Can you run bulls in with their cows and calves fulltime?

Answer 1

You could if you are a year-round breeding operation and have only one bull per 25 to 50 cows and are not worried about that bull breeding his daughters early once they start coming into heat.

It is not recommended though for most operations because of the following reasons:

• There is a significant chance of inbreeding occurring in your herd, because normally bulls don't care if they are breeding their daughters or grand-daughters or not.
• You have a much lower chance of catching any cows or heifers that need to be culled due to low fertility, calving late, etc.
• Bulls will mount and follow a cow that is trying to give birth because of the sudden increase in estrogen that encourages the birthing process. This mounting could both injure the cow and her calf and make things very stressful for her.
• Attempting any crossbreeding programs is out of the question because of the intense competition between the herd bull and the new one, and the likeliness that you won't get the cows you want cross-bred calves from could cost you. Even so, competition between the new and old bulls can and will result in injuries to the point where you may have to cull one of them because he cannot copulate the cows anymore. This has a less chance of happening if you sort and separate the herd accordingly.
• There are certain times of the year that calving is not advised. In the north, unless you have the proper facilities, calving in winter is a real head-ache and a lot more work than calving in the spring or summer. Flies also get to be a problem come fall, and can be detrimental to newborn calves.
• Vaccination schedules have to be according to each individual cow, not for the herd. This is a problem in itself because of the time you have to take to plan and decide when so many cows or an individual cow should have her vaccinations and deworming before she calves. This is not ideal if you have a 250 cow herd!
• Feeding cattle could be another problem. You will have to be feeding good-quality forage and grains to your animals year-round to compensate for those cows that are in their third trimester and those that are lactating, while inadvertently giving those cows that are in their second trimester feedstuffs that they don't need because of their lower nutritional requirements.
• Weaning is another big issue with year-round breeding operations. Some producers argue that it's no problem because the cow will kick her late calf off before her next one arrives. But often you will get some cows that will refuse to kick her older calf off and still have that same older calf suckling her while she has to suckle her new baby. The older calf may and will bunt the new, much smaller calf out of the way to get to the milk bar, inhibiting the new calf to get the milk it really needs. This cannot be allowed to happen, and as a result such potential mothers should be forced to wean their calves by the producer going in, sorting out those calves that are no longer needing their mother's milk, and selling those older calves as backgrounders or backgrounding them in a separate area.

Thus, it is best advised that if you start a cattle operation, make sure you have a defined breeding, calving and weaning period so you can have the assurance that you know when you can cull, vaccinate and process your cows and calves so that you have a healthy, viable herd.