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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:09 pm
by helen salmon
We have a bull coming to stay at the weekend, so hopefully we will have calves next september/october. I don't really want calves born much later in the year as ours live out all year (with a field shelter). My question is this, will it be alright to leave the girls till June to be mated again after they have calved? I'm sure I read somewhere that cows should be kept in calf most of the time, so would a gap of 8 months be detrimental to them?
Any advice gratefully received. - Helen
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:32 pm
by ann
Hi Helen
This could give you two problems
1) if you get any heifer calves they would be coming into bulling by then
2) cows don't always hold as well if they are left with to bigger gap between calvings, and if you have plenty of grass you might find that the cows make more milk than the calves require. September if often a good month to calve in as we do seem to get better autumns than summers. just my two pence worth, other people will probably have other ideas
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:10 am
by Broomcroft
Not exactly what you were asking, but according to my calculator, if your bull is coming this weekend then you're probably looking at more like end-Oct, early-Nov, but it could be Dec for calving. Based on the cows not being quite ready and 280 days in calf. We just had a cow take quite a lot more than 280 days, probably about 290.
Edited By Broomcroft on 1200463940
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am
by Penny
Hi Helen,
Clive is right, according to my chart, anything bulled today would be due 26th October, and that is assuming they came bulling the first day the bull arrived and held immediately! You could well be looking at late November/December calvings. ( Clive, I bet your 290 day calf was a bull calf!!)
May be much better to delay the bull coming until May/June to get your March calves especially as I think I am right in saying that they are heifers and one had been caught early when you bought her so a break now may be better than later. If she has a heifer calf at foot you will have to watch her carefully when the bull does come if you do decide to delay now.
Penny
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:50 am
by Broomcroft
Yes, Penny it was a bull calf, lazy and late like all males. 
Edited By Broomcroft on 1200480668
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:20 pm
by ann
Hi If you all re read Helen's question you will note that actually she is talking about 2009 I suspect from her question she is wondering if she leaves the cows until june 2009 before she runs them with a bull again:) will she have any problems with doing this
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:25 pm
by Penny
Maybe Helen can enlighten us then, because I thought the bull was coming this weekend, and then after the calves produced from this encounter would be born in the Autumn/winter 2008, and then Helen was talking about waiting until June 2009. My advice is to delay the bull coming on now, for 4 months or so, then she can gete her March calving pattern sorted.
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:19 am
by helen salmon
Many thanks for your replies.
It does seem better to wait now. It's disappointing, as I am, of course, impatient to get going. But hey, best to get it right.
More questions, I'm afraid: The heiffer calf we had born in october will be 7 months old in may. Would we need to keep her in another field, away from a bull then? At what age do they start coming in season?
Helen
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:48 am
by Sylvia
Keep her away from the bull at 7 months. The other option if you really can't is to have her injected as soon as the bull goes home. Your vet will do this. I didn't like the idea at all because I thought management should be good enough to avoid it but sometimes it is unavoidable and better than having a very underage mother.
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:54 am
by Inger
The heifer shouldn't be mated until 16 months of age. I would put her with some steers while the bull was visiting.
If you do postpone the bull's visit, you may need to keep the weight down on the cows by feeding the empty ones less and leaving the calves on the cows longer, for those cows with calves at foot.
I've left a gap of a year between the some cows getting in-calf again and they got in-calf fine. Its just the condition the cow is in which can cause problems. You don't want them over weight.