# breeding age?



## mommahen2four (Mar 22, 2008)

I'm looking at starting a fold of Highland cattle, and I need to know at what age a heifer can be bred and at what age a young bull can begin to breed? Thanks!


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Dairy breeds are usually bred to calve at 24 months, so breeding of heifers at about 14-16 months. As far as bulls, about 3 months before you'd like them to! I have heard of bulls as young as 10 months, by 13 months most are active. 
Would you consider AI instead of a bull? There is just no such thing as a "safe, gentle" bull. Some will argue cows are just as dangerous, but I will say they are much less likely to be dangerous, and generally only if you get between them & their calf.


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## Gregg Alexander (Feb 18, 2007)

If the heifer is mature in size I like breeding them to calve at 24 months


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## mommahen2four (Mar 22, 2008)

Chixarecute said:


> Dairy breeds are usually bred to calve at 24 months, so breeding of heifers at about 14-16 months. As far as bulls, about 3 months before you'd like them to! I have heard of bulls as young as 10 months, by 13 months most are active.
> Would you consider AI instead of a bull? There is just no such thing as a "safe, gentle" bull. Some will argue cows are just as dangerous, but I will say they are much less likely to be dangerous, and generally only if you get between them & their calf.


I wouldn't know where to begin with AI!:shrug: I'm pretty sure the bull knows what to do though... One of the reasons we're looking primarily at the Highland is that, even though no bull is "safe," the Highlands are supposed to be "more safe." I figure once there's a bull in there (or any cattle with big ole horns) the kids and I won't be in the pasture alone again. What I'm wondering is if the younger bulls are less unpredictable, maybe we could breed 'im, then eat 'im...?


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

I have a Dexter bull who began his career as a one year old. I like to have the heifers bred at 15 months.

The bull is friendly enough, but even at only half the size of some breeds I dont turn my back on him.


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## SpaceCadet12364 (Apr 27, 2003)

We are on our 3rd herd sire, scottish highlands. Our first one was so mellow, he would let you sit there and comb him out (even around his more "private" areas to get those cockleburrs out). When combing the side of the neck, him and a couple of the cows their head would drop lower and lower till almost on the ground. I swear sometimes they would even start snoring! We traded him out for a white bull (our current one) who is almost the same temperament! There was about a 3 month gap between the 1st one and the white one arriving where we used one of the first one's sons with the ladies that were open. He didnt like being brushed out, but still fairly even tempered though.

Nice thing with Highlands, in general they dont get as massive as some breeds tend to (since so many other breeds try to go for that cow-zilla sizing). Average bull in breeding condition will top out around 1800 pounds....cow in breeding condition will average around 1200. Sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller.

When you go to butcher them, Highlands will usually not have much fat on them at all. Ours are pretty much only grass and hay, occasional bit of grain more as a treat to get them to come up to the barn area to check them out. Verrrrry tasty...even a 7 yo cow we had to cull was so tender, couldnt tell the difference between meat from her and a 2 yo bull we had done (other than her sirloin steaks were the size of dinner plates!).


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## john in la (Jul 15, 2005)

All cows should be breed by size and condition and not age. In other words a cow that has been raised on grain will be ready to breed before a cow raised on grass.
When they will breed and when you should breed them is also a different answer.

A bull is a very big no no for anyone not equipped to handle a bull. Just the cost of having a separate animal around for just one cow or two does not pencil out.
Learn about AI and get rid of the bull or cut him and raise him for beef.


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## SpaceCadet12364 (Apr 27, 2003)

Oh, if we only had a couple of girls, we would probably not have bothered with a bull I suppose. We have a total of 16 head right now, including calves and one breeding bull. One of the calves is a bull, that already looks just like his daddy. He is already as big as his sister who is about 5 weeks older than he is.

Of course, recently we have had a rather not-so-great experience dealing with AI'ing 4H animals....its turning out to be a bit of a cluster-bunch, if you know what I mean. Badly thought out, and no contingency plans for stuff that doesnt go as they apparently hope they will. Myself, I dont know if I would want to fool with AI'ing again...seems like it would be easier to either just rent a bull for a small amount of girls for a couple months or so, or see if the girls could go and visit with the bull for a couple months or so.


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## Karin L (Oct 5, 2006)

mommahen2four said:


> I wouldn't know where to begin with AI!:shrug: I'm pretty sure the bull knows what to do though... One of the reasons we're looking primarily at the Highland is that, even though no bull is "safe," the Highlands are supposed to be "more safe." I figure once there's a bull in there (or any cattle with big ole horns) the kids and I won't be in the pasture alone again. What I'm wondering is if the younger bulls are less unpredictable, maybe we could breed 'im, then eat 'im...?


Wouldn't your local veterinarian have any information on where you could get started with AI? If I were you, that would be the first one I'd go to. 

As with bulls, even without the horns, they still can be dangerous. I have a hunch that the younger bulls are like sixteen year old boys pouring over playboy magazines and...well, you know what I mean. But the older bulls, they get real ornery, and I think that (and I believe randi will agree with me here), that they are more unpredictable than the young'uns.


