# Leaving bull w/ cows



## Reed77 (Mar 20, 2011)

I am wondering what the pros & cons are of leaving a bull, year round, with your cows?


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## bruce2288 (Jul 10, 2009)

I used to do this. I went to a more controled breeding season for the following reasons. To pick the kind of weather my cows were calving in, -20F and 3 feet of snow is not good, nor is 100F. I can better meet nutritional needs of the nursing and close up cows without over feeding the rest. Vacinations, weaning ect are all at the same time. Larger groupings of calves to sell.

I have a commercial cow calf operation. If you have a small number of cows or these things are not a concern, there is no reason you can not run your bull with your cows year around. My bulls never caused problems, but I would pay particular attention to the disposition of your bulls


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## allenslabs (Feb 6, 2005)

We like to separate the bull out for the purpose of planning like bruce said. We like calves starting march 1 and done by mid april if possible and then again starting in mid-september and done in a short amount of time also. Flies are bad here in the summer and the heat is so hard on them and calves in the winter....not fun for me lol.

Con is having a place for him to keep him happy and with room to roam. We have an area for that so it works out ok. Doesn't take a lot of room but for me enough for him to be happy.


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## Reed77 (Mar 20, 2011)

would the bull be a threat to the calves?


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## mink (Feb 10, 2005)

my bull stays out all the time , only thing you need to worry about is that the bull doesnt get ugly. they wont hurt the calves at all.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Reed77 said:


> would the bull be a threat to the calves?


I've seen literally thousands of calves interact with bulls. Bulls are always incredibly tolerant of calf antics.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I always left the bull out. His temperament would be better in a herd situation with graze and plenty of exercise.

No problem at all with calves, or sheep, for that matter. Or with the pig that occasionally escaped.

But that's if I had a bull. AI with frozen semen is so much more convenient and a lot cheaper.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Bearing in mind the smallest cattle operation I have experience with is 500 head of mothers, I've never been on a ranch that left the bulls with the cows year round. At least, not on purpose. 

Precisely for the reasons bruce already mentioned:


> To pick the kind of weather my cows were calving in, -20F and 3 feet of snow is not good, nor is 100F. I can better meet nutritional needs of the nursing and close up cows without over feeding the rest. Vacinations, weaning ect are all at the same time. Larger groupings of calves to sell.


Maybe with fewer head it's not a big deal, but I sure wouldn't want to have an unpredictable calving season. That just doesn't make a lot of sense from a financial standpoint, IMO.


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## SCRancher (Jan 11, 2011)

I only have 10 cows and a single bull - so far I am leaving my bull out with the cows - if I had a big enough herd and enough land I would separate him out with the calves. I have registered Black Angus - I'm small enough that I want to try and be in the seed stock business - at least for now.

For me it's a management issue - I don't have time to manage him separate so I manage him with the rest of the herd. Once I move out to my farm and I get facilities to separate him I may do that.


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## allenslabs (Feb 6, 2005)

Our bull is very patient with all our calves. Actually he is patient of most things but not all bulls are that way. The one before this one was a huge playing fool that tore up everything and could have easily hurt the babies. We just didn't keep him around long enough to find out LOL!


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I have a brood cow count of approximately 100. The bull is with the herd year round. I only have to have a single bull as he is having to serve, on average, less cows in a compressed time period. However, the main reasons for running the bull with the herd are to spread the work load (a one man operation) and to allow marketing of the calves throughout the year. My farming experience has taught me that usually at harvest time or seasonal sales the markets are flooded and often the selling prices are depressed. With year round calving I can avoid selling the entire calf crop into a flooded market. By marketing calves multiple times during the year I do not expect to hit the highs nor the lows but anticipate receiving an average.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

We have between 50 and 70 head at any given time. Our bulls run with the herd year round. Right now, I think we have 6 mature bulls. Usually we try to keep 3 or 4 at all times. The cows live more controlled and stable lives when they are in a family group. the only problem is that we calve year round also, and we sometimes lose a calf to the worst possible weather. If we separated for breeding timing, the bulls would have to be away from Christmas to July. Sucky for them, and we don't have the set up for it.

Some have questioned whether or not the bulls would become protective of the cows. Yes! and the calves as well. They know when 'their' cows and babies are in distress. BUT, since we choose our bulls carefully, they submit to us. If we are separating or loading, and the bulls start moaning and rubbing their faces on the ground, we simply tell them to knock it off, and they generally move away.


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

problems? not so much. pros and cons, yes. I leave the bulls out almost all year-don't care to have a calf in january or febuary around here. one neighbor uses his buls for a 3 month window and then puts them on seperate pasture, another with a 500 cow heard leaves the bulls out all year. If you leave them out all year it takes more work as you need to watch them a lot closer during calving which could be all year, verses a 3 month window. if you lease a bull you don't want him any longer than you need him.


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