How to Breed Beef Cattle
Breeding beef cattle involves producing offspring that are primarily used for the beef market. Fundamentally, it's all about getting cows bred to produce calves to sell either for beef or replacements.
- Begin by starting up a beef cow-calf operation. Follow the steps provided in the article linked in this step.
- Buy your cows and/or your herd bull. Buy the quality of cows that meet your standards, as far as having a good breeding herd is concerned.
- Choose your breeding program. There are two types to choose from, and both can be integrated into the other, if you so choose.
- Breed your cattle. Know when your cows go into estrus, when they're ready to breed, and go from there.
- Monitor your bulls and cows during breeding season. If you have one too many bulls for your herd, there may be more fighting than mating.
- Pull the bull[s] out 64 to 85 days after they've been put in. Unless you choose to do year-round breeding and calving where the bulls are in with the cows all the time, pulling the bulls out after 2 to 3 months both ensures that all your cows get 3-4 chances of being covered and is also not long enough for your less fertile females to get away from being culled.
Your herd bull should be selected to improve your herd, as he will be providing half of the genetic potential of your calf crop. Knowing conformation at this point will really help in determining how good a herd bull is needed. Fertility and live calves are key to profitability. One live calf is worth more than 100 dead ones. A bull that sires calves that are larger than your cow can safely give live birth to is economic suicide.