can a steer detect heat?

[DB]

I am working on a booklet for my breeding project and I am kind of new to this and was told i could find my answer out on here.

My question is:  Can a steer detect the heat cycle in a cow or heifer?  For instance, can my 4h steer detect heat out in the field.

Thank you for all the help!

 

[mooch]

Yes some are better at it than others.

 

[Jill]

We had a steer several years ago that was so good at it we kept him around, he was probably 6-7 when he finally got too lazy to jump.

 

[justintime]

I have found a great variation in steers used to detect heat. I have a steer running with my heifers right now, along with a bull, and I have never seen him even look at a heifer in heat. He would be a complete waste of time if I was trying to use him as a gomer. I have seen a occasional steer that was pretty good at detection though.

The best gomers I ever had were dry cows that I used to shoot up with testosterone, when you could still buy it from your vet. It is now banned for sale, because of the illiegal use in praticularly sports. It was extemely cheap and a bottle worth $10 would convert a cow into the most ignorant pseuto male you ever saw! Some of them would even herd the cows and paw dirt and bellow like a bull would. From one shot of testosterone, it would make a cow work as a gomer for 10 days to 3 weeks, so for a total cost of $10-15 I could get through my AI season. I usually used a cow that was going to be culled, or even bought a couple of dry cows . Once I was done breeding, I would usually let the gomer cow run on grass for a couple weeks then sell her again. Most times I usually made money doing this. I do wish I could still buy testosterone as it was cheap and very effective. The only thing I did not like was it left a pepperminty taste in your mouth... haha

 

[FutureBreeder2013]

That reminds me of a story Ive heard.

A cattle buyer bought a load of heifers and before he could get them sold, the market went down, leaving him looking at a significant loss. He decided to keep the heifers and breed them in hope he could recoup his loss by selling them as bred heifers later on. He bought 2 bulls from a nearby rancher and turned them out with the heifers.
In about a week, the cattle buyer saw the rancher in town and said, "I want my money back on those damned bulls you sold me. All they do is eat grass and won't even look at the heifers."

The rancher replied, "I'll sure take them back, but before I do, let me send my vet out to your place to take a look at those bulls."

A week later, the rancher saw the cattle buyer and asked if the vet's visit did any good.

The cattle buyer replied, "The vet did a Hell of job on those bulls. They bred all my heifers, broke through the fence, and bred about half of my neighbor's cows before we could get them out."

"Glad to hear that" said the rancher. "What did the vet do to those bulls?"

"Just gave them some pills," replied the cattle buyer.

"What kind of pills?" asked the rancher.

"Don't know," said the cattle buyer... "But they sort of taste like peppermint."

 

[rasor club calves]

people that don't want to use cidr's usually just keep a nice size steer back. ( they don't know the don't have testicals just to let u know ) haha

 

[GoWyo]

We keep the show heifer with the steers and just feed her grain separately.  When the heifers come into heat, they will ride the heck out of the steers and usually the steers will ride them too.  Maybe need to put the detection sticker on the steers with really busy heifers.

 

[farmboy]

every steer I've turned out with cows in the years past would jump on it.

 

[Shady Lane]

I worked for an outfit one time and it was coming close to breeding time and we were deciding what to breed the PB cows to, decided we would do a significant amount of AI on the 200 or so PB females. Thought a good steer or 2 that jumped would be great.

Put in an order at the auction mart for a couple holstein steers because they are cheap and light and not hazourdous to heifers or cows no matter how much they ride.

Yup, next sale get a call on my cell phone to come pick up 24 holstein steers,

yes that's right 24!!!!!!!


In any case, we picked out a few that were agressive jumpers and sent the rest back.

But as it turned out, there was this bizzare attraction between the paint horse I was riding at the time and these holstein steers. They seemed to be quite attracted to her and she was TERRIFIED of them.

Everytime we rode in that pasture to check heats they would rush towards her and follow us,which seemed to make her NERVOUS, like on the edge of loosing her mind! I thought those darn steers were going to get me piled one day for sure when I was sorting cows that were in heat in to be AI'd.

I think the colour pattern made them think that she was Kin of some kind.


:

 

[justintime]

But as it turned out, there was this bizzare attraction between the paint horse I was riding at the time and these holstein steers. They seemed to be quite attracted to her and she was TERRIFIED of them.

Everytime we rode in that pasture to check heats they would rush towards her and follow us,which seemed to make her NERVOUS, like on the edge of loosing her mind! I thought those darn steers were going to get me piled one day for sure when I was sorting cows that were in heat in to be AI'd.

I think the colour pattern made them think that she was Kin of some kind.


:
[/quote]

Jamie, are you sure it was the paint horse they were attracted to? Or was it you they were attracted too?

 

[cdncowboy]

I worked for an outfit one time and it was coming close to breeding time and we were deciding what to breed the PB cows to, decided we would do a significant amount of AI on the 200 or so PB females. Thought a good steer or 2 that jumped would be great.

Put in an order at the auction mart for a couple holstein steers because they are cheap and light and not hazourdous to heifers or cows no matter how much they ride.

Yup, next sale get a call on my cell phone to come pick up 24 holstein steers,

yes that's right 24!!!!!!!


In any case, we picked out a few that were agressive jumpers and sent the rest back.

But as it turned out, there was this bizzare attraction between the paint horse I was riding at the time and these holstein steers. They seemed to be quite attracted to her and she was TERRIFIED of them.

Everytime we rode in that pasture to check heats they would rush towards her and follow us,which seemed to make her NERVOUS, like on the edge of loosing her mind! I thought those darn steers were going to get me piled one day for sure when I was sorting cows that were in heat in to be AI'd.

I think the colour pattern made them think that she was Kin of some kind.


:

I think it must be horses in general that attract them.  Back when I was riding feedlot they had one pen of Holstein steers come in, you had to be real quick in there.  As soon as you'd get in the pen there were 5 or 6 that would come running to your horse  - looking for a good time!!  It never got old for the buggers either, kept it up til the day they were shipped out.

 

[Show Steaks]

I've heard crushing a steer implant in a cows ear will have the same effect of the testrone shot

 

[forbes family farms]

yeah steers can detect heat we always put a steer in with our show heifers but i can say some steers are WAY better at it