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How badly am I shooting myself in the foot...
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kipps
Posted 6/11/2022 18:57 (#9700819)
Subject: How badly am I shooting myself in the foot...



Madison Co. Virginia
By breeding the whole herd to a single bull?

I'm running a 30-cow non-registered Jersey dairy, using exclusively sexed-Jersey semen and cheap Angus semen from Select Sires. I'm using as much sexed as possible, with the goal of tripling the herd size within five years. My choice of bulls is based primarily on Fat Percentage, Net Merit, and a negative selection for stature. Jersey Udder Index, a2a2 status, and general fertility factor in as well. My typical method is to find a really promising young-sire bull, and use him exclusively until someone better comes along, or until his daughters are big enough to breed. At that point, I switch to the next hot new upcoming bull. I've done a decent job of picking which bulls will stay in the catalog as proven sires. I'm currently using Stoney(14Je769), and am looking at Bulwurx-P(14Je1810) to replace Stoney in a few months. I'm paying no attention to individual cow traits, strengths, and weaknesses in this breeding program. My theory is if I'm choosing good bulls, it will all come out in the wash anyway.

How much would I have to gain by keeping several bulls in stock, and intentionally 'mating' the cows? Should I keep doing what I'm doing, or do I need to do something different?

Edited by kipps 6/11/2022 18:58
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