Silly Question about Breeding our Cows

[cjc]

I have a silly question haha.

We have a bull in our field for the first time. All I was told was watch to see when there is some action between him and our girls, mark it in the calendar and wait 21 days to see if it happens again with the same cow and then we would know if she took if it didn't happen again.

Well...finally after 2 weeks there was some action between him and our cow "Big Mama". But it was literally 15 seconds. Is that all it takes? haha. They were licking each other...she got on top of him and then he got on top of her and did the deed...for 15 seconds.

And is that the only way to know? Wait 21 days and see if she acts like this again?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Yep! Breeding doesn't take long at all with cattle. Sometimes the bull may mount more than once if he's feeling particularly amorous, but yep, that's it. Not exactly the kind of bovine romantic setting you were expecting, eh?

 

[cjc]

Haha I was expecting something much more eventful! I was starting to think the bull was a dud. Thanks as always for your help

 

[greybeard]

It can be a little less or more than 21 days, but that's a good average.
More than likely, the bull mounted her more than once in this standing heat cycle day, but different factors can influence that--like very high ambient temps.

 

[cjc]

Thanks! We had some more action today with one of our other girls. Same situation haha.

Yesterday we tried to move him and the girls to another pasture and he was acting crazy. Was herding the girls all to the top of the hill and keeping them as far away from us as possible! The girls were just interested in the grain we were bribing them with but he kept them away so moving pastures was not successful. I knew something was going to happen again really soon. Crazy how his personality changed when it was time to do the deed!

 

[greybeard]

Thanks! We had some more action today with one of our other girls. Same situation haha.

Yesterday we tried to move him and the girls to another pasture and he was acting crazy. Was herding the girls all to the top of the hill and keeping them as far away from us as possible! The girls were just interested in the grain we were bribing them with but he kept them away so moving pastures was not successful. I knew something was going to happen again really soon. Crazy how his personality changed when it was time to do the deed!

What breed bull is this?

 

[cjc]

He's a short horn. Here is a picture of him...hard to see him here but its the best one I have.

We have 4 girls, a Hereford, Black Angus, Short Horn and a mix of a Red Angus and a Hereford. The calf that comes from our Short Horn mama will be our only pure bred this season.