Trying2keepitReal
Almost Self-Reliant
Good to hear from you. Yeah snow stinks!
Coffee's Ready, Come and Sit on the Porch
- Thread starter The Porch
- Start date
tortoise
Wild Hare
It started out light and dry, but it's starting to get slippery now. Maybe an inch?
baymule
Sustainability Master
Raining and cold. Maybe not y’all’s kind of cold, but this is east Texas cold. Wet, windy and cold! Cold to me. Trying to decide if I want to feed now, before next storm rolls in, or just wait another 2 hours and take my chances. Eh. Wait.
Trying2keepitReal
Almost Self-Reliant
Still snowing here, we have about 3 inches and slick. Oldest made it to work just fine, but she has to come home after 4 pm.
I have been working away at my desk job, I didn't even notice the time and missed my lunch break. I need to go and grab some wood for tonight, check chicken waterers and then have a cup of tea. I will have to head into town about 5 to pick up DD8 from after care, unless DH can grab her on his way home.
Yep, I am officially over winter.
tortoise
Wild Hare
CrealCritter
Sustainability Master
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- Zone 6B or 7 can't decide
Well after discussion. We have decided what we are going to do about Oreo, Bessy and Daisy.
Our options are...
1) A.I. I don't have a clue how to do this besides the semen sticks can get expensive. I would need to have a A.I. tech on call standby, I have a couple of leads on A.I. techs but everyone I've spoken to says why don't you just get a bull? I have no real good response to the obvious question.
2) Lease a bull for x amount per month, probably would need one for a couple of months. Not a bad option really, but figure lease cost, feed for the lease period and insurance just for three gals doesn't seem worth it. If I had a bigger herd then this option would be more attractive.
3) purchase a yearling bull and raise until he becomes "ready".if not already. Then look at selling him, if he's gonna be crazy stupid. If he's well mannored then look at keeping him a little longer, then sell him. I already have an area that I could set up to seperate him when needed. I would just need to build two gates, I already have gates and some kind of weather shelter. Because I don't like seeing cattle around here with no place to get out of the weather if they want too.
4) Borrow a bull from my neighbor, for a couple of months. This is a really good option, since he already offered his bull's service. But honestly we don't like calling on neighbors, unless absolutely necessary.
5) purchase semen sticks and fix up a room for @farmerjan
Which one of the options do you think we have chosen?
Jesus is Lord and Christ
Our options are...
1) A.I. I don't have a clue how to do this besides the semen sticks can get expensive. I would need to have a A.I. tech on call standby, I have a couple of leads on A.I. techs but everyone I've spoken to says why don't you just get a bull? I have no real good response to the obvious question.
2) Lease a bull for x amount per month, probably would need one for a couple of months. Not a bad option really, but figure lease cost, feed for the lease period and insurance just for three gals doesn't seem worth it. If I had a bigger herd then this option would be more attractive.
3) purchase a yearling bull and raise until he becomes "ready".if not already. Then look at selling him, if he's gonna be crazy stupid. If he's well mannored then look at keeping him a little longer, then sell him. I already have an area that I could set up to seperate him when needed. I would just need to build two gates, I already have gates and some kind of weather shelter. Because I don't like seeing cattle around here with no place to get out of the weather if they want too.
4) Borrow a bull from my neighbor, for a couple of months. This is a really good option, since he already offered his bull's service. But honestly we don't like calling on neighbors, unless absolutely necessary.
5) purchase semen sticks and fix up a room for @farmerjan
Which one of the options do you think we have chosen?
Jesus is Lord and Christ
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baymule
Sustainability Master
#5 of course!
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
When do you get him?
farmerjan
Super Self-Sufficient
60 days for a bull, 90 days max. 60 days gives you a chance for at least 2 heats if they come in day 20 after the bull gets there...
A bull for 3 cows is a waste in my opinion unless you don't have any facilities to contain the females for breeding.
I would just use the neighbors bull.... IF ..... he throws fairly small calves. I would not use him if he throws 80+ lb calves on the "normal size cows"....
That's not "calling on neighbors" so much as it is a way to allow the neighbor to pull the bull out of his cattle for a few months.... trade off for something the neighbor doesn't have or do for themself... canned fruit or jams and jellies ???? I know of a couple of people that have jointly bought a bull and then switched him from one herd to another for 6 months each... just concerned when the bull will be with your cattle to get calves born...
How about running your 3 in with his herd for 60 to 90 days? Pay him a little board if he doesn't want to "lend him" to you.
Buying a bull, feeding him and waiting for him to be "old enough" is a waste of feed.... hoping he has a good attitude is a 50/50 deal... RESELLING can be tricky.... many places will only buy "virgin bulls" to prevent any sexually transmitted diseases... which can get passed to each and every cow that he breeds. The bull can be clean...Trich... is one disease... but if a cow has it and he breeds her, he can carry it to the others. One of the benefits of A.I. breeding... no transfer of diseases....
Plus, reselling can be a crap shoot. After the bull gets to a certain size, their value as a breeder diminishes...And if you get a smaller bull , and he has a slighter frame to be an easy calving bull, he also will not be as valuable to breeders looking for a "cow bull"....putting small frame cattle on the ground is valuable to someone with first calf heifers to be bred.... but the calves do not get the size to make them as "saleable"... there is a 2 edged sword to using an easy calving bull... Luckily for us, our 2 do throw a smaller calf, but the calves seem to grow pretty good on cows that make enough milk so not weaning off small lighter weight calves.
