Herd Management Spring
We manage our cows as cost-effectively as we can, no extra equipment and no creep feed. Our cows and heifers are calved in quarter section or bigger pastures and graze Sandhills range for the summer, where they are A.I. bred using a timed breeding system then exposed to clean up bulls for 45-50 days. They consistently breed up in the mid 90s.
Our cows are rotationally grazed over the summer on Sandhills range. We handle them horseback, mostly, and the bulk of them go through the corrals at least 3 times in the summer for A.I. where we handle them on foot as well. They even get moved with a dog and side by side once in a while, so they have seen about everything at some point or another.
After being fence-line weaned, the cows move to corn stalks from November to late March and are not supplemented until mid to late January, then we use a little alfalfa for protein supplement. Bred heifers we usually start supplementing with a little alfalfa or DDG, depending on cost, in mid-December.
The weaned calves winter on dormant range and corn stalks and are supplemented with DDG. They graze in groups of 200 or larger and are exposed to the same grazing conditions they will experience every winter the rest of their life. .
The yearling bulls graze summer range, then dormant range before moving to the bull traps in late October where they are fed hay, DDG, and soybean hulls prior to the sale. We keep the water and the hay ¼ to ½ mile apart to keep them sound and in shape
The end result, a pair of bulls right after completing their first breeding season for valued customer Kevin Petersen, I saw these bulls last spring as 6 year-olds weighing over a ton and looking impressive
Fall
Our Fall Cows and heifers are calved on native range and checked once daily. This year we only observed one calf being born. This helps us to select for true calving ease, vigor, and maternal intelligence. A short 50 day breeding season after AI helps us select for fertility. It is rare for us to ever see a calf being born.
The fall calving pairs go from fall range to cornstalks in November. There they are supplemented alfalfa through January. After that and until weaning in April they are supplemented very minimally or not at all depending on weather. They were weaned in a dry lot situation and then summered in rough canyon pasture.
After coming off of pasture in September the fall born bulls were fed cane hay and a ration of cracked corn and DDG in a 10 acre trap. We feed them enough to observe genetic differences in gain-ability, but never enough to negatively impact their overall health or soundness. The end result is a breeding athlete that will hold up to more seasons of use than most. We can say this because our customers frequently tell us this is their experience with our product.
4 Stockmen’s Source Beef Bulls
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