Separating calf from bull

[farmerjan]

I know of people who have kept a bull on halter and chain so if the animal is used to it from a baby it could work. But, again, you are feeding a bull for a year for only a few days worth of work. Would that one person be agreeable to you taking your cow to them for 24 hours to get bred when she is in heat?

I would not attempt to try to teach an older animal to accept a halter and chain, especially a bull. Most people that halter break an animal, say for show, do it from a fairly young age. And unless the bull learned it from a baby, I would be very worried about them getting tangled up in the chain and hurting/breaking a leg or something. I have a couple of milk/nurse cows that are halter broke and have tied them out on the lawn to graze for an hour or two when I am home and can keep track of them. I would never leave them out overnight or when I wasn't there.

There have got to be some other options for you; we just have to figure them out!!!!!

 

[LndSchneid]

Your last paragraph hits the nail on the head. I have some other neighbors immediately on the other side of the fence from me and they have some cows way down at the end of the parcel. Their fence is uber flimsy and my bull goes over there and lays down outside, or bellows at them when they're in heat, but he doesn't even break through their flimsy fence.

 

[greybeard]

Their fence is uber flimsy and my bull goes over there and lays down outside, or bellows at them when they're in heat, but he doesn't even break through their flimsy fence

low libido?
That hormonal drive is strong with a good virile bull, it has to be.
Only a waterway, steep bank, wet hair and then hitting 7000volts kept this one from going thru a good 5 strand barbed wire fence. (was covered in mud when he came back across the canal and was NOT in a good mood--I gave him a wide berth and stayed ON the tractor to take this picture)

 

[LndSchneid]

low libido?
That hormonal drive is strong with a good virile bull, it has to be.
Only a waterway, steep bank, wet hair and then hitting 7000volts kept this one from going thru a good 5 strand barbed wire fence. (was covered in mud when he came back across the canal and was NOT in a good mood--I gave him a wide berth and stayed ON the tractor to take this picture)
View attachment 40177

Such a beautiful spot, and beautiful animals.

 

[LndSchneid]

My Dexter bull, Pete.

Yesterday I checked in with the woman from whom I purchased him. She said his Dad will break through fences for a cow in heat, but his son will not. Gentler.

 

[Alaskan]

my grandfather's place had horrid fences. He always picked out a very gentle and YOUNG bull. As soon as the bull got old enough to want to charge through fences, he would sell him.

It worked well for him, and the young bulls still did their job.

 

[jhm47]

jhm47 here---I am a rep for Genex. Not at all sure what breed you'd be interested in, but I have access to both dairy and beef breeds. I also have some VERY easy calving semen that is somewhat older, but still viable that I'd sell for $10.00 / straw. This semen is either red Angus or Black Angus, take your pick. Of course, you'd need to pay shipping both ways for the shipper. This semen is from older-style Angus bulls that were imported from Scotland. They were exceptionally easy calving, but the calves just didn't get as big as we need them here in the USA. I'd suggest that you use several straws on the cow in order to get a higher % bred.

I'm very sorry that you got ripped off like that. There are unscrupulous characters in every profession, and they give a bad name to those of us who are trying very hard to do a good job for our customers. I have a large # of clients, and almost all of them come back year after year, and we breed hundreds of cows/heifers for many of them. Of course, this is our off season, so no breeding going on at this time. Good luck!

 

[LndSchneid]

jhm47 here---I am a rep for Genex. Not at all sure what breed you'd be interested in, but I have access to both dairy and beef breeds. I also have some VERY easy calving semen that is somewhat older, but still viable that I'd sell for $10.00 / straw. This semen is either red Angus or Black Angus, take your pick. Of course, you'd need to pay shipping both ways for the shipper. This semen is from older-style Angus bulls that were imported from Scotland. They were exceptionally easy calving, but the calves just didn't get as big as we need them here in the USA. I'd suggest that you use several straws on the cow in order to get a higher % bred.

I'm very sorry that you got ripped off like that. There are unscrupulous characters in every profession, and they give a bad name to those of us who are trying very hard to do a good job for our customers. I have a large # of clients, and almost all of them come back year after year, and we breed hundreds of cows/heifers for many of them. Of course, this is our off season, so no breeding going on at this time. Good luck!

Thank you so much. She is a mid-sized jersey. Probably couldn't handle full sized.

 

[farmerjan]

@jhm47; do you know of anyone closer to her that does breeding or does Genex have a representative closer to their area? Even though it's been years since I did relief breeding for Select Sires, it just infuriates me that anyone would way overcharge anyone for breeding. I am not fully aware of the cost of the semen or anything, but no matter how you slice it that was highway robbery. Since the cow is most likely bred to the dexter bull they have there now, they wouldn't need to have any other breeding done for about a year. Time to maybe get another good alternative. I do a little breeding here on occasion for a family cow or two and this fall bred 10 of the 11 I wanted to catch AI. I hadn't done any in a couple of years but it doesn't take but one to get the feel back. Only had 2 repeat heats that I was aware of, and they went to pasture with an angus for cleanup breeding so I will be interested in seeing how I did.
Even investing in a tank and some semen wouldn't hurt them like the one attempt at breeding her AI did. There's got to be someone closer that they could get to breed for them.

 

[jhm47]

@jhm47; do you know of anyone closer to her that does breeding or does Genex have a representative closer to their area? Even though it's been years since I did relief breeding for Select Sires, it just infuriates me that anyone would way overcharge anyone for breeding. I am not fully aware of the cost of the semen or anything, but no matter how you slice it that was highway robbery. Since the cow is most likely bred to the dexter bull they have there now, they wouldn't need to have any other breeding done for about a year. Time to maybe get another good alternative. I do a little breeding here on occasion for a family cow or two and this fall bred 10 of the 11 I wanted to catch AI. I hadn't done any in a couple of years but it doesn't take but one to get the feel back. Only had 2 repeat heats that I was aware of, and they went to pasture with an angus for cleanup breeding so I will be interested in seeing how I did.
Even investing in a tank and some semen wouldn't hurt them like the one attempt at breeding her AI did. There's got to be someone closer that they could get to breed for them.

It appears that she's from California, and that's a totally different sales region from mine here in SD. I'm sure Genex has a presence in CA, but I don't personally know of any of them. Perhaps she could do a search and find someone, or else could call Genex headquarters in Shawano WI to find out. Yes, it makes me more than a little disturbed to hear how she was scammed. Hope she has better luck in the future.