Gir Bull Breed Importance
In Gir Cow Dairy Farming
500 years of GOLDEN SECRETS
for
DAIRY BULL SELECTION & BREEDING
25 TIPS FOR SELECTION OF GIR BULL
If you are looking for a Gir bull; you must be wondering how to select the best Gir bull in India. What should be the Gir bull price etc?. Unfortunately, many dairy farms do not value BULLS CONTRIBUTION. BULLS are treated as BURDEN & NOT AS A RESOURCE. KL with years of research & interaction with the dairy farm practitioners & aspirants as put forward an effort in discussing the most beautiful creation ‘GIR BULL SELECTION’.
Before we start our next journey into the world of Maldhari wisdom, we would like to thank each one of you for extending such active participation & sharing your views on the 1st article on GIR COW.
Introduction
Let’s start the smart journey into the beautiful world of Maldhari wisdom on GIR BULL – COW CARE
What is ‘KL 1:25 FORMULA’?
KL 1:25 formula, let me explain;
You get on an avg. almost One calf per cow per year
Whereas, One Mature Bull contributes breeding of approx., 25 cows per year,resulting in 25 calves
Bull Power,
‘Nandi Urja’ = 25 calves
Cow Offering = 1 cow
Earlier Dairy practitioners focused on their HERD BULL to ensure good breed development / genetic improvement. Because they knew the secret for fastest, easiest & low cost method for dairy success was a GOOD HERD BULL management. Ancient dairy practitioners were smart & had more wisdom, they knew if they focus on their BULL, they can improve their breed every season, milk yield shall increase, Calving would get easy & growth will improve. In old days dairy farms had their own pool of herd Bulls. Small dairy farms used to get Bull service from the community temple which used to maintain the bull. The expenses were shared which was nominal & practical. But, most of today’s dairy practices focus only on cows & NO BULL, which is the first step towards failure.
1:25 formula!
To further add, it is a simple theory which was long back defined by our
great statesmen like CHANAKYA !
Today, Western world follows the same thumb rule; 1 mature Bull = 25 cow breed management
Chanakya Tips on Cow & Bull Management !
If you read Chanakya’s Arthashastra; A GREATER IMPORTANCE WAS GIVEN TO BULL MANAGEMENT. Chanakya in his arthashastra clearly mentions the BULL POWER OF ONE BULL TO BREED 25 COWS approx. in a year. He clearly defined golden practices for BULL CARE. Many old empires had their currency embossed with BULL mark signifying the importance of BULL. NANDI defines the genetic makeup of your farm herd. So, until you respect & have nandi at your farm/community/temple, improving your herd is always a challenge.
Q. You might ask Maintaining BULL is expensive with its feed cost etc?
Free natural open grazing is the practical solution. Zero Feeding cost. Plus it provides potential breeding.
Q. CALCULATE THE LOSS WITHOUT BULL?
- Have you calculated the LOSS incurred with the missing of cow breeding time due to unavailability of right semen. It is believed almost 60% of farms miss the right breeding time for their cows either in sourcing the bull/ or sourcing for A.I./ waiting for Veterinary doctor intervention.
- Maintenance cost of Semen in the Costly Container with regular filling of liquid Nitrogen etc.
- Always uncertainty about the breed details of the semen
Q. You might ask, I have only 10 plus cows; why should I have a BULL?
Does not matter, Bull is very critical. Bull is the deciding factor for your dairy farm success. For small herd, you can think of practising ‘Community herd bull’ in your town/village temple/Nandi shala by creating a group of like minded people. In this small contribution sharing from each member shall take care of the basic Bull expenses. And a best bull breed is always available for servicing your cows in your own location. You know the quality, pedigree etc instead of searching 1000 miles far-away in unknown land & getting cheated.
Now-days many farms do not have Bull; No wonder we see all of us involved at various level searching for bull semen. Nandi Urja, so called SEMEN, which was so easily available in olden days, from the best bull, in the farm backyard is NO MORE AVAILABLE. With so called Human intelligent interference & artificial insemination, greed has led to MORE LOSS …MORE PROBLEMS….than prosperity.
Today situation is so helpless, we look at few gir bull snaps without knowing, want to buy its semen. Truth is much detail is not available about these distant breeder bulls. Many bulls in these snaps shared among many group members have become old, many are not alive. Only few are smart who have valued Bull & have a herd bull in their farm. So, if you don’t have a Nandi, please ensure you have a Nandi at your farm. Now the DAIRY WORLD IS MORE THIRSTY FOR GOOD BULLS, than cows.
