Yes or no can I do this?

Jackie · #1 04/28/12, 07:21 PM

Well I didnt find a suitable bull until October last year. For some reason doing the math in my head I thought i was getting June calves. Just typed it into a gestation calendar and the soonest my calves could come is July 31st!! I dont really care...its just my cows are getting so big I thought for sure they only had 2 months to go. Well anyway...I was wondering if I could just leave the bull in with the cows this year. Like if they calve in August and he breeds them in August. That would give me May calves which is more what I want. Can he just be left with them? It would be easier for me but I wont do it if its not a good idea. Oh and I only have 4 cows and these are all at least half dexter. if that matters at all.

SCRancher · #2 04/28/12, 07:35 PM

You can leave the bull in with your cows. Your cows won't necessarily get pregnant the same month - as a matter of probability it will take anywhere from 2-5 months to successfully breed.

genebo · #3 04/28/12, 07:36 PM

I do it all the time with Dexters and have no problem.

fitz · #4 04/28/12, 07:40 PM

With the number of cows I would just leave him with them anyway.

Cliff · #5 04/28/12, 07:46 PM

Yes. Our bull lives with the cows full time.

ETA Thinking about the future when you have young heifers around - Dexter heifers tend to come into heat earlier than beef breed cows but a mature bull will usually let them mature before breeding them in my experience. If you have a bunch of young bulls running around all bets are off.

Jackie · #6 04/28/12, 08:14 PM

We cannot leave the bull in with the cows full time. From about Nov-March we can have temperatures of -40. I really only want to have calves between about late April and no later than start of October...and that I think would be silly. The calf would be awful young when winter hit...and it hits HARD. I am bit freaked out that SCRancher said it can take 2-5 months for them to be bred. I CANT have winter calves. Most people around here calve in Feb/March so the calves are a decent size to sell in the fall before winter. But dexters arent commercial cattle and I am not about to try and run my calves through a sale barn lol! Dexters are the type you sell private. I already have a waiting list of people that want them and they arent even here yet..and for the first few years I want to keep all the heifers.

I know 'some' about cows. Lived a few years on a cattle ranch, my ex husband runs a few hundred head....but I have never calved out my own cows before. Its all fairly new to me.

Jackie · #7 04/28/12, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cliff

Yes. Our bull lives with the cows full time.

ETA Thinking about the future when you have young heifers around - Dexter heifers tend to come into heat earlier than beef breed cows but a mature bull will usually let them mature before breeding them in my experience. If you have a bunch of young bulls running around all bets are off.

My plan is to do what everyone else seems to do. Keep the heifers in a separate herd after weaning and then they would stay separate until they are bred. Most people I know keep the heifers in a corral close to the house so they can be watched for their first calving. Then the second year they calve out in the pasture with the cows. Most people also keep steers they are growing separate too...but I guess the steers could stay with the heifers.

I have to think all this through cause in the next month I am getting a $2000 tax return and I am spending it on fencing. My ex husband is gonna help me and we are building a bull pasture (higher fencing), some holding pastures, a hay fence, fencing off a 30 acre piece I have for a future hay field. Then he is gonna help me design and build a basic corral system so I can sort, load and doctor as needed. I just picked up 22 ten foot used corral panels today and thats a start at least. I love portable corrals. I had 22 panels when I lived with my dad and together we had 15 horses and the panels sure came in handy. I was sad when I had to leave them lol

myersfarm · #8 04/28/12, 08:47 PM

If you are going to keep bulls on one side of fence and cows on the other even if bred you need to put up at least one strand of Electric fence.....the bulls will be sticking there head though to smell and just keep stretching the fence till they can walk though

Jackie · #9 04/28/12, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myersfarm

If you are going to keep bulls on one side of fence and cows on the other even if bred you need to put up at least one strand of Electric fence.....the bulls will be sticking there head though to smell and just keep stretching the fence till they can walk though

I do have the one strand of electric on the fence I plan to use. But i have trouble getting a reliable solar fencer. I am not sure what i am doing wrong but I have burnt out two of them within a few months of using them(not on the fence I have up now..I havent bought a new one for the new place yet). I am thinking I have to put him behind at least 2 fences...like a smaller pen far on the other side of where I have the pasture divided. If that makes sense. Or maybe he could live inside the steel corral panels for the few months he needs to be locked up. I am also *thinking* about renting him out for the few months I dont want him around. Lots of people do have heated barns and calve in winter...I am not one of them.

willow_girl · #10 04/28/12, 09:29 PM

Be careful that your cows don't get too fat on lush summer pasture just before they calve. Fat cows are more prone to metabolic problems postpartum.

farmgirl6 · #11 04/28/12, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackie

I do have the one strand of electric on the fence I plan to use. But i have trouble getting a reliable solar fencer. I am not sure what i am doing wrong but I have burnt out two of them within a few months of using them(not on the fence I have up now..I havent bought a new one for the new place yet). I am thinking I have to put him behind at least 2 fences...like a smaller pen far on the other side of where I have the pasture divided. If that makes sense. Or maybe he could live inside the steel corral panels for the few months he needs to be locked up. I am also *thinking* about renting him out for the few months I dont want him around. Lots of people do have heated barns and calve in winter...I am not one of them.

I have found with solar that if the ground gets dry the "grounding" does not work, run the hose on your grounding rods about once a week, that might help

Jackie · #12 04/28/12, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willow_girl

Be careful that your cows don't get too fat on lush summer pasture just before they calve. Fat cows are more prone to metabolic problems postpartum.

Our pasture is about as far from lush as it gets. I think they are more likely to be fat in early spring just comming off hay when all they had to do was stand there and eat and walk 50 feet to water. Our poor pasture was farmed up until 20 years ago. They used to grow crops on it. When across it once wiht a plow....broke it all up into huge chunks and left it. Its reverted back to wild weeds and really isnt much more than strawberries and dandelions...there are lots of parts that have grass...its starting to come back..but its mostly weeds that dont get very tall. The master plan is to eventually work it up and reseed it...but thats years off. that WONT be cheap...at all. Its also extremely lumpy and about impossible to drive across. We have flattened out a few trails around it.

tinknal · #13 04/28/12, 11:44 PM

Do you have a barn? Winter calving can be tricky as you have to be sure the calves get dried off and food inn the belly, but after that it is a really good time to be a calf. None of the viral or bacterial problems that occur the rest of the year and when the grass comes they are ready to use it.

DJ in WA · #14 04/28/12, 11:55 PM

If it takes 5 months to get bred, there is something wrong. Healthy cows (no calving problems or infections) living with a fertile bull should easily get pregnant within 2 months. They should be having heats at a month or so after calving.

If they get bred 3 months after calving, and add 9,onths of gestation, adds up to calving 12 months later. So getting bred anytime before 3 months will allow calving earlier the next year.

My last cow's first calf was in late October, and I believe she was calving in June about 3 years later. In climates where they can calve year round, a cow could have 7 cows in 6 years. Assuming healthy and good feed, of course.

Jackie · #15 04/29/12, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinknal

Do you have a barn? Winter calving can be tricky as you have to be sure the calves get dried off and food inn the belly, but after that it is a really good time to be a calf. None of the viral or bacterial problems that occur the rest of the year and when the grass comes they are ready to use it.

Nope, no barn. No electricity. And I live 6 miles away. Which is why I personally can't have winter calves.

tinknal · #16 04/29/12, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackie

Nope, no barn. No electricity. And I live 6 miles away. Which is why I personally can't have winter calves.

I agree with DJ. Under optimal conditions a cow can rebreed in 45 days. You should have no trouble rebreeding in 2 months.