Hiring a Bull for mating season

lifelover2006

Hello, wondering if anyone has any experience of hiring a bull just for the mating season. I only have 20 sucklers so don't want the hasstle of keeping a bull all year round.

where can you go for hiring a bull and what is the general cost for say 8-9 weeks.

please share your experiences if you have any.

cheers

whelan1

we breed angus and theres a lad comes back to us every year he buys the bull uses him for 8 -10 weeks then brings him to mart or puts him in journal

mossfort

the trouble with hiring in a bull is you could introduce diseases into your herd such as bvd,lepto etc if the bull has been to different farms.
if possible you should try and use ai or else go and buy a fairly cheap bull from a disease free herd but a cheap bull will produce cheap weanlings.

lifelover2006

whelan1 wrote: »

we breed angus and theres a lad comes back to us every year he buys the bull uses him for 8 -10 weeks then brings him to mart or puts him in journal

thanks for that. roughly what is the going rate to buy an average to good bull. Is it always just AA that you have?

What part of the country are you.

if you want you can PM me with your answers.

thanks

irishh_bob

lifelover2006 wrote: »

Hello, wondering if anyone has any experience of hiring a bull just for the mating season. I only have 20 sucklers so don't want the hasstle of keeping a bull all year round.

where can you go for hiring a bull and what is the general cost for say 8-9 weeks.

please share your experiences if you have any.

cheers

hiring a bull will cost you around 450 quid for an eight week period but as other posters have stated , you open yourself to risk from disease , add to that , the bulls that guys keep for hire are rarely of any real quality , why not simply buy a bull and resell him at the end of the breeding season , i doubt you would loose more than 450 euro beit by selling him as a breeding bull or just for finishing , regarding price , i witnessed fantastic hereford bulls being sold at the anual bull sale in ballybay last year for around two grand but thier were also quality stock for as low as 1600

Bitten & Hisses

If you're serious about breeding quality animals and not just going through the motions to keep your cows producing "a calf" every year, buy the best bull you can afford and keep him long-term. Pick a breed you want to go with, set a budget, go to a pedigree sale and buy a bull with a view to keeping him for a minimum of 5 years. Even with 20 cows, you've enough stock to justify going this route.

yessam

Bitten & Hisses wrote: »

If you're serious about breeding quality animals and not just going through the motions to keep your cows producing "a calf" every year, buy the best bull you can afford and keep him long-term. Pick a breed you want to go with, set a budget, go to a pedigree sale and buy a bull with a view to keeping him for a minimum of 5 years. Even with 20 cows, you've enough stock to justify going this route.

Bitten & Hisses has correct advice. Its too high risk hiring bull especially with 20 cows, you want to be sure of good quality & healthy stock

greysides

I've seen perfectly good older bulls wasted in going to the factory for meat as their daughters were coming through or for other reasons. An older bull would easily handle 20 cows. Ask around, you might get one for meat price. At least it's likely that the bull won't have been travelling the country before he arrives to you. Dealers/lorry drivers may have a finger on the pulse and be able to supply you or point you in the right direction.

irishh_bob

greysides wrote: »

I've seen perfectly good older bulls wasted in going to the factory for meat as their daughters were coming through or for other reasons. An older bull would easily handle 20 cows. Ask around, you might get one for meat price. At least it's likely that the bull won't have been travelling the country before he arrives to you. Dealers/lorry drivers may have a finger on the pulse and be able to supply you or point you in the right direction.

+1 , for a small herd like 20 cows in number , it is not feasible to invest big in a bull but as greysides says , thier are older quality bulls who would still be up to the task of bulling twenty cows , my personal opinion is that the OP should invest in a teaser bull and simply A.I the cows , lower cost , no bull and the best way to achieve quality of all

pakalasa

On the subject of teaser bulls, anyone know, how young you can preform a vasectomy on one. I have only one weanling bull left on the farm. I was hoping to use him as a teaser but he's very small (a saler, by Rio ). I know you need height so that he marks the cows with the chin ball. I've read also to get it done 2 months in advance.

Does he have to be well developed to get it done?
Also, would he want to be out in clean grass to avoid infection afterwards?