I have a herd of 60 cows. Synced 50 to time breed. Expect 50% conception. Bull to be turned out in a week. He will have to breed 25 that will be cycling tight together (ones that didnt stick from timed breeding) and 10 that were not synced. He is a 3 yr old that i would normally be comfortable with a 40:1 ratio. Is this too much for 1 bull? Thoughts.....opinions....
Bull Servicing Capacity
- Thread starter AGN
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AGN said:
You are asking a lot of one bull! :shock: I've seen older bulls handle 60 head-- but not synched to all come in at the same time... Since you are synching- I take it you would like to get as many calved out as possible at the same time-- so if it was me- I'd stick a couple more bulls in there and hope for a higher than 50%... I'm afraid with one bull you may get some from the synched time- but a long strung out calving period after that...
But I'm kind of a pessimist about doing any synchronizing or playing with natural cycles- I think sometimes it screws up some good heifers/cows cycling...
Oldtimer said:
OT I think he's AIing the cows. But would probably be beneficial to have a couple of bulls out there for when you have 15-25 cows come in at once just to make sure you get them covered. If you only have one one bull it wouldn't be that big of a stretch to make him service them.
3 M L & C
Well-known member
Jake said:
I did this one year. Had 50 head half of them stuck ai time bred which was good but then when the other 25 come into heat within 2 days no way one bull can cover that many. Maybe if he was real aggressive and in a dry lot but not in summer pasture. Anyway mine got it done but there was just as many calves from the third heat cycle as the first heat cycle after ai. Which strings out calving to be a pita.
Jake said:
Ya, I was talking about AI'ing on a timed breed and getting half bred...then having the other 25 cycle together for the next natural heat (plus the other 10 spread out intermittently). In the past we have always split up the herd into to 2 herds for breeding (after a timed AI sync) but that was when we had a few more in the overall herd numbers (AI'd 60 of 90 then split into 2). Just seeing if it would be wise to try to get by with one bull or if I am pushing my luck.
3 M L & C said:
Fair enough. Another option would be to throw another bull in for a 4 day window 21 days after breeding and then pull him. Could DNA the matching calving time period to verify sire parentage on the calves.
hillsdown
Well-known member
Is there anyway you can break the group in half and put a bull in each group . I am worried about 2 things
1st : one bull covering maybe 8-9 head a day for 3-4 days ( probable but not likely)
2nd : 2 bulls fighting over the cows in heat ( they most likely will spend a lot of time fighting each other and the cows will end up not being bred at all ).
I hate AI'ing on timed heats without heat detection . I only AI on seen heats now as it is expensive to waste semen on a non-cycling animal and when you send the clean up bull in you are asking a hell of a lot from him to do with a group of cows that are coming to heat all at once .
Good luck !
1st : one bull covering maybe 8-9 head a day for 3-4 days ( probable but not likely)
2nd : 2 bulls fighting over the cows in heat ( they most likely will spend a lot of time fighting each other and the cows will end up not being bred at all ).
I hate AI'ing on timed heats without heat detection . I only AI on seen heats now as it is expensive to waste semen on a non-cycling animal and when you send the clean up bull in you are asking a hell of a lot from him to do with a group of cows that are coming to heat all at once .
Good luck !
They won't cycle that tight. I have 60 cows in two groups running with 1 bull each have done this several years. Timed AI is'nt that reliable so the notion that they will all cycle at once when they did'nt cycle the first time is not reality.Turn him out and go haying thats what we do.And all of these cows were in a AI program.
WB
Well-known member
I wouldn't just use one bull unless that was my only option. Heat will play factor into this equation as well. If it stays below 90 and the bull is a good breeder you will most likely be ok but if it gets hot and the bull is just an average breeder you will be disappointed I think. Not all bulls are created equal just that simple.
Denny said:
Looked back at a previous year when we had 100 cows and timed bred 60 through AI. Due date on AI was May 24. Between May 16 - May 29 we had 32 calves all from AI service. From May 27 - Jun 10 we had 12 calves from natural service, cows that were not synchronized. One cycle after timed bred AI would have been Jun 15. From Jun 10 - Jun 16 we had 14 of the cows that had missed on the AI timed breed calf natural service. In that same Jun 10 - Jun 16 we had 6 calves from cows that were not synced. Natural service was done by 2 bulls with a split of 50 cows each.
So, we had 14 of the 28 cows that did not calf from the first calf drop, calf on the next cycle and in a fairly tight window of 6 days.
There is no right way to do anything. But, we are going to go with 1 bull, add another for a 4 day window then remove. DNA test for calves in the range. Hopefully it works out, will keep everyone posted on results. 
