Bull or AI

At some point you will want to put your females in calf. Heifers should not get pregnant ideally until they are about 18 months old. Be aware that they may start cycling as early as 4 months old so be very careful if you run your herd as one big happy family including a bull!

Bull. Using a bull has its distinct advantage in that he will know the right time to do the business! Having your own bull therefore is very attractive in that you can let him run with your cows when it suits. You can hire bulls from other members (see Bull hiring page) but you may have to wait your turn. Typically bulls will stay with a herd for about 6 weeks but preferably longer. Hiring a bull in or hiring your bull out carries biosecurity risks which you should consider carefully. Remember you will need to keep him away from young heifers.

AI. This allows complete control over when you get the cows pregnant and there is a wide choice of bulls to choose from. Although it must be said the choice is diminishing as fewer owners choose to sell semen. The downside is that if you don’t get the timing right, you are wasting your money! Also each time the AI operator comes, you have to catch up your cows and put them in a crush. The chances of success can be greatly improved by a carefully orchestrated use of drugs (hormones). However, more cost! Please seek help on this if you think you want to try AI.