All A.I technicians are on an "on call" deal... the ones here that breed cows for a living call in to an answering service 2-3 times a day for any "call in's " for breeding service; or get messages on their own cell phones now... That's part of it... never know what your day is going to be unless you have a synchronized herd and know that you are going to go to XYZ herd to breed 10-20-50 that have been synched to come into heat at a certain day/time...
I can get you to get your vet to get you the shots to synch your herd, and then come breed them over a weekend....
A bull for 3 cows is a waste in my opinion unless you don't have any facilities to contain the females for breeding.
I would just use the neighbors bull.... IF ..... he throws fairly small calves. I would not use him if he throws 80+ lb calves on the "normal size cows"....
That's not "calling on neighbors" so much as it is a way to allow the neighbor to pull the bull out of his cattle for a few months.... trade off for something the neighbor doesn't have or do for themself... canned fruit or jams and jellies ???? I know of a couple of people that have jointly bought a bull and then switched him from one herd to another for 6 months each... just concerned when the bull will be with your cattle to get calves born...
How about running your 3 in with his herd for 60 to 90 days? Pay him a little board if he doesn't want to "lend him" to you.
Buying a bull, feeding him and waiting for him to be "old enough" is a waste of feed.... hoping he has a good attitude is a 50/50 deal... RESELLING can be tricky.... many places will only buy "virgin bulls" to prevent any sexually transmitted diseases... which can get passed to each and every cow that he breeds. The bull can be clean...Trich... is one disease... but if a cow has it and he breeds her, he can carry it to the others. One of the benefits of A.I. breeding... no transfer of diseases....
Plus, reselling can be a crap shoot. After the bull gets to a certain size, their value as a breeder diminishes...And if you get a smaller bull , and he has a slighter frame to be an easy calving bull, he also will not be as valuable to breeders looking for a "cow bull"....putting small frame cattle on the ground is valuable to someone with first calf heifers to be bred.... but the calves do not get the size to make them as "saleable"... there is a 2 edged sword to using an easy calving bull... Luckily for us, our 2 do throw a smaller calf, but the calves seem to grow pretty good on cows that make enough milk so not weaning off small lighter weight calves.
All A.I technicians are on an "on call" deal... the ones here that breed cows for a living call in to an answering service 2-3 times a day for any "call in's " for breeding service; or get messages on their own cell phones now... That's part of it... never know what your day is going to be unless you have a synchronized herd and know that you are going to go to XYZ herd to breed 10-20-50 that have been synched to come into heat at a certain day/time...
I can get you to get your vet to get you the shots to synch your herd, and then come breed them over a weekend....
farmerjan
Super Self-Sufficient
If you are seriously thinking of buying a bull, only get one that has been vetted... and CLEAN, so you don't bring home a problem.... and they are going to cost in the 1500-3000 range for one that is worth having. Just getting a bull that is available without having him vetted healthy is a waste also. AND make sure he has a BSE .... breeding soundness exam..... make sure he is fertile.... if he is shooting blanks or low semen count you are really wasting your money and time.....
We buy bulls for breeding... buying a good one is essential... you don't just want a calf on the ground... you want a calf that is as good or better than the parents.... healthy, vigorous, and will grow good., There is a reason that bull sales are so popular... to get GOOD Genetics.... We try to keep bulls for 5 years or more to get back what we have in him... if he is worth 3000 at 12-15 months... he will only be worth pound (cull) price at 5-6-8 yrs old... and that is in the $.80-1.00 lb price..... at 1800 lbs or so. A small bull will be discounted at a sale because they don't hang good if going for slaughter. The value is in the calves he has put on the ground.
Having gotten a bull once that had low sperm count... we will never just "buy a bull", except from someone we know well and is a proven breeder.... and we pay for WHEN we have a preg check and confirmed good breeder... or an agreement that they will refund the price difference if we have to sell him....because he is not doing his job. A bull has only one purpose... to put a good calf on the ground....
If you bring home some disease to your cows, you could cause them to become chronic aborters.... or not settle....or never breed again... This is no joke stuff.....
We buy bulls for breeding... buying a good one is essential... you don't just want a calf on the ground... you want a calf that is as good or better than the parents.... healthy, vigorous, and will grow good., There is a reason that bull sales are so popular... to get GOOD Genetics.... We try to keep bulls for 5 years or more to get back what we have in him... if he is worth 3000 at 12-15 months... he will only be worth pound (cull) price at 5-6-8 yrs old... and that is in the $.80-1.00 lb price..... at 1800 lbs or so. A small bull will be discounted at a sale because they don't hang good if going for slaughter. The value is in the calves he has put on the ground.
Having gotten a bull once that had low sperm count... we will never just "buy a bull", except from someone we know well and is a proven breeder.... and we pay for WHEN we have a preg check and confirmed good breeder... or an agreement that they will refund the price difference if we have to sell him....because he is not doing his job. A bull has only one purpose... to put a good calf on the ground....
If you bring home some disease to your cows, you could cause them to become chronic aborters.... or not settle....or never breed again... This is no joke stuff.....
