A:   1:25 bull to cow ratio would be appropriate for a mature bull. 50% AI conception rate is close to industry average, so if you AIed 50 head of cows, one could expect 25 cows for the bull to breed. Single sire pastures can be a challenge and will take more management. In multi-sired pastures, other bulls can cover the cows if one of the bulls goes bad reproductively. When managing single sire pastures, check the bulls once a day for the duration of the breeding season. Make sure he has not been injured and is servicing cows that come in heat. If you see cows that you observed that the bull bred come back into heat, then there is a problem and sometimes it is late in the breeding season and adjustments may need to be made in regard to length (days) of the breeding season. Sometimes young bulls find a female in heat and stay with her and not check for other cows that are in heat. Even though it is good the get a breeding soundness examination, a BSE is not a good indicator of libido.

If you have more than one bull and the bulls have a good disposition, I would suggest that you rotate them every 10 days to 2 weeks. If you can remove them from the herd early in the morning, and do it with out getting the bull stirred up, then rotate the bulls.

Again, observe and record cows that have been serviced or you find in heat. If they come back into heat 21 days later, this may be a sign that things are not working right.

Single-sire breeding pastures are a challenge.