Shortening the breeding season

[dfarms11]

hi all, I am curious to everyones ideas on how to shorten the breeding/ calving season. The biggest thing I did this year was holding the herd back to Feb1 due date. I prefer calving jan/feb, but I ALWAYS have calves straight thru to may. thats too long. I've heard molassis works good , but is so expensive. what else has everyone else heard?

[skeeter]

Try pulling your bulls after 60days.

[dfarms11]

Yes, that would work too, but would you not end up with a lot of open cows. I think I would end up losing 1/3 min, of my herd.

[smcgrath76]

The only way to shorten the calving season is to shorten the breeding season. This can be accomplished in a couple of ways.
1) pull the bulls sooner
2) make sure every cow is bred on her first cycle with the bull
3) a combination of the previous two

The concern expressed over the need to cull heavily reinforces the idea that you may need to make the move to a shorter breeding season a bit more gradually (Eg: reduce it 5 days per year for 3 or 4 years). This may reduce your culling rate, but still ensures that you are removing the less fertile females from your herd.

Most of the work done on economic returns to the beef industry shows that in general by culling the bottom 10% of the herd you can often nearly double your profit.

Also, it is important to note the need for a rising plane of nutrition going into the breeding season, and the importance of good body condition for the cowherd. This ensures that cows have every opportunity to cycle and catch on that first heat. If the cow is compromised nutritionally, she will first protect herself and her calf (in a biological sense) by ensuring she has enough to survive and feed her calf and give up a bit on the fertility or rebreeding aspect.

Also important, is to ensure that any bulls you are using are have a proper semen examination going into the breeding season.

People you may want to consider consulting locally are your veterinarian, and a nutritionist. In this way you can get a more detailed answer for your specific operation.