|
Western Nebraska | In your size of herd I don't know if I would even bother with a bull. You can certainly get your heifers bred AI with no trouble. The AI program is time consuming and certainly not as easy as turning a bull out, however if you are really interested in improving your herd it is the cheapest way to do it. The money you put out upfront is probably not as much as what you spend in purchase and then feed for the bull. The 65% conception rate is probably on the low side, a good tech could get 75%. A bull would have a hard time hitting that number. On 40 head I think I would use a CIDR with a couple of shots, then breed them. Another way to do it is breed for five days and then hit them with a shot of lutalyse and then the rest of them should start cycling.
If you aren't trying for specific traits in your herd I would probably steer clear of the line breeding. Clearly people have had success with it, but not too many people will tell you about the calves that they had to take behind the barn and shoot. We have never utilized line breeding, but have on occasion had a mix up and gotten relatives in the same breeding group. We had some problem with retarded calves and cleft palates. It isn't really something that you like to have to deal with. The results of a line breeding program just don't justify, in my mind, the associated risks to the animals. | |
|
breeding strategy for 40 cow herd
