By Steve Swigert
Are You Ready For Breeding Season?
Getting your cows pregnant is one of the most important management activities to make sure you get done correctly if you are a cow-calf producer, and to do that you need to have your bulls ready for the breeding season. We spend a lot of time making sure the cows are in good condition. A cow will have one calf a year, while a bull will sire 1525 calves a year. To make sure your breeding program is a success, you have to take time to properly prepare the bull/s for this season. Ensuring each bull is in ideal body condition is a very important aspect of the pre-breeding season. Ideally mature bulls will have a BCS (Body Condition Score) of 6, while young bulls should carry a little more condition. If BCS is a new term for you, you can check the BCS publication at https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/ec281.pdf Under and over conditioned bulls can both result in reduced performance and can lead to open cows. Continue monitoring BCS in bulls throughout the breeding season as well. If a bull falls below a BCS 4-5, it would be a good idea to get the bull out of the cow herd for time for some additional care. If your bull/s are not in the condition they need to be now, you will need to make changes to their diet soon, because turnout for most spring calving herds is in the next 6-8 weeks. If they are in good condition, they will need to be transitioned to a high roughage diet before being turned out to help maintain their BCS into the breeding season. This is especially important for sale young sale bulls as they are typically fed a higher grain diet to obtain performance. If they are not transitioned, these young bulls will lose condition quickly. Another essential part to preparing bulls for breeding season is to have a BSE or breeding soundness exam performed by your veterinarian. Make sure bulls are fertile and sound before they are turned out. A bull that can’t get cows bred can be catastrophic, especially if you have a small herd and are using only one bull. Even in larger herds, if a dominant bull is not sound, then it can have the same affect. Check to make sure you have enough bulls for the cows you own. Typically a single mature bull can service 30 cows effectively, while young bulls can handle about the number of cows per month of age. For example, an 18 month old bull at turnout should be able to breed 18 cows. By using your bulls in a defined breeding season, you should have more uniform calves that will market better and at a higher price. If you have any questions, let me know. I can be reached at sswigert@gpkubota or 580-504-7113!