Looking after the Lads – Bulls, bulls, bulls!
I know that many of you will probably groan at the thought of bulls arriving on your farm, the peace of your farm system humming along nicely being disrupted by those rowdy, eager to get on with the job bulls! As you know they have a very important job to do.
Good quality bulls
The majority of our grower farmers will be receiving well grown NZ Grazing Company Jersey service bulls to go in with Company heifers. These bulls have been contract bred and reared for NZ Grazing from top quality Jersey dairy farms and managed on NZG grower’s farms since leaving their dairy farm of birth. So not only do our Jersey bulls have a full health treatment and vaccination history but also a lifetime location history. While the incidence of M bovis is low in NZ right now we still feel it is very important to look after our growers’ farm health and our owners heifer health by minimizing disease risk and utilising the best management of bulls that we can apply.
Management of bulls during the breeding season.
While bulls are out with cows/heifers during the breeding season observe them, look out for lameness especially important during the first 3 weeks (first cycle) of mating and also observe them serving cows/heifers to make sure everything is tickety-boo and there is not a lazy dominant bull stopping other bulls from working. Always have a minimum of 2 bulls per mob.
Should bulls be rotated between mobs? That depends on who you are.
If you are a grower farmer with multiple different owner lines of heifers – No, do not rotate bulls between different owner lines to reduce the risk of disease spread.
If you are a dairy farmer with more than one mob of cows/heifers that you are managing– Yes rotate your bulls between your cows/heifers.
Keep bulls well fed if they are out of the mating mob for a period so they are well rested and not stressed in any way.
To our grower farmers – keep your NZG Service Manager up to date on bull activities including;
- Bulls arriving on farm
- Bulls being put in with heifers
- Any bull lameness issues during mating
- Bulls being removed from heifer line at the end of the mating period
A big thank you to our bull grower farmers who have been growing our Jersey bulls for these past 9-11 months, they are again in fantastic shape ready for the breeding season. You have done a fantastic job!
Bridget Clark
NZG Operations Manger.
