Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Trust quality, not quantity
ALimpopo beef cattle farmer claimed that if you didn’t insist on a short calving season, 60 or more cows could be serviced with just one Afrikaner sire. He explained in this article.
To achieve a high calving rate, it is not necessary to use more than one Afrikaner bull in a reasonably-sized herd.
This is the view of DJ Robbertse, a beef producer in Limpopo and a bushveld farmer since 1944.
His properties near Thabazimbi cover about 8 780ha on which he runs cattle, most being Afrikaner and the rest various crosses, with the Brahman/Afrikaner dominating. For his Afrikaners, he uses nine bulls.
Robbertse says he does not hesitate to use one bull to 60 cows, and has successfully put a bull in with 80 cows.
“Some beef farmers say one Afrikaner bull should serve no more than 25 to 30 cows,” he says. “This, I feel, is misleading and should only be advocated where calving seasons are short.
“I say the farmer should extend his or her calving season. My season, for instance, is from April to December.
The bulls, each with a herd, remain with the cows from July to March.” Robbertse doesn’t feel that putting several bulls with a herd of cows will increase the efficiency of the breeding programme.
He says they will very quickly work out seniority and it will be the senior animal that takes the lead as the herd sire.
The senior animal will seek out the cows in heat while the other bulls will play a secondary role, following in the master’s footsteps, as it were. The senior bull, in fact, does all the work. If the animal is from good stock, which means it is vigorous, it will provide all that is required in servicing, says Robbertse.
Although the bulls will sort out a ‘pecking order’ of seniority, this does not preclude a sense of rivalry that is disturbing to the herd and can lead to fighting. After a serious fight, bulls can be impotent for a month.
A contented bull is a productive bull. “Certainly, if you make a mistake,” he says, “and put a weak bull in, production will suffer severely. However, the farmer must exercise extreme care when selecting sires.”
HOME-BRED BULLS
The farmer needs to know the history of the bull, which should, for preference, be bred from parents the farmer has chosen. An important feature of the mother will be a plentiful supply of milk and high fertility. A farmer, he says, will never get a good animal from a mother low in milk. Robbertse immediately culls all cows with low milk.
A beef producer can buy in Afrikaner bulls, but Robbertse feels it is a far better policy to breed the animals on the farm. The outstanding advantage of this ‘at-home’ breeding is that the animal comes from stock well adjusted to conditions on the farm. For instance, the Thabazimbi area has extremes of climate. The summer temperatures are high, about 30°C to 32°C with instances of 42°C, while winters are cold with frost.
“In time, you breed an animal totally adapted to the circumstances of your particular farm. This is a very important consideration for any producer who wishes to farm Afrikaners successfully in the hot bushveld.”
It has been said that out of 100 calves, the breeder will get one that is outstanding. Once a farmer has bred a good Afrikaner bull, the rewards are long term. At three years old, the animal will reach its peak and will continue to be fertile and vigorous until the age of 10 or 12 years.
AFRIKANER COW FERTILITY
Some claim the Afrikaner cow is not as fertile as other breeds. To some degree this may be true, but you should take into account that perhaps too much is expected of the Afrikaner, particularly when the animal is not given the best grazing.
The fact that the Afrikaner can make good use of inferior grazing has been to its disadvantage, says Robbertse. The Afrikaner cow is highly protective and will tend to remain infertile, say experts, where the animal instinctively feels the conditions for the rearing of its young are not good.
Robbertse says that with careful breeding as well as some of the best and not the worst veld given to the Afrikaner, fertility can be significantly increased.
He admits that he favours his crosses with some of the better grazing, but even so, he expects and gets a calf every 12 to 15 months from his Afrikaner cows.
The calving interval has been 11 months in some exceptional cases.
Two delightful four-legged friends, Cody and Otis, were rescued after roaming the streets of Ballito in KwaZulu-Natal for months. They were subsequently fostered; however, their foster mother passed away, and they found themselves stranded once again and totally confused.
They are currently at Animally Haven in Ndwedwe, and have now been waiting for their forever home for a little over a month. They are both vaccinated, dewormed and sterilised, and have been treated with Nexgard.
Cody and Otis need to be homed together as they are a bonded pair and get very distressed without each other. They love to play and are extremely affectionate. They deserve a loving home, with space to run and play. Their gentle nature answers to a family that wishes to take these boys out hiking, playing, and much more!
Cody is gentle and the mature one of the two, while Otis is a ball of love and energy that loves to play.
No adoption fees are required; however, a donation will be required to break the cycle of giving dogs away for free. Home checks will apply. Transport fees will be covered if outside of KwaZulu-Natal.
Food and necessities will be supplied every month to the approved foster home for their care.
If you would like to offer Cody and Otis a forever home, please call Maritza Trengrove on 082 975 3935.
Livestock owners should take care to only make use of veterinarians and veterinary technicians who are registered with the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC). SAVC issued this warning after two women, who had been convicted of illegally practising as veterinary professionals in 2021, were recently sentenced.