Bachelor Herds & Breeding

[ruffian]

If these were your boys, would you seperate each boy into his own pen or would you seperate the 5y/o and 3y/o into their own private pens and keep the two 2y/os together?"

 


If the 2yos get along, I'd leave them together for now in the interest of saving work.

 


"I plan on doing supervised paddock breeding (tease the mare with the stallion, if she is in heat, pasture them together for a week and then take her out. tease her the following month to see if she comes in heat) so do you think that these timid boys (who will be 3 next year) will change into a stallion more interested in breeding once he is alone with his own mare(s) and away from the other "men" of the farm?

 


Please give me any tips/hints/etc. that you think may help.

 




 


I would be very careful in choosing the mares for pasture breeding if the stallions have not been used before. A dominate mare can kick the stuffing out of an inexperienced stallion and prevent him from breeding or injure him.

 


Good luck!

 

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

All of mine are well accustomed to each other and some of the boys have even grown up with the mares through their younger years.

Personally, I love "controlled pasture breeding" as I feel it is more natural and they will know when the time is right to breed. I like to leave mother nature alone. Now if I have an overly aggressive mare and/or stallion then yes I can see taking control and then only breeding in-hand, but otherwise I feel everything is fine. I know everyone has different opinions and this is just mine.

I have decided to seperate just Sampson, the one who runs everyone around like crazy and keep the three more docile ones in a pen to themselves since they all enjoy grooming each other and enjoy the other's company and none of them run any of the others at all - the most I ever see is a pinned back ear and that's it.

Thanks for the opinions!