Running short bred heifers same pasture as mature herd bull ???

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ALTSIMMY 79

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May 25, 2010
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Spring Creek , Iowa
Heres my dilema , i have some yearling heifers that are 30 days A.I. bred and my front pasture has been taken over by horses (not by choice) !!! I have grass for them in my main pasture but my 3 year old simmy bull is running with the mature cows in it and hes definitely not an easy calver . Im well aware that ideally they should be kept seperate just in case but i really dont want to feed them either. Looking for some opinions on the situation ??? Thanks
 

Doc

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If you have no other choice , then you have to. I would just watch them like a hawk to see if any of them get bred.
 

DL

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ALTSIMMY 79 said:
Heres my dilema , i have some yearling heifers that are 30 days A.I. bred and my front pasture has been taken over by horses (not by choice) !!! I have grass for them in my main pasture but my 3 year old simmy bull is running with the mature cows in it and hes definitely not an easy calver . Im well aware that ideally they should be kept seperate just in case but i really dont want to feed them either. Looking for some opinions on the situation ??? Thanks

I don't know where you are, what your water source is, and if your cows respect hotwire but you might be able to divide the pasture with a wire or two - Gallagher makes a cool deal that is 4 strands on one reel that will do 330 feet - you could also divide the horse pasture (if the horses aren't stupid LOL) with hot wire and put the heifers in there til you get them preg checked. Another option would be to ultrasound them - 30 days is plenty of time to see if they are pg - you could then put the pg ones with the cows and re breed the open ones (or ship them whatever  ;) - I would chalk or use an estrotek patch on the pg heifers as there is some loss of pregnancy btwn 30 and 60 days - good luck
 

CM Livestock

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why dont u just put the heifers with the horses . we run cows and horses together all the time
 

ALTSIMMY 79

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Spring Creek , Iowa
Just to clarify the heifers have been ultrasounded bred thats why i said 30 days bred lol ! Im just worried about maybe a possible abort or something and a re breed by my herd bull . Last summer in our area the heat got so bad that a lot of people had trouble keeping cows bred , at least thats the excuse our local vet gave everybody . Thats my concern ,Thanks
 

ALTSIMMY 79

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Spring Creek , Iowa
CM Livestock - I tryed running them with the horses but the 2 mares in there think its a fun game every evening to run the heifers up and down the fence , and cut them off and spin them back the other direction . It was fun to watch the first time but ive had enough of it !!!
 

GoWyo

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Horses make no money and  cause mischief.  I would corral the horses and put the heifers in the front pasture.  Maybe the pasture time could be split with horses having pasture at night and heifers during day or in 24-hour increments. To split a pasture with temporary electric fence, horses are easy as they will avoid electric fence.  Bulls, however, are difficult to keep behind any fence when there is a heifer in heat on the other side.  I would split the front pasture with temporary electric fence if there was a reason not to corral the horses and feed them instead of the heifers.
 

ALTSIMMY 79

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Spring Creek , Iowa
GoWyo i agree totally with the no money in horses ! But to keep the peace i might just do what you suggested because im definitely NOT feeding the horses in the middle of july , thats where i draw the line ! And thats the problem with sectioning off a part of the big pasture , temporary fencing is not gonna cut it if one were to have a slip . Thanks
 
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