Post by nextyear on Jan 11, 2023 14:05:52 GMT -5
I have a jersey heifer that’s been coming into heat like clockwork since she was 4 month old. Here we are about to be 4 cycles into breeding and she’s still not bred. We’ve used ai and a bull that has successfully bred other cows. We are certain she stood for him and witnessed it first hand. Unfortunately for management and life reasons we can’t have her calve in the winter and I really need her to be able to skip a milking periodically a la calf sharing, before winter really sets in. So here are my options
1. Bring her over to my dad‘s bull tonight. Her due date would be mid October. Pros she would be possibly bred. She would be offset from my other cow so that we wouldn’t have a period of no milk. Cons we’d be pushing it really close for being able to have a calf as a relief Milker before winter. My dad just had a cow die of pneumonia in the pen that we would have to put our cow in to be bred. No other animals have come down with pneumonia it’s been about a week but still worries me.
2. Wait six months and then breed her in July for an April due date. Pros we could still keep her. We would still have two milk cows. We could have two calves at the same time who could run and play together. Cons- she would be on the exact same schedule as my other milk cow and we would have two cows but still a period late winter where the cows are both dry and we have no milk for the house. Managing two calves locked up at night would you like be more challenging with our very tiny barn. She would be open for the next six months when we’re already having trouble getting her bred.
3. Sell her. Pros we could use the money we get from her to put towards another milk cow that would be offset from our current milk cows breeding schedule. We could buy a cow that has already been milked in the past instead of training a heifer who already likes to push us around a bit and kicks with precision. Cons- we raised this heifer from a calf and she’s been very well loved. She is the companion for other milk cow who would be alone if we sold her. We have had this cow alone before and she did OK but she still likes having someone around. We put a lot of time and effort into her.
So what would you do. I have to come up with a decision by tonight because she needs to go with the bull as soon as my husband gets home from work. Thoughts? Anything I haven’t thought of?
1. Bring her over to my dad‘s bull tonight. Her due date would be mid October. Pros she would be possibly bred. She would be offset from my other cow so that we wouldn’t have a period of no milk. Cons we’d be pushing it really close for being able to have a calf as a relief Milker before winter. My dad just had a cow die of pneumonia in the pen that we would have to put our cow in to be bred. No other animals have come down with pneumonia it’s been about a week but still worries me.
2. Wait six months and then breed her in July for an April due date. Pros we could still keep her. We would still have two milk cows. We could have two calves at the same time who could run and play together. Cons- she would be on the exact same schedule as my other milk cow and we would have two cows but still a period late winter where the cows are both dry and we have no milk for the house. Managing two calves locked up at night would you like be more challenging with our very tiny barn. She would be open for the next six months when we’re already having trouble getting her bred.
3. Sell her. Pros we could use the money we get from her to put towards another milk cow that would be offset from our current milk cows breeding schedule. We could buy a cow that has already been milked in the past instead of training a heifer who already likes to push us around a bit and kicks with precision. Cons- we raised this heifer from a calf and she’s been very well loved. She is the companion for other milk cow who would be alone if we sold her. We have had this cow alone before and she did OK but she still likes having someone around. We put a lot of time and effort into her.
So what would you do. I have to come up with a decision by tonight because she needs to go with the bull as soon as my husband gets home from work. Thoughts? Anything I haven’t thought of?