had e nuff
Member
- Location
- Durham
Currently have 30 blue suckler cows and 1 lim bull. Was thinking of adding another 10 heifers next spring. Would 40 be too many for 1 bull? He seems too have got them all incalf this year ok.
Cows per bull.
- Thread starter had e nuff
- Start date
- Location
- Shropshire
No, will be fine
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
Do 40 before breakfast
had e nuff
Member
- Location
- Durham
Thanks for the advice. Would be nice if he served them all same day lol, less night checks for dad to do.
harperfarmer
Member
Depends how fit he is and how tight you want your calving pattern? I wouldn't go above 30 myself. Wanting 40 cows to calve in 6-8 weeks asks a lot of a bull imo.
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
40 is ok but keep an eye out for repeats. We've got a bull out with 40 this summer and all seems ok but I'm keeping a close eye.
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
O would never rely on just one bull if a tight block is nedded
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Same topic, slightly different question: If you were synchronising cows and doing one round of AI, how many cows could a sweeper bull cope with? And unsychronised?
- Location
- Near Colchester
I think that 30 cows is enough for a bull, it depends how old he is though, I have 32 with one and 11 with another and I am not sure how the one with 11 has done.
To answer the second point - how many will return to the AI do you think?
To answer the second point - how many will return to the AI do you think?
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Bit of a guess but say 60% hold to AI (we'll say unsynchronised), could a sweeper cope with 100 cows if 40 were returns? Maybe a dairyman would know best?
- Location
- Near Colchester
I rekon that the bull would be over stressed to do 40 synchronised.
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
I agree 30 is ideal. 40 is OK under supervision but if you went to 50 you'd be better off with 2 x 25 IMO.
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Agreed.
- Location
- Near Colchester
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
No obviously not!
What I meant was keeping an eye out for cows repeating, bull going a bit lame or stiff etc etc The one we have out with 40 this year seems to be taking it all in his stride anyway.
- Location
- Near Colchester
I guessed that really, just the difference in 'supervised' service between cattle and pigs struck me as strange.
M-J-G
Member
I agree with @harperfarmer in that if you are on a tight calving that 40 cows per bull will likely lead to a few more empty cows, if you're on a stretched calving (9 weeks plus) the bull will get them eventually, with the exception of the barren ones.
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
I know it prolongs calving but I quite like bulling the heifers three or four weeks before the cows. It gives you more time to watch them at calving and the extra month between calving and bulling helps them a lot, not to mention spreading out the bull's workload.
had e nuff
Member
- Location
- Durham
Maybe i should keep 20 heifers instead of 10 then it would be worth getting another bull.