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A tale of bull to cow ratio and the results

Bar M said:
Last year I turned out 18 bulls with 530 cows. Majority of the bulls where yearling and 18 month old bulls with the balance being 3-3/12 year olds and one older bull turned out July 10 for 60 days when we preg checked this fall I had 5 opens one was a sewed up job and one was a leg dragger. IMHO all this 1:20-25 business sounds like a good way to get bulls hurt. If they are breeding they aren't fighting.
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We never got them hurt using that ratio. We were smart enough to put them with others the same age/size
so injury wasn't a problem. We didn't put yearlings with bulls older than 2, and then only on occasion.
 
sound like they were well matched, Faster. think they do that in boxing, wrestling, etc.

I like to mix 'em up--older bull do most of the breeding, youngest horny teenager will travel and fights don't happen or last long. I have had 2 or 3 yrlings in same field, I think one woulda done more breeding.
 
Bar M said:
Last year I turned out 18 bulls with 530 cows. Majority of the bulls where yearling and 18 month old bulls with the balance being 3-3/12 year olds and one older bull turned out July 10 for 60 days when we preg checked this fall I had 5 opens one was a sewed up job and one was a leg dragger. IMHO all this 1:20-25 business sounds like a good way to get bulls hurt. If they are breeding they aren't fighting.
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Awesome. But you were 1:29? So not that much difference IMO.
 
4Diamond said:
Bar M said:
Last year I turned out 18 bulls with 530 cows. Majority of the bulls where yearling and 18 month old bulls with the balance being 3-3/12 year olds and one older bull turned out July 10 for 60 days when we preg checked this fall I had 5 opens one was a sewed up job and one was a leg dragger. IMHO all this 1:20-25 business sounds like a good way to get bulls hurt. If they are breeding they aren't fighting.
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Awesome. But you were 1:29? So not that much difference IMO.
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Was 1:30 just rounded the cow number for conversation sake. The point being when you talk to people they will say oh I never put more then 15-20 twenty with a bull. And for what bulls are costing if you have them cover a few more cows a guy can save himself a few thousand a year on the bull battery.
 
We worked on an outfit that would run 35 to 1 ration. The first year within a week I pulled several hurt bulls changing that ration to 56 to 1, I still had a 96% conception rate. Same outfit pulled tail hair on all calves out of hfrs and 3 yr olds to confirm parentage. One yearling bull bred 68 hfrs, I don't remember all the data but it was shocking how few bulls bred the majority of the hfrs. Those bulls were only turned out for 27 days. Since I saw the results I often wandered what it would do to the bull industry if there was a gene identified that was directly related to libido.
 
I turned out my bull on June 20th last year - - - the previous year he bred my 18 cow in the spring and then bred 9 Santa Gretrudis in the fall.

As of this morning I have 14 calves on the ground - - - the chart I have said the first one would be here March 31st but they started March 24th and I was 1/2 done on the 31st. Looking at the remaining 4 I feel I will be done in the next 2 weeks.

Many on here made fun of the bull when I bought him as he had not bee very well cared for and had about 4" long hair but the genitics were there and I feel the results are what I was hoping for.

This is when I bought him



This is a year later.



I do not have a current picture but will try to remember to get one.

I have a deposit on a month old bull that is 1/2 of a set of twins with a heifer - - - supposedly his female offspring will have about a 75% chance of twins each time - - - I'm hoping to pass a bunch of cows with the genetics for twins to my grandchildren. Here where a cow is never more than 100 yards from water and good green grass is normally knee high the cows with twins do not have a problem raising them.
 
George, kudos for giving the bull a whirl. The humbling truth I've come to realize is that I suck at predicting what a yearling bovine will turn out to be as a fully grown adult. I've got plenty of examples in my bull pen and cow herd.

I've decided two things. First, the guy who I'm buying bulls from knows a lot more than I do about his cattle, so I should tap into his expertise more. Second, knowing the type and performance (and consistency thereof) of the animals in an individual's pedigree means a lot more than looking at the phenotype of a yearling animal or his/her performance thus far in life.
 
When we were still running Herefords, we had 50 Hereford cows in one pasture. We bred them to 1 Polled Hereford bull and 1 Black Angus bull of the same age.
We never saw the Hereford ever cover a cow. The next spring and for a couple more years, at calving time
we had 41 Hereford calves and 9 Black Baldies. The Hereford must have done all his work at night. :-)
 
Faster horses said:
When we were still running Herefords, we had 50 Hereford cows in one pasture. We bred them to 1 Polled Hereford bull and 1 Black Angus bull of the same age.
We never saw the Hereford ever cover a cow. The next spring and for a couple more years, at calving time
we had 41 Hereford calves and 9 Black Baldies. The Hereford must have done all his work at night. :-)
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What was it Northern Rancher said? Thieves and Polled Hereford were the only ones that should work at night. :shock: :nod: :lol2: :lol2: :cowboy:
 
Well George, he still looks awful lol, but if he throws the calves you want then it doesn't matter does it?
 
An old magazine article on grass based genetics, the physical traits for high libido bulls are covered here by a well known "hands on" rancher and qualifies animal scientist; http://sangacattle.webs.com/apps/forums/topics/show/3169124-grass-feeding-a-whole-new-ballgame-
 

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