India which gifted GIR COW & BULL to the world, is planning for import of GIR SEMEN from Brazil. Result of our own greed & shortsightedness. If we had practiced simple law of nature almost 50% of current challenges/problems would have not been there. If good bulls were in each farm/in community centres/temples, genetics would have improved. Milk would have got richer, better, better calving, better cow health & prosperity…
A FARM which does not give importance to BULL……Can never sustain in long term!
- Many times it is observed people get cheated by wrong selection of Gir bull?
- Many times dairy farm suffers due to poor bull breed A.I. [Artificial insemination]?
- Due to poor Bull breed quality selection, dairy farms develop poor Gir cow herd which are low on milk productivity? Face difficulty in Calving? Face Gir cow reproductive Health issues? etc
So, it becomes very important to gain basic knowledge & understand important secrets of selecting HIGH QUALITY BULL.
Maldhari Secrets
Maldhari Tribes were smart & full of wisdom. They practised herd bull management. Ancient dairy practitioners were smart & had more wisdom, they knew if they focus on their BULL, they can improve their breed genetics every season, milk yield shall increase multi-fold, Calving will be easier, improved reproductive health & growth. In old days dairy farms had their own pool of herd Bulls.
25 GOLDEN SECRETS FOR GIR BULL SELECTION
500 years of Folklore – Maldhari Tips On Gir Bull
Maldhari the original GIR COW BREEDERS since almost 500 years had rich wisdom of GIR BULL SELECTION.
Bull Selection Tools
Maldhari’s knew the 1st secret to successful dairy farming is ‘SUPERIOR BULL’, that is the shortest & quickest way to develop profitable dairy farming.
Yes! Today’s scientific approach calls the same natural wisdom practised since hundreds of years as; ‘Herd Genetic Improvement’. This science was mastered & art was practised in simple way by giving importance to Bulls by the maldhari tribes.
The below descriptions are subjective learnings as per folklore. We would appreciate veterinary experts/ dairy practitioners with great heritage on gir bull management to value add by sharing their views in the forum for the benefit of all readers & for the welfare of gir bull care.
We request each & every reader to contribute their view in this forum to make it an active discussion so that GIR GAUPALAN re-enters the GOLDEN ERA for prosperity.
What are the GOLDEN SELECTION TOOLS FOR GIR BULLS?
- Visual – Physical SCREENING
- Masculine Features
- Behavioural Observation
- Sexual Health
- Ancestor History
1. VISUAL SCREENING
1st Visual Screening Secret
Healthy Feet, Legs & Sharp Eyes
Look whether the Bull has healthy & firm Feet, legs & eyes. Because only a Bull with good eyesight can seek cows in heat among the herd & with his firm feet & leg can mount cows to mate/service them.
Maldhari’s used to have small group gathering; kind of ‘Nandi darbar’; members used to display Bulls, wherein they used to take around their bulls with pride in circle. The tribe members would observe from all the sides & see whether the bull walks majestically with ease, firmness, flexibly & shows powerful appearance. Bull should not have a narrow gap in the rear leg, as it shall create problem while mounting the cows. There should not be any lameness, hoof problems etc. This was the most simple observation to start with but which had high significance in bull selection.
Golden Learning; First important screening is to observe BULLS walking for a while.
2. Visual Screening
16 Body structure feature observations
Key Areas: Body shape, Hip structure, Backbone, Body Capacity. Overall should look Majestic & Masculine.
Maldhari’s believed in screening 17 body structures of Bulls for Balanced & overall observation as they believed with their simple wisdom some of the features are of HERITABLE NATURE. We need to appreciate for their genetic knowledge, practised in a simple way.
1. Visual Screening: Look whether the Bull has healthy & firm Feet, legs & eyes.
2. Maldhari’s used to move their hands around the Bulls body to see if their fingers can feel the sufficient gaps between the ribs. A well defined gap between the ribs was believed to provide adequate body capacity for forage & feeding very critical for growth & nourishment.
3. Width of Bull chest floor signified the masculine feature.
4. They looked for strong backbone without any visible deformation/injury to the backbone which is very critical to Bulls health.
