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how many cows per bull

T

tlakota

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Jan 7, 2007
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209
Location
aberdeen,sd
how many cows per bull can i run....smaller pastures and 3 year old bulls...i had one not pass the test and im at about 50 cows per bull....do i need to find another bull....this isnt tough country...ive got 3 real good athletic bulls on 150 cows rite now
 
I'd say you're stretched pretty thin. Of course you might find out next spring that those three settled all of 'em. If it were my money, I'd buy the insurance and sleep better until preg check. I'm sure some will argue that you'll make it, but when a bull falls in love with one cow then he might miss three more that needed some attention. Or two bulls fall in love with the same cow, fight over the situation and get tired, then they're really falling down on the job. Then again, it's your call to make.

HP
 
I think you need another bull as well.
We figure 25 cows to one bull and 30 would probably be
okay. At 50:1, you might get them bred if you leave the
bulls in long enough. We're pretty hard on getting cows bred.
We give the heifers 30 days, the cows 42. This spring we
were all calved out in 30 days with everything. At 50:1
I think you will drag out your calving season.
 
i think you are pushing your luck. in this country, and i don't know how it compares you yours, i would turn at least five bulls out on 150 cows. i'd feel better with 6. around here i think most producers figure 25 cows per bull....i figure i little closer to 20 per bull. but everyones situation is different.....maybe 3 bulls would do a good job. myself, i'd lie awake at nite wondering.
 
I'd buy more bulls, what if something else happens, then you'll be
75/1.
I just had the same thing happen, these bull breeders with a few left over are ready to make a deal, so I did!! :D

canner bulls are mid 50's to 60/cwt big 3 year old bulls go a long ways towards a yearling. you can swap one out for around $500 boot.
 
My cousin told me the other day that a neighbors Gelbvieh bull got into their cows for a day and a half a few years ago and he stuck 22 cows. It was a few days before they were going to turn their bulls out so the cows must have really been cycling. Now on the other hand if you wanted a bull to be this efficient, of course he wouldn't be.

Three year old bulls should have enough experience to breed 50 cows apiece but personally I would be more comfortable with one more bull out there just to be safe.
 
I guess it depends on the type of bulls you are using. There are certainly plenty bulls around that are bulls by name only - just scrape past their semen test and aren't very masculine. Others look fine but are idle or spend their days fighting. We semen tested 3 a month ago - 2 rising 2 year olds we were going to sell plus my 7 year old herd sire just because he is getting older. The young bulls tested 93% and 94% live semen, the 7 year old 89%. These bulls were wintered tough on pretty mediocre hay only. We ran a small 2 year old with 65 head total last year (some were embryo recip.s he was covering) - we got over 50 calves on the ground off him with maybe a couple of opens out of that group. He not only bred them in 42 days he gained weight and condition doing it.
So I think 1 bull to 50 cows in the reasonable conditions you indicate really isn't asking much of them. Using a 6 week breeding season - 42 days that's only averaging a little over 1 cow per day. Of course some days are busier than others - maybe on a real busy day there might be 10 to breed - but you have 3 bulls to do it!!
Many peoples solution is to run more bulls - some of my neighbors only run 25 cows per bull but if that is all these type of bulls are fit for why would you want more of them? I probably wouldn't go to 75 cows per bull so if one of your three gets injured you might need another.
 
Was in Aberdeen last week, never saw any dust in the wind, are they all in 1 pasture, how many aceres, most gruond is flat there, they will cover more cows there than most places, how many acres per pair do you figure I would guess 4 to 6 acres of grass and 10 acres of water Buying another bull would be alot better than open cows. Have feind not to far from you how has 25 bulls left to sell yet, their good bulls and he's a good guy
 
after reading some of these replys, maybe you could get by just fine with 3 or 4 bulls on 150 cows, depending on your situation. but i'll will say i would rather have 2 too many, than be one short.
 
We run in a lot rougher country and go with a bull for every 20 cows. You do what ya want, but bull power pays for itself in calves and settled cows! Soapweed is prime example as he runs commercial bulls and more of them as he gets a better deal than buying blooded bulls! Look at his calves and show me where he has screwed up! :D To me, an extra bull is like having some hay left in the stackyard in the spring when ya turn the cows on grass............ It sure beats running out a month too early! :wink:
 
In on group I would'nt worry but for 175 cows we have 8 bulls but we have small pastures 15 here 30 there type.
 
If it was me, i would buy 2 more bulls. but that is not always the right answer. When you run young bulls with older bulls in the same pasture it is hard to say if the young ones do any work. Sometimes you have one bull that is the boss bull and about all he does is keep the others away.

What ever you do, I would keep a good eye on them to really know what is going on.
 
leanin' H said:
..... Soapweed is prime example as he runs commercial bulls and more of them as he gets a better deal than buying blooded bulls! Look at his calves and show me where he has screwed up!
Click to expand...
Soapweed may have fine calves but looking at them doesn't tell me anything about his conception rates or whether he would get more or less bred by running fewer bulls. :-)
 
Sure just looking at calves doesn't tell ya conception rates. My point is that a cows job is to put a soggy calf in the weaned pen each fall and to breed back quickly. Both of the above are hard to do without bulls! I'd imagine that if anyone was hauling truck loads of open cows to the salebarn they'd change something! Sorry Soapweed, didnt mean to drag you into something! :wink: Maybe Soap only gets half his cows to settle each year and he's really good at hiding it! :wink:
 
leanin' H said:
Sure just looking at calves doesn't tell ya conception rates. My point is that a cows job is to put a soggy calf in the weaned pen each fall and to breed back quickly. Both of the above are hard to do without bulls! I'd imagine that if anyone was hauling truck loads of open cows to the salebarn they'd change something! Sorry Soapweed, didnt mean to drag you into something! :wink: Maybe Soap only gets half his cows to settle each year and he's really good at hiding it! :wink:
Click to expand...

Be careful what you say to Grassfarmer, he has the best cattle in the world. All of his cows are 25 years old and have twins every year. :D :D
 
We're like Denny, and use 8 bulls with 175 cows all in a big bunch for the first few weeks before they go to pasture. When they get split into pastures, we never leave a bunch with just one bull. Even if the numbers are low, sometimes a bull gets hurt, or whatever, and that extra one can save you.
 

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