Post by Tamara on Jun 17, 2016 3:43:00 GMT -5
Okay then folks, please give me your honest opinion on what I should do about breeding my cows, especially Tallulah...
It would be best to take a quick read through this thread to bring you up to speed, but basically I've just had Tallulah checked out and she got the all-clear. Perfectly healthy and should be able to be bred.
Now I wanted to lease a bull (I could probably get either a dexter or a boran), but there's a few issues here. We're in a terrible drought right now... the animals have recently been banned from the back paddock because they were starting to chew on trees and ringbark them. They are isolated to a 2 acre paddock and are on hay only, there's no grass. The donkeys will be agisted soon but a bull will still go through a lot of feed.
Also, Nimue, my heifer calf, is 6 months old now and could start cycling at any time. Even if she doesn't a big bull could potentially hurt her if he's hormone-crazy.
So anyway, next I thought I could use the neighbour's bull, who is a big droughtmaster... however I am having doubts. The vet first said straight up "You should use a small bull like a dexter or jersey, she's got a narrow pelvis." When I asked her opinion on the droughtmaster she basically said 'maybe', there's definitely a better chance of a small calf with the bos indicus breeds but that's no guarantee.
I've posted on a dairy group on FB and got mixed feedback, half the people thought it was a bad idea and the other half thought she'd be fine.
I have seen the bull's calves and they are small, but I don't have enough experience with calves myself to tell just how small or what weight. The owners are just very basic hobby farmers with no real knowledge, so I don't trust their opinion on whether he is too big or not.
AI is not an option - nobody can do it for under $200 which is just unreasonably expensive.
So with that said, here are my choices...
1. Go with the droughtmaster and use him to breed both Tallulah and Arwen, pray for the best in Tallulah's case.
2. Use the droughtmaster for just Arwen; wait until next year to lease a smallish bull for Tallulah and Nimue.
3. Wait until next year and lease a smallish bull to breed all three at the same time.
ETA 4. Lease one of the previously mentioned small bulls right now but possibly risk getting Nimue bred or hurt + have the extra burden of feeding another mouth for however many cycles it takes.
Thoughts???
BTW, next year is supposedly going to be good as far as rain goes so it shouldn't be dry like now...
It would be best to take a quick read through this thread to bring you up to speed, but basically I've just had Tallulah checked out and she got the all-clear. Perfectly healthy and should be able to be bred.
Now I wanted to lease a bull (I could probably get either a dexter or a boran), but there's a few issues here. We're in a terrible drought right now... the animals have recently been banned from the back paddock because they were starting to chew on trees and ringbark them. They are isolated to a 2 acre paddock and are on hay only, there's no grass. The donkeys will be agisted soon but a bull will still go through a lot of feed.
Also, Nimue, my heifer calf, is 6 months old now and could start cycling at any time. Even if she doesn't a big bull could potentially hurt her if he's hormone-crazy.
So anyway, next I thought I could use the neighbour's bull, who is a big droughtmaster... however I am having doubts. The vet first said straight up "You should use a small bull like a dexter or jersey, she's got a narrow pelvis." When I asked her opinion on the droughtmaster she basically said 'maybe', there's definitely a better chance of a small calf with the bos indicus breeds but that's no guarantee.
I've posted on a dairy group on FB and got mixed feedback, half the people thought it was a bad idea and the other half thought she'd be fine.
I have seen the bull's calves and they are small, but I don't have enough experience with calves myself to tell just how small or what weight. The owners are just very basic hobby farmers with no real knowledge, so I don't trust their opinion on whether he is too big or not.
AI is not an option - nobody can do it for under $200 which is just unreasonably expensive.
So with that said, here are my choices...
1. Go with the droughtmaster and use him to breed both Tallulah and Arwen, pray for the best in Tallulah's case.
2. Use the droughtmaster for just Arwen; wait until next year to lease a smallish bull for Tallulah and Nimue.
3. Wait until next year and lease a smallish bull to breed all three at the same time.
ETA 4. Lease one of the previously mentioned small bulls right now but possibly risk getting Nimue bred or hurt + have the extra burden of feeding another mouth for however many cycles it takes.
Thoughts???
BTW, next year is supposedly going to be good as far as rain goes so it shouldn't be dry like now...