Post by Lannie on Apr 10, 2010 20:11:20 GMT -5
Have I mentioned how wonderful my neighbors are?
Joe (our closest neighbor) hurt his shoulder the other day really bad, and had to have surgery and is out of commission for 4 months, so I certainly didn't want to pester him about borrowing one of his bulls. With him housebound, I don't know how we'd get a bull over here anyway. So I talked to our hay guy to ask his advice about "renting" a bull from someone local. I didn't want to ask Nels (remember Nels sold me Bandit) except as a last resort because he's so far away. So our hay guy told me that the timeframe I was looking at - a June-ish breeding - is right at peak breeding season here and people probably wouldn't be likely to turn loose of a bull right then, and he suggested I call Lyle, the other neighbor that has the Angus ranch (that's where we took Bandit and Cricket to be bred last time), explain my situation, and see if he had any ideas.
So I called Lyle and explained I was having trouble figuring out how to get Bandit bred when I had to milk her every day and couldn't leave her, and nobody does AI around here. Well, Lyle does AI, but only during breeding season because he keeps his equipment somewhere else in the off season. So he told me if I wanted him to AI Bandit, he would sure do that, and if we knew when she would be in standing heat, just bring her over and he'd do it and we could take her home, or we could synch her with the rest of his cow herd. The other option he offered was to put her in with a bull again. I told him that's what I prefer, BUT I couldn't go over and milk because I didn't want to be out in the middle of a corral with a wild cow and a loose hormonal bull, trying to milk. I mean, really. Lyle LAUGHED and LAUGHED and said if I needed her milked, he would be happy to do it. I said, "YOU WOULD??" He said, "Sure, you think I've never milked a cow before?" (Well, he might have milked a nice tame dairy cow, but not Bandit. We shall see how successful he might be... Bandit seems to have a fear of men - so far every one she's met, except Rich, has stuck his arm someplace she didn't want it to be, so she's VERRRY suspicious of strange men!) Then he told me he has a milking stanchion in the barn next to the breeding corrals, so he'd just bring her in there and milk her. I never noticed it.
Anyway, Lyle said not to worry a bit, and he'd milk her once or twice a day, whichever I preferred, and he'd just put her in with a bull and not have to charge me anything extra for AI straws. And if by chance she doesn't take the first time, he'll do it again for me 3 weeks later.
So my problem is solved. My hay guy, who's been here and seen our cow-pen gate , said he would definitely not advise borrowing a bull unless he was dog tame and less than 2 years old, but now I don't even need to worry about it.
I'm happy!
~Lannie ;D
Joe (our closest neighbor) hurt his shoulder the other day really bad, and had to have surgery and is out of commission for 4 months, so I certainly didn't want to pester him about borrowing one of his bulls. With him housebound, I don't know how we'd get a bull over here anyway. So I talked to our hay guy to ask his advice about "renting" a bull from someone local. I didn't want to ask Nels (remember Nels sold me Bandit) except as a last resort because he's so far away. So our hay guy told me that the timeframe I was looking at - a June-ish breeding - is right at peak breeding season here and people probably wouldn't be likely to turn loose of a bull right then, and he suggested I call Lyle, the other neighbor that has the Angus ranch (that's where we took Bandit and Cricket to be bred last time), explain my situation, and see if he had any ideas.
So I called Lyle and explained I was having trouble figuring out how to get Bandit bred when I had to milk her every day and couldn't leave her, and nobody does AI around here. Well, Lyle does AI, but only during breeding season because he keeps his equipment somewhere else in the off season. So he told me if I wanted him to AI Bandit, he would sure do that, and if we knew when she would be in standing heat, just bring her over and he'd do it and we could take her home, or we could synch her with the rest of his cow herd. The other option he offered was to put her in with a bull again. I told him that's what I prefer, BUT I couldn't go over and milk because I didn't want to be out in the middle of a corral with a wild cow and a loose hormonal bull, trying to milk. I mean, really. Lyle LAUGHED and LAUGHED and said if I needed her milked, he would be happy to do it. I said, "YOU WOULD??" He said, "Sure, you think I've never milked a cow before?" (Well, he might have milked a nice tame dairy cow, but not Bandit. We shall see how successful he might be... Bandit seems to have a fear of men - so far every one she's met, except Rich, has stuck his arm someplace she didn't want it to be, so she's VERRRY suspicious of strange men!) Then he told me he has a milking stanchion in the barn next to the breeding corrals, so he'd just bring her in there and milk her. I never noticed it.
Anyway, Lyle said not to worry a bit, and he'd milk her once or twice a day, whichever I preferred, and he'd just put her in with a bull and not have to charge me anything extra for AI straws. And if by chance she doesn't take the first time, he'll do it again for me 3 weeks later.
So my problem is solved. My hay guy, who's been here and seen our cow-pen gate , said he would definitely not advise borrowing a bull unless he was dog tame and less than 2 years old, but now I don't even need to worry about it.
I'm happy!
~Lannie ;D