Uncontrolled Calving.
     Controlled calving, of course, means that you have to remove your bull or bulls from the cowherd for most of the year. Often small producers with limited pastures have a difficult time housing the bull when not breeding. Also when the bull is held behind traditional fences, he often escapes and breeds cows out of season. Perhaps the easiest way to keep the bull away from cows is with electric fencing.

     Modern fencing systems can economically control even the most unruly bulls. The key is to use the correct type of fence charger. Use only a high-output (high voltage, high joule rating) charger. With these systems, bulls can usually be controlled with a single electrified wire. However it is done, producers should strive for a controlled breeding season. Without this single element, most other management becomes difficult if not impossible. Uniform calves produced in restrictive breeding-calving seasons are also much more marketable and manageable.

Inbreeding.
      Inbreeding is simply the mating of relatives. When closely related individuals are mated, productivity of offspring is affected. This reduction in productivity is called inbreeding depression. Traits most affected are vigor and viability of the calf.

     Also, when relatives are mated, recessive genes that can cause death or deformity to the calf are often expressed. But inbreeding is not simply a "yes/no" concept. There are actually varying degrees. Some inbreeding may be tolerable (though not generally recommended). For instance, mating half siblings (half brother to his half sister) will usually not cause significant over the generations.

     However, in small herds, producers often mate a parent to its offspring. This results in a much higher level of inbreeding and with that comes the potential for substantial inbreeding depression. The most common parent-offspring mating is the breeding of a bull to his own daughters.

     This often happens in small "single bull" herds and occurs more rapidly than most people realize. When replacement heifers are kept from within the herd, close inbreeding will occur when a bull is used for three or more years. There are two ways to avoid this problem. First, you can replace your bull every third year (use him for only two consecutive breeding seasons). This is usually not a very popular choice, but it is a necessary one if you plan to keep replacement heifers from within your herd. Perhaps a better solution for most small producers is to simply forget about raising replacement heifers altogether.

     In most cases, it is more cost effective to buy replacement females (heifers or cows) than to raise them. If you sell all heifers produced by your bull and buy replacement females that are not related to your bull, inbreeding will not occur. Of course, the useful lifetime of the bull also dramatically increases. When you buy replacement cows, it becomes possible to create a herd that is entirely composed of mature cows (three or more years of age).

     Under these conditions it becomes possible to develop a breeding program that "challenges" cows by breeding them to a bull from a more muscular and growth oriented breed. Remember no replacement heifers will be kept so you don't have to worry about "maternal" traits when selecting bulls. And because all of the cows are at least three years of age, they should be able to safely give birth to a larger calf. You can now focus on the production of the best market calf.

     Breeding mature cows to sire breeds with more growth and muscularity is known as "terminal crossbreeding". Of course the term "terminal" only applies if all calves are marketed (no replacement heifers are kept). When bulls with greater growth potential and muscularity (Charolais, Limousin, Simmental, etc.) are mated to moderate sized cows with adequate milk production potential, weaning weights often increase by 50 to 100 pounds. Of course, quality "terminal" bulls must be used to get these results.

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