5. They looked for the length & depth of the bull body.
6. Hip structure & shape should be optimum so that the bull can move flexibly, can mount easily.
7. A big & prominent Bulging Head should clearly establish the masculine feature
8. The ears should drop down & touch the chin
9. The eyelids have layer of skin bulged around the eyes
10. The HUMP should be well-defined
11. The Horns should follow the typical Gir Horn Shape of ‘ u’
12. Neck should not be too long & blend with the chest flexibly
13. The front end of the bull needs to smaller v/s the back/pelvic area
14. The front leg should be firm & should not have any twisted/bow shaped curve
15. The Sheath should be healthy & without any pasture injuries
16. The scrotum circumference should be prominent with Optimum size
17. Skin should be shiny without much ticks/insects/infection
Golden Learning: Observe for a well-balanced optimum body structure of bull. Important to observe on all counts to identify a balanced bull rather than just consider few features.
Today’s science values most of the above body features because many of the above body features are of ‘Heritable Nature’ like Height/Body Shape/Chest frame/Horn expression etc.
7 Visible Masculine Features
Maldhari’s used to look for masculine appearances. They had a rich wisdom just by observing certain key masculine features they would measure the masculine strength of the bull.
- The presence of BULL should create a Majestic, Powerful vibe in one glance. They believed the BULL emits NANDI URJA, a kind of energy responsiveness in humans which is VERY ENERGETIC.
Today’s Science-Physics terms it as ‘AURA’. To explain in common-man words, when you look at a monkey = you laugh & feel happy. When you look at a lion = you can feel the power & fear together. Similarly, one glance at a Bull should make you appreciate its STRENGTH/MAJESTIC feel.
- One look at the HEAD; should clearly demonstrate its male power. Prominent head, Should walk with confidence & appear more well-built than the female cows.
- Muscle; A healthy bull exhibits firm muscled forearm & thighs.
- A bull should never be heavy in the front & light in the back. A balanced body structure is important.
- Horns
Maldhari’s believed ‘Horn’ is a heritable trait. Due care needs to be taken while selecting as horn of bulls gets expressed in the off-springs. Earlier days strong horns were preferred to fight & defend against predators. Bulls used to exhibit fatherly trait by safe guarding the herd/calves against predators. One needs to evaluate as per today’s requirement.
- Stamina – Physical Strength
Bulls need to be agile & comfortable in travelling long distances along with cow herd.
- Bull should exhibit ‘Heavy voice’; When bull makes sound it should be heavy & loud. The sound should never be meek. Maldhari’s used to observe the bulls making noise in the pasture; each sound had a message…hope one day we learn the Bull communication language. If you are aware of the Bull Voice language kindly enrich the forum discussion with your thoughts. Would help in gir breed development.
Golden Learning: Observation is the best teacher; See/listen to nature & learn the 7 masculine golden secrets.
Today’s science considers the above study has BODY SCORE INDEX for BULLS.
3. Behavioural Observations
Maldhari’s strongly advocated in 2 fold behavioural science:
- Temperament
- Bulls with blend of motherly & fatherly traits
Maldhari’s Clear Golden Guidelines:
Never select bulls with the following personality traits;
- Very aggressive
- Nervous
- flighty dispositions, runs away from humans
Behaviour is a very important trait. Similar to human beings, behaviour trait applies to Bulls. Maldhari’s believed ‘temperament’ is heritable, so they used to select bulls with composure & maternal instincts. They used to avoid aggressive, nervous & over excited bulls.
So, when you are trying to buy BULL, see whether the bull is trying very hard to avoid human contact, usually such kind of bulls move away from humans & place themselves in the centre or the opposite side with their heads held above. They appear very nervous & make quick movements. Avoid such bulls.
2nd type of bulls are very aggressive, they face you, make aggressive stride towards you & challenge your presence. Avoid them.
Bulls which are balanced & composed, respond to human touch need to be considered. Otherwise one shall face lot of management problem later. Bulls do exhibit motherly instincts by showing protection to calves.
Golden Learning: Understand the Behavioural science; very critical for a herd bull. A bull which scores high on Physical strength but has bad temperament, will be of no use for dairy farm.
Today’s science terms the above science has ‘BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE’
4. SEXUAL HEALTH
Maldhari’s had mastered the art of identifying the BEST BULL.
5 SYMBOL OF SUPERIOR BULL
1. HIGH LIBIDO = SEXUAL DESIRE
Maldhari tribes used to observe in the herd how the bull behaves among the cows.
Whether the bull is actively exploring for cows in heat & trying to mount or He is not much interested & lazy. Libido is very important in the Bull. Look for bulls which show lot of interest in searching for cows in heat & trying to mount them.