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## KMA1 (Dec 9, 2006)

Not sure why you would even want to try and fold highland cows!

Highlands grow slower than most other breeds. They do a lot of growing between 2 and three years old. I would recommend waiting till 24 to 27 months to breed heifers for the first time. Highland heifers begin esterus about the same age as other breeds. Same with the bulls. Usually by 18 to 24 months a young bull will have every thing figured out.

Some recommended AI above. I have a bull and don't use AI, but I have been told by larger breeders that AI is muhc less successful on highlands, maybe as low as 50%. 

Your question and wording makes me think you may be new to cattle. Highlands, in my experience are generally pretty calm and easy to work around, even if not petting gentle. However any cattle, even highlands, are big and strong and you have to take care of yourself around them. The highland bulls i have been around are also easy going and even tempered. However every animal has its own individual temperment. Some breeds are much worse than others, and highlands among the best in my experience.


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## randiliana (Feb 22, 2008)

Karin L said:


> Wouldn't your local veterinarian have any information on where you could get started with AI? If I were you, that would be the first one I'd go to.
> 
> As with bulls, even without the horns, they still can be dangerous. I have a hunch that the younger bulls are like sixteen year old boys pouring over playboy magazines and...well, you know what I mean. But the older bulls, they get real ornery, and I think that (and I believe randi will agree with me here), that they are more unpredictable than the young'uns.




Thanks, Karin

Younger bulls are less dangerous in that they aren't as sure of themselves as an older bull. And, are much more likely to back off when you push an issue. And, they are a lot more flighty and playful. But at some point a young bull gets to where he thinks he can take on the BOSS position, might take a while to happen, but it usually will at some point.

Older bulls are much more confident, once they figure out that they are bigger than you, then you have major problems. And, they figure that out, when they realize that you aren't confident enough to stand up to them. But that is a dilemma in itself, even if you know the bull, and have been around him for a long time, you don't know what he is thinking. Could be that he just needs a little more persuasion that YOU are the boss, could be that as soon as you attempt that extra persuasion that he will turn on you. And, I'm sorry but when an animal weighs 10-20 times more than YOU do you are in big trouble.

Bulls are fine to have around when they believe that you are herd boss, but at some point most of them will try to take over that position. It is the same thing that happens between bulls, the pecking order is constantly being challenged. Nothing much happens as long as the lower end bulls are scared (for lack of a better word) of the BOSS bull, but when one of the lower guys figures that his is big and tough enough to take over that position things can get bad, especilly if the boss doesn't want to step down.

I have heard stories of bulls killing each other. Most often this happens when several group together and take on a loner. In fact, we have a friend that lost a bull like this. He watched it happen, after all, you can't go in there and break the fight up, now can you. And these were bulls that had been run together for several years. Why they suddenly turned on that bull is anyones guess.....

Reading these threads where someone talks about how this bull or that bull were just *****cats, horrifies me. All I can say is that these people are DARN LUCKY. Cows and bulls are NOT pets. They should be taught respect by the people that handle them, and the people that are handling them should respect the animal. A bull can hurt you without even trying/wanting to. All he has to do is swing his head around when you are in the way.

I detest bulls, and would AI except for the fact that we have cows pastured in several places, and do not have the grazing at home to get through breeding season, before turning cows on pasture. For less than 20 cows I can't see a good reason to keep a bull around full time, especially if you are new to cattle. Find one to rent, or better yet AI. 

Bulls are not cheap to keep around. They eat more than a cow, tend to be a lot harder on fences, and if you have a neighbour with cattle there is a pretty good chance that your boy will sooner or later decide to go over for a visit.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

OK, this begs the question. What about for a homesteader on a small scale in regards to keeping a bull? My thought was to get a couple heifers and one bull calf. Raise them until said bull bred them both, then butcher him. Hope for a bull calf out of one of the heifers to raise for breeding back to the them and butcher the other calf. That would give me 2 cows a year in the freezer...reasonable plan or not?


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## randiliana (Feb 22, 2008)

OK, willow, your idea would work well enough for the first year, and might work OK for the next year, providing the bull calf matures fast enough to breed your cows. But there is one problem, you will be breeding the calf back to his mother. And then possibly be doing it again where you have a calf out of the cow you bred to her son.

Here is the issue.

Year one you have cow #1, cow #2 and an unrelated bull
Cow #1 has a bull
Cow #2 has a heifer

Year 2 you breed cow #1 and #2 to the bull out of cow #1
Cow #1 has a bull again
Cow #2 has a heifer again

Year 3 you have a bull that is 3/4 related to cow #1. This is where problems can come in, well, actually they can come in when you breed son to mother, the genetic relationship is too close, and this is when you start to run into genetic diseases and genetic abnormalities.

Better to either buy a young bull, use him for breeding, really you should only need to keep a bull around for 60 days or so and then either sell or butcher him. Or, AI your cows, then you don't have to deal with a bull at all, which IMO is the better idea.


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