I hate cows

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Welll....not after they're ribeyes. :D

Plenty dry around here. Even tho I have no grass to speak of in the 'yard', it's more than the cows have in the pasture. As those of you that have cows know, a fence is just a minor irritant to a hungry one. When I repair the year old fence in the next few days, I'll put a hotwire on it. Only the bull is stubborn enough to go through that (so far anyway). :mad:

KC

[Frank Fusco]

I gave up cattle ranching three years ago. Just in time, we entered a severe drought. Ponds were dust. As you say, fence isn't much more than a nusiance to a hungry cow or horny bull. I still miss the cows and have gained twenty pounds.

[Bart Leetch]

"Only the bull is stubborn enough to go through that (so far anyway."


That isn't a cow.... & thats no bull!!!!! :D :D :D

[Dennis Peacock]

Bull breaking fences? Bull steaks in the freezer!!!!! :D

[Jim Becker]

Hey...it's free fertilizer for your new sod! :D :D :D

[Frank Fusco]

Bull breaking fences? Bull steaks in the freezer!!!!! :D

Right. Then just keep cows for pets. Kill a bull, kill half yer production herd and ALL yer production.

[Steve Ash]

Right. Then just keep cows for pets. Kill a bull, kill half yer production herd and ALL yer production.

We used to artificailly inseminate our 300 head of brood cows, still needed a few bulls around to catch the ones that didn't get pregnant through artificial.

It always seemed they would break out near a apple tree to get the apples that had fallen on the ground....and it always seemed to happen on a Sunday. I don't miss the cows, but I do miss spring planting and fall harvest.

[Norman Hitt]

I never really minded the cattle, except during the droughts when I had to haul water from a distant creek, hand pumped with an old "One Arm Johnny Pump" 250 gal at a time,:( Annnnnd...after we Finally eradicated those darn Screw Worms. Of course, there was always that Fence "Fixin" that had to be done when our Bull and the neighbors Bull would tear out 50 yards of fence, and then graze side by side for days on end til we separated them again. (I kinda had my "Doubts" about those two bulls, Buuuut....the cows kept coming up pregnant):rolleyes: :D

[Frank Fusco]

We did the AI thing for many years until the sons grew out of the showing thing. Then went from purebreds to commercial crosses. AI is a lot of work. Keeping bulls is a REAL lot of work and expense.

[Julio Navarro]

Closest I ever come to bulls or cows is at the grill and when I buy their residue at HD for my lawn.

[Larry Klaaren]

We used to artificailly inseminate our 300 head of brood cows, still needed a few bulls around to catch the ones that didn't get pregnant through artificial.

Hey Steve . . .

Now you can time your AI's for Wednesday afternoon at 2 if you want, using hormones and prostaglandins. We did that quite a bit, and it eliminates the need for bulls. You can AI them all the same day, and watch them on the next heat for repeats, without worrying about it in between, then comfirm the pregnancies all on the same visit.

Larry

[Steve Ash]

Larry, our farm was one of Michigan State Universitys test farms in the mid 80's using Synchromate-B and another heat inducer I think called Lutalyse. They ran tests for 3-4 years to find out info and data. We thought at the time if we bred all 300 cows in one day that we would get the majority of the calves born together in a few days span. It turned out that it didn't have that effect.

I had taken AI class while attending MSU and was one of 4 to AI these cows. I found out that after 10-15 cows that another "technician" needed to take a turn.

We had a commercial cow herd and were using Simmentals in the 70's, Limousins in the 80's....never got into the purebred thing.

[Larry Klaaren]

I remember those, you have the names right. We used them when we first started doing that - and it was the 80's. We actually started about 1978 or 79. We were working with registered herds and were doing this as well as embryo transfers before the universities were working with herds. A certain percent of cows were always in a part of the cycle that wasn't affected by that mix so it didn't meet producer expectations, as you said. At that time it was the way to go to set up superovulations for ET's and have the recipients on hand for that procedure at the right time. It's better than it was, but due to individual variations in cows, and uncontrollable factors which induce calving you always get stringing out in calving, and you will always have repeater breeders.

You're right, we never tried to pull it off with that many cows. Takes more facilities than the average guy would have to handle that many AI's in a day.

Bulls are always dangerous to keep around. You can't get around that.

Probably too much information, but some good memories.

Larry

[Mike Cutler]

Welll....not after they're ribeyes. :D

Plenty dry around here. When I repair the year old fence in the next few days, I'll put a hotwire on it. Only the bull is stubborn enough to go through that (so far anyway). :mad:

KC

Solar powered fence charger. .2 joules at 4000 volts. Works on thoroughbreds, and other skin sensitive horses.

Ac powered fence charger. 2 joules at 7000 volts. Works on draft and warmbloods.

Old car ignition coils, and a deep deepcyle marine battery. ???? joules at 35,000-50,000 volts. Works on everything.;)

I volt for the old ignition coil.:eek: :eek: :D ;)

Just kidding. Hope the weather breaks for ya' and you get some rain. We have more than enough. You couldn't mow a field right now without getting the tractor axle deep in the mud.

[Frank Fusco]

We ran about 50% correct timing with Lut and Sync-B. Of those AI'd, about 50-70% actually 'took'. Worthwhile frustration when trying to breed full or pureblood qualities. But an exercise in futility with commercial cows when 90% + production is necessary for a profit.
Sad part is that the semen from desirable bulls is very costly.
Dangerous bulls is something that doesn't exist in my frame of reference. Ours were gentle as kitty cats. That's no bull. Of course, having a 2000 pounder rest his muzzle on your shoulder wanting to be petted can have it's exciting moments.

[Scott Loven]

Thought it was funny the other night when we drove by the neighbors and saw all of the goats and a few sheep in the flower bed..........

[Larry Klaaren]

We got a higher percentage of heats that were detectable by uterine palpation. It might have been 50% if we went by the typical signs of heat. I can't remember our conception rate, but it was slightly lower than a natural heat, but it was higher than fifty percent. If the cow was in heat, we bred them (the veterinarians) after the farmer prepared the semen. In natural heats about twenty percent are unobserved under the best circumstances. As you said these guys were using semen that was very costly.

A lot of guys had "pet bulls." But every once in a while, a bull perceives something as a threat and handles it. I was taken down by a bull that "would never hurt anyone" just before I quit the large animal business. A broken sternum is not fun. You can't play pool with one of those! I think it was the smell of blood from testing that were doing that set him off. One of my clients was killed by a bull. He was a very capable dairy man, and had this bull on the farm for "clean-up" after AI. So I do not trust them. It's when you think they can't or won't hurt you that you are very vulnerable. Just my experiences. Always be ready.

The wierdest part about the broken sternum was that I got out of the emergency room at Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, a little after eleven p.m. We went to a McDonalds drive-through and it was closed. Someone had set off the burglar alarm previous to our driving through. The police came out in force, and they pulled me out of the car and spread me across the hood. It hurt like nothing I have ever experienced in my life.

I finally convinced them to call the hospital, and they confirmed my story and that I was discharged about four minutes before the alarm went off. I also had a parking receipt stamped about the same time as the alarm. They told me to get out of Rochester, Minnesota immediately.

Larry