Q. from Salatin's 'Salad Bar Beef' book

.netDude · #1 06/22/07, 09:37 PM

At the end of the chapter about choosing a bull, Joel states that (paraphrasing), if you have a good bull there is no reason not to keep him for 10+ years.
Is he referring to just breeding animals for sale / butcher and not replacement stock?
I've got a great 3 yr old bull, but next year he'd be breeding his daughters, and they make up half the herd. My goal right now is to increase my herd size, so am I wrong in thinking of getting a new bull next year?

michiganfarmer · #2 06/23/07, 08:19 AM

I wouldnt want the bull breeding his daughters. If money is tight for buying another bull you could seperate his daughters out, borrow a bull to breed them, and let your current bull breed the cows. Then buy a new one next year.

I didnt read that book of his, but IM sure he was using one bull to breed the same cows every year, and selling, or eating all the offspring

tyusclan · #3 06/23/07, 11:18 AM

It's been little while since I've read the book, so I went back and reread that chapter. It seems to me in the context he's giving that the bull is remaining with the same basic core herd of cows. It doesn't appear to me that he's talking about keeping replacement heifers.

Inbreeding is not necessarily a bad thing. Nearly every purebred animal we have today is a result of inbreeding to set the type that was desired. In the hands of a knwledgeable breeder it will improve the breed. In the hands of a novice it can be a disaster. If you know what to look for and what to cull for, I would say breed him to his daughters that are suitable. If you don't, sell that bull and buy another one.

pointer_hunter · #4 06/23/07, 05:42 PM

I have bred my cow to her son two years now and both calves have come out the best of that year’s crop. If I breed him back to those heifers, it will only be for meat.

travlnusa · #5 06/23/07, 08:03 PM

Breeding bull to daughter with good results = Linebreeding

Breeding bull to daughter with poor results = Inbreeding

I raise black angus. I will choose a bull calf, bred by AI, to keep. I will use him to breed the herd that did not take to AI for that year. Yes, he will breed his dam, but I will sell that offspring as burger. If I like the calves, I will keep him for a second year, but after that, he is off to the sale barn.