformity.
I am willing to go either way that I can justify with logical exp and info.
I sold my bull in July deciding to try the AI route and Have decided that the bull equals 2 cows added, doesn't hurt my capacity, and will pay for or better the cost of AI.
Of course having to have a cleanup bull for 2-3 months...How do you get around that?

 

[3waycross]

Back to your original post. AI your cows, use him to cleanup(have a BSE done before you do) and then dump him. going into winter unless you think that he is worth feeding all year and not having that money in your pocket.

Heck you might get lucky and find some close who is doing fall calving and needs a cleanup bull. At this point I just wouldn't retain heifers out of him. Look to your AI bulls for replacements.

everything else is just rhetoric!

 

[cmf1]

OK, Got that. He'll do for clean up.
Kind of morphed a little though when emu asked what AI bull I would use.

When you AI do you just pick the best bull available and do the whole herd or try to marry certain bulls to certain cows for different results. And if you tried both which way suits you best.

 

[3waycross]

OK, Got that. He'll do for clean up.
Kind of morphed a little though when emu asked what AI bull I would use.

When you AI do you just pick the best bull available and do the whole herd or try to marry certain bulls to certain cows for different results. And if you tried both which way suits you best.

That's a hard question for a simple answer. I guess it depends on your goals. I try to match the bull to the cow every time or breed for specific traits on several cows.
This year I bred several to Timberline because he is the PAP king, and he matched up well enuf with all of them. Other cows are bred to get specific genetics I want to sell as bulls. The thing is I have had an extroidinaryily good cleanup bull for the last 3 years so I got very few dogs out of him. I would say most of your cleanup calves wil be OK but maybe not great.

 

[cmf1]

So at the risk of sounding like an idiot (like that's never happened before)...

I'd like to make the most of my first go around with AI.
Would a simple formula for matings be, cow minuses x bull pluses, and resist extremes?

 

[3waycross]

So at the risk of sounding like an idiot (like that's never happened before)...

I'd like to make the most of my first go around with AI.
Would a simple formula for matings be, cow minuses x bull pluses, and resist extremes?

YEP :tiphat: Stay away from Fire and Ice matings!