Limestone Cowboy wrote: » Been said on here many times before by others but only really noticed it myself this evening. Was in gort Mart for a few hours and there wasn't 1 nice breeding heifer in the whole Mart that was 4 or 5 stars. Any that had them were mostly very plain, poor quality or first cross dairy. What has this scheme achieved? Too much faith placed in Icbf and the stars are almost a farce at this stage. The calving difficulty figure is about the only info worth paying attention to.
charolais0153 wrote: » Maybe cos there being kept. Selling two heifers to the mart next week. Theyre not the 5 star ones...
Tomjim wrote: » If a bull is 5 star across all breeds on replacement and is 3 star across all breeds on terminal does he qualify for BGDP Scheme
Dunedin wrote: » Yes. Absolutely
Tomjim wrote: » I only got this Bull on Sunday and accepted him into my herd on the same day but he is not appearing as eligible on ICBF
Tomjim wrote: » no he hasn't, its blank, its coming up as 0 for both terminal and replacement and its coloured pink. What does that mean?
simx wrote: » Quick question lads cousin is buying a stock bull and is 4 star within ch breed but not within all breeds is he still eligible
Sami23 wrote: » Just on bulls in general - what age would ye say a young bull would be fit to serve cows as thinking of buying a stick bull this year for the first time. Also any tips or advice on having a bull on the farm would be greatly appreciated. I'm just sick of trying to get cows in calf with AI and still ending up with empties every year. Tia
Sami23 wrote: » Just on bulls in general - what age would ye say a young bull would be fit to serve cows as thinking of buying a stock bull this year for the first time. Also any tips or advice on having a bull on the farm would be greatly appreciated. I'm just sick of trying to get cows in calf with AI and still ending up with empties every year. Tia
Sami23 wrote: Just on bulls in general - what age would ye say a young bull would be fit to serve cows as thinking of buying a stock bull this year for the first time. Also any tips or advice on having a bull on the farm would be greatly appreciated. I'm just sick of trying to get cows in calf with AI and still ending up with empties every year. Tia
anthony500_1 wrote: » I was in same boat here, not around enough to catch them bulling, was a pure disaster I went the opposite way to most and bought a 5yr old high star bull with great breeding cheap off done deal so bought off farm, I seen his calfs on the ground and was very happy with what I seen. This will be his 3rd season running with my cows and only reason I'll be getting rid of him is because I've kept all the heifers he produced. A good electric fence is the only way to stop him heading off to the neighbours bulling heifers but once it's on he won't even sniff over the wall at them. Biggest problem I have is after his job is done trying to find a corner to keep him in. Got caught the first year where I scanned the cows and once they were in calf put the bull back with them. One broke never spotted it and ended up with 1 calf 6mts after the rest. Not ideal in my own situation. There is not much in the line of stockmanship different to cows other than obviously never trust a bull etc keep an eye out on the likes of done deal and ask for the tag no, then check out his stars breeding etc on icbf bull search it will give you a good idea if the bull on paper at least will suit your herd before you ever go and look at him.
Sami23 wrote: » Thanks for that great advice. I agree electric fence is a must alright. I suppose the 2 biggest dilemmas I'm considering is what to do with him for the winter, will he be ok on slats with the cows or do most lads outwinter their bulls and secondly at what age is there a danger of the heifer weanlings coming bulling and getting caught out with him bulling them later in the year (spring calving) ?
Parishlad wrote: » Don't put him on the slats with the cows anyway. Too much of a chance that he'll be pucking the cows and cause one of them to lose a calf.
Sami23 wrote: » I was afraid someone would say that I wouldn't have a spare pen of slats to put him on and if he's left out he would fairly poach land over winter so what other option would there be
Limestone Cowboy wrote: » Buy an agey bull. Let him do your job for the summer and move him on again. You'll come across plenty at cull price.
Sami23 wrote: » Was actually thinking of that alright too. Is it ok for BDGP scheme to have a different stock bull every year once they are genotyped 4 or 5 star ?
