What to do about bull shortage

[cowpunk'd]

So the nice Red Angus bull I was going to borrow got injured and shipped. I only have three cows and a heifer to breed, and that means that the other guy with an Angus bull for rent wants me to bring the cows to him instead of leaving the bull with my small herd when he could be breeding a larger herd. I would rather keep my herd at home especially since the old cow that had the best heifer this year has a sore foot. It seems my options in no particular order are:
I could get a.i done if I can find an a.i tech who can get semen Pros- maybe better quality calf no bull to feed Cons- hassle of finding tech and heat detection plus good chance of setting back my calving season (I like early May calves)
I could borrow a Belted Galloway, black Longhorn or Dexter bull (These guys are not busy at the moment) Pros- Cows will calve on time and will calve easy. Cons - will wean less beef.
I Could convince my beef customer to buy a yearling crossbred bull and run him with my cows until he wants his beef. Pros- Customer will buy the overpriced yearling not me! And he will get his beef! Cons- The yearling is in the barn on feed and fat at the moment so will loose some weight if turned out with my cows. Also he is not really bull quality just a steer that got missed, and unproven and overpriced!
I could rent a nice Shorthorn bull, but he is not available until the fall and will really set back my calving season.
I could sell everything and buy a ride-on lawnmower!!
My cows are Shorthorn x Angus, her daughter by Angus, her grandaughter by another Angus, and a different grandaughter by a hereford and a hereford.

 

[Isomade]

A.I..

 

[Caustic Burno]

This sound's more like you are designing a box of crayon's versus a breeding program.
Sound's like you need to figure out what kind of cow you want and develop a program around it and stick to it.
Even if you delay your calving season getting to a uniform calf out of your cow's is priceless.

 

[cowpunk'd]

Thanks for the replies. I sell beef at our family farm market so the calves can be born any colour and I don't get docked. I like for them all to calve together. My original cow being a Shorthorn, my herd has some funny colour modifying genes and even bred to black angus I get a chocolate calf, some brockle faces and sometimes a brindle stripe. I have the kind of cows I want, they are easy going, fertile and very thrifty.

 

[BC]

You have no location in your post or in your information so no one in your area could suggest an AI technition. Contact ABS, COBA, Genex or any other seller of beef semen and they can possibly give you the nme of a technition in your area.

I use an estrous synchronization protocol to bring in cattle to when I have time to check heat twice a day for a couple of days instead of having to check twice a day for a month or more.

 

[cowpunk'd]

My location is central Vancouver Island BC Canada. Westgen is the supplier of Nitrogen and semen out here, mostly to dairies but they do list some beef sires. I have emailed them for names of techs, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Galloways1]

If you are selling beef directly, the Belted Galloway would be your best choice, for producing the best end product. IF he is a decent belted Galloway, you will not sacrifice too much carcass weight. If he is just someone's little hobby runt, than by all means A. I.

 

[cowpunk'd]

The Belted Galloway is not runty, he looks like a bull but he is a short fellow. I'm not sure what size Belties are supposed to get but this one is probably less then 48 " at the shoulder, 3 yr old. I liked him but he seemed miniature (not dwarf).

 

[Galloways1]

The Belted Galloway is not runty, he looks like a bull but he is a short fellow. I'm not sure what size Belties are supposed to get but this one is probably less then 48 " at the shoulder, 3 yr old. I liked him but he seemed miniature (not dwarf).

48" at the shoulder would be on the smaller side. You would have very good quality meat, just not a lot of it. Our 8 yr old Galloway bull is 56" at the hip and weighed 2600 lbs at his heaviest. He was ultrasounded to have a 67% lean meat yield.
Semen is available in Canada through Genex.

www.blegengalloways.com