2. BULL SCROTUM/TESTICLES
Maldhari’s wisdom was simple, easy & practical. They used simple hand techniques. They used to feel the Scrotum/testicles of bulls with their hand. If the overall circumference of the scrotum was big/large with a rough measurement through their experienced eyes, Maldhari’s believed the bigger the size of the scrotum, better the sperm production & the bull’s daughter’s will achieve puberty earlier.
Folklore: Maldhari’s had dual belief
- Bulls gifted with large testicles can produce more semen and his sons will have healthy & larger testicles.
- They were also of belief bulls with big scrotum/testicles improves cows reaching puberty at a much younger age. In other words, the daughters of a bull with larger scrotal circumference should reach puberty at an earlier age than the daughters of a bull with smaller scrotal circumference.’
Maldhari’s were very particular; they used to observe closely for any signs of infection/inflammation/ disproportionate size of the scrotum in the bulls. As only a healthy disease free bull can breed a healthy offspring. Bulls were closely observed before the breeding season.
Golden Learning: Look for the healthy sign of the Bull genitals
Today’s veterinary science follows similar method of ‘Measurement of Scrotal Size’ & Measurement of ‘scrotal circumference’ with a ‘Scrotal tape’. As per science it provides an estimated observation on the semen-producing strength of the bull.
5. ANCESTOR HISTORY
Maldhari’s maintained ‘FAMILY TREE CHART’ method for keeping history of Bulls & their off-springs & the results.
They had clear measuring on 3 folds:
- High Maternal trait of Milk Yield
- Easy Calving & healthy reproductive system
- Overall healthy growth & disease resistant
They used to make periodic observation of the tree chart on the above criteria regularly; they believed in making changes in the herd bull pool as per the RESULT OUTCOME.
Because Maldhari’s valued HERD BULL POOL concept, they had family tree chart details for long generation chain running to more than 15 to 20 generation cycle wherein stories used to be narrated by the family members how the OLD BULL FATHERED THE GIR COW HERD COUNT FROM A SMALL NUMBER TO FEW HUNDREDS etc etc…never-ending story of folklore wisdom for us to evaluate, take help of experts, leading practitioners in defining GOLDEN ERA OF BULL WORLD….let’s recreate the lost magic of NANDI SHALA – POWER HOUSE OF URJA in every dairy farm. Let Bulls be respected for their IMPORTANCE & SIGNIFICANT ROLE. Otherwise, in few years we would either end up seeing the OLD GREAT BULLS IN SNAPS, pay huge amount for Semen/ Storage & handling maintenance & still end up struggling…because nothing can fill the PRESENCE OF NANDI…..Let’s welcome Lord Nandi & his Urja for prosperity & success. Let’s aspire soon India will again emerge has the best GIR GENETIC POOL…………..
10 CAUTION SIGN
DO NOT CONSIDER BULLS WITH THE FOLLOWING SIGNS;
- Rear legs that are too straight & not flexible
- Abnormal hoof growth & lameness
- Weak eyes
- Body Structure should match with the GIR BULL breed features
- Aggressive & Nervous Bulls
- Bulls with low libido
- Bulls which have heads bulging but not very prominent
- Small scrotum & disproportionate size
- Bow shaped Backbone
- No prominent Hump
Coming next!
CHAPTER 3 : GOLDEN BREEDING PRACTICES?
One of the other reason behind failure of DAIRY PRACTISE is WRONG BREEDING!
The next chapter shall focus & unveil the treasure wisdom on 500 years of BREEDING SCIENCE & ART.
BREEDING METHOD?
All year round Breeding or Seasonal controlled Breeding?
What is the GOLDEN Breeding practices for Heifer & mature cows?
Breeding practice for specific Coat colour & Horn shape?
Golden Genetic-Heredity understanding & management- simple practices?
Leela of Nandi Urja…let their be energetic life , full of urja & prosperity
keep reading…sharing…spreading the joy & power of knowledge….
||गीर गौ सप्तगुण||™
GOLDEN WISDOM TO GIR FARMING SUCCESS
Gain Simple. Easy knowledge, before you invest hard earned money
25+ Tips
KNOW ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE !
Without basic knowledge, many dairy starters & current practitioners in high energy & passion make the mistake of buying:
- BUYING BELOW AVERAGE GIR COW due to lack of wisdom
- PAYING VERY HIGH PRICE & GETTING CHEATED
- SELECTING CROSS-BREED GIR COW
*Only observing Cow milking for 3 times will not help & Paying High Price is not the solution.
Explore the Ancient wisdom
in selection of Gir Cow!
INVEST A SMALL AMOUNT IN KNOWLEDGE.
BE WISE. KNOW THE