I have a nice red bull which a fellow Dexter owner would like to hire. What is the going rate for this? The bull would be going to the other holding, rather than the cows coming here.
Incidentally I've just had my cows PD'd to make sure that they were pregnant before letting the bull go. The vet said he would scan them. Great, thought I that will be easier than having to hold them whuile he does the normal internal PD. However the scanner was used instead of his hand (if you see what I mean). He had a pair of virtual reality goggles and said that this enabled a more accurate assessment. Anyone else come across this?
They were all in calf, which is nice to know.
How much to charge for bull service?
Yes an English vet (on sabatical in NZ) used the same thing on our cows. In the very early stages of pregnancy, it is more accurate than using your hands to feel a lump. But once the calf gets too big, the delivery date estimate starts getting to within a 3 month time span. It works best around 6-12 weeks gestation. This apparatus is very expensive, so a lot of care has to be taken when using it. I got to look through the goggles at a small embryo. It was wonderful.
This year our mating period was stretched out to almost 4 months because of our dreadful Spring, so we had to get a vet in twice, in order to hopefully scan them within cooee of the right stage. The second time, another vet came and She didn't bring the scanner. So now I'm hoping that the last few served are actually in calf. As She couldn't give me a definite yes or no.
This Spring has been much better. We're getting more sunny days than last year and the night time temperature here in the North is keeping above 10 degrees C, so the grass is coming away nicely. Hopefully we can reduce our next year's calving period down to 2 months. That would be nice.
This year our mating period was stretched out to almost 4 months because of our dreadful Spring, so we had to get a vet in twice, in order to hopefully scan them within cooee of the right stage. The second time, another vet came and She didn't bring the scanner. So now I'm hoping that the last few served are actually in calf. As She couldn't give me a definite yes or no.
This Spring has been much better. We're getting more sunny days than last year and the night time temperature here in the North is keeping above 10 degrees C, so the grass is coming away nicely. Hopefully we can reduce our next year's calving period down to 2 months. That would be nice.
Inger
NZ
NZ
Before we had our own bull, I had a bull from the place I bought my first cows. That cost £20 per cow served. The bull was delivered and collected by the owners and we looked after him while he was here for 6 - 8 weeks. After a bit of debate we did get a frree service if a cow failed to get in calf. With the benefit of a bit more experience I wonder if people having a bull visiting need to think about insurance of some sort, just in case.
