Bull to heifer Ratio

[klintdog]

10 heifers and 5 bulls. At this ratio, it could make for an interesting bull sale next spring!

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

The most lop sided calf crop I ever had wad 72% heifers, as a general rule though I run heavy on the female end. RW

 

[justintime]

Right now we have 21 calves born.... 15 heifers and 6 bulls. Three of the bulls are twins.Two sets so far. More than 100 more to come in March... maybe it will level out before long. Last two years the ratiio stayed high on heifers. Not sure what is going on here but we have been close to 80 % heifers here for the past two years. This year we seem to be continuing the trend. Just when I want some bulls I can't seem to get them. It is hard to have a bull sale when you get heifers. Uluru is having the same luck.

Last spring we had one bull in the first 5 calves then went 27 heifers in a row before the next bull appeared. I am really starting to wonder about the water....lol. I have had some people tell me that their ET calves are usually over 70% bulls. Ours are mostly heifers. 4 years ago, we got 18 heifers from 18 embryos implanted. There were 17 pregnancies and the first to calve had identical twin heifers. So far this year we have 8 heifers and 2 bulls from the ETs but there are 5 recips that are overdue, so maybe they are having the bulls.

 

[jbw]

5 hfrs and three bulls, so far all the hfr plus that we used has been hfrs! Ive got 30 coming that I used hfr plus on. Used it on 2 flushes, don't believe that it will work, but I thought it would be worth a try. Lookin' good so far.

 

[4sistersshowingwhatwegot]

We have had all bulls out of our AI cows this year. Still have 2 more to go. Keeping my fingers crossed for a heifer!

 

[klintdog]

I've heard a few old timers say that when you get a lot of heifer calves, it means you're in for a wet spring. The theory is that those heifers will help you to rebuild with all that grass you have. Last year we had 70% heifers, but we had the worst drought we've had in 20 years. Then I started to think - if you had a lot of heifers, and then a drought, you probably had to sell cows, so those heifers would actually be good for replacement females for the next year. Sure enough, we have more snow and moisture this year then we have in the past 10 years. If that theory holds true, if we have a slug of heifers this year, we're in for another doozy of a winter next year as well.

 

[oakbar]

Two bulls to one heifer so far.  Hoping for more heifers from here on out!!  So far we have a JPJ bull, a Who Made Who heifer, and a Tonic bull! 

 

[inthebarnagain]

We had a run of 13 bulls with only 3 heifers and then just in the last week the number jumped to 15 bulls and 8 heifers, thank goodness, WE WANT HEIFERS!!

 

[red]

we went over 2 years without a bull. Last year we had 3:4 bulls vs heifers. Starting out w/ 2 heifers. One cow has had 7 heifers & no bulls.

Red

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

In our commercial herd since we got our current composite bull:
2006: all heifers
2007: 1 bull and the rest were heifers
2008: 50:50 bulls to heifers (at the beginning of the year, most were heifers and at the end most were bulls)
2009: so far, all bulls
That's an interesting pattern. At first we thought there might have been something wrong with him because he had so many heifers.

My simmental herd is new but so far both of the calves have been bulls. 

 

[inthebarnagain]

In our commercial herd since we got our current composite bull:
2006: all heifers
2007: 1 bull and the rest were heifers
2008: 50:50 bulls to heifers (at the beginning of the year, most were heifers and at the end most were bulls)
2009: so far, all bulls
That's an interesting pattern. At first we thought there might have been something wrong with him because he had so many heifers.

My simmental herd is new but so far both of the calves have been bulls. 

This goes back to the timing on breeding, if you breed earlier you will get heifers, later bulls.  A new bull, especially a younger one is going to be jumping cows as soon as he gets the chance, slowing down as he gets older. 

 

[klintdog]

When you say timing of breeding - do you mean the order they're bred, or the time of the year they are bred?

 

[worthabit]

I think she means at what point in the heifers cycle. That is interesting, never heard that before.

 

[WWS]

So far so good 9 bulls 16 heifers and all E.T. calves so far have been heifers and about 50 cows still to go this spring.  I am pretty sure sex of calf is determined mainly by the sire may be wrong but i thought thats the way it is.

 

[simtal]

  I am pretty sure sex of calf is determined mainly by the sire may be wrong but i thought thats the way it is.

It is.  However, the female can be manipulated to increase the chances that female producing sperm have better chances of getting the female pregnant, than male producing sperm can.

 

[inthebarnagain]

When you say timing of breeding - do you mean the order they're bred, or the time of the year they are bred?

I mean the timing in the cycle.  We just purchased an Ovatec ovulation monitor that measures electrical conductivity of the mucus in the cervix.  The readings will start to fall when the cow is coming in heat.  At ovulation the number readings will make a V.  There is a "window" that you are supposed to breed in according to the reading that correlate with the number V.  If you breed while you are going into the V, heifer calf.  If you breed coming out of the V, bull calf. 

That being said, if the bull is eager and jumps her as soon as she stands then you will be more likely to get a heifer.  Not an exact science but we will see how the monitor works, a little labor intensive but will be worth it if we can determine heifers or bulls!

 

[kccowman]

That helps explain all the bull calves I always get. 16 AI calves 13 bulls.  All the heifer calves some are getting , someone has to get it back to  the 50-50 Ratio!

 

[WWS]

Thats interesting info on the ovulation monitor and determining timing to breed for a heifer...definitely gonna check that out.  Its good to get some other info seems like all the semen guys and other experts i had talked to always preached that the bull was pretty much the highly dominant factor in sex of calf.  If i can get something to increase odds of getting heifers we are sure gonna do it cause its not exactly easy selling simmy bulls in our part of the world.

 

[oakbar]

As of right now we have 3 bull and 2 heifers.  Just had another JPJ calf--75# heifer this time-  first two JPJ's were bulls.  Also have a WMW heiferand  a Tonic bull calf.

 

[klintdog]

Had another heifer last night, and a bull this morning, so the ratio stays the same. I think the bull theory is interesting because we completely changed our herd bull battery over the last two years, which would mean that out of 8 sire groups (all natural service), a majority of them are jumping at the first chance they get.