Beef Cow Breeding Tips

[melmmhs94]

I’m getting ready to start breeding beef cows and I could really use some advice since I haven’t bred them before. Someone said it’s better to have three or four complete pairs of chickens and a couple of single hens to get the best lay ratio. Does the same or similar apply to beef cows?
If I wanted to slaughter and process one adult cow a day, how many breeding pairs would I need to sustain that?

[💖jurassic💖rappy32💖]

I just buy a male and a female and then let them breed

[melmmhs94]

Originally posted by 💖jurassic💖rappy31💖:

I just buy a male and a female and then let them breed

Expanding on this
I’ve found that having just one bill and several cows seems to be sufficient. If I introduce the first cow and bill at the same time and leave them alone through 1600, then add one cow per night, one cow will become pregnant per day. And with five cows, one will give birth and then get pregnant again each day. So I’ll have one calf per day once the birthing starts in a low but constant cycle that I can add to later when I decide I want to process more than one adult a day.
Also it seems that being in a stall prevents mating in cows, so it’s good to keep calves and adults for slaughter in a barn with stalls, and breeding adults in a barn without stalls or in an open pen.
And you need two pairs of troughs in an open pen or non-stalled barn. One set in front, one in back.
Additionally, there is a physical indication of a pregnant cow. Even in a healthy cow, there is a point on her belly that is lower to the ground - bulls. do not have this, only cows. And when a cow is at least one game day pregnant, that point is more pronounced than when compared to a non-pregnant cow.
Also, if you get close enough to a pregnant cow to see her health meters, you’ll also see a baby pacifier.

[halfbaked2001]

Personally I buy 1 male 1 female just milk them even if beef cows then let nature take it's course then when get too many slaughter the fat ones this rule applies to any animals

[melmmhs94]

Originally posted by halfbaked2001:

Personally I buy 1 male 1 female just milk them even if beef cows then let nature take it's course then when get too many slaughter the fat ones this rule applies to any animals

That's a valid course to take. I'm just the type who would rather have a dedicated place and control the population, even if that means playing musical animals daily.

[halfbaked2001]

Though I do kill off any males except for one so breeding don't get out of hand to manage the stock.

[Luke1991]

my beef and dairy cows was breeding just fine on the normal map now i got the DLC pack south western map there not ? is this a bug ? or do they just not breed over on this DLC Yet ?

[Dolkin]

For breeding, I make a small area for a male and female to live. Then at 16:00 sharp, make sure they are together. When you see the hearts floating, bob's your uncle. Once the calf is born, wait until it finishes feeding from the mom, (about 2 hours, you can tell because it'll just get in the way and not nursing). Then separate the calf from the breeding pen to another area until it grows to show it's sex.

[Blue-Ray]

Be careful for over crowding because it will influence a huge drop with your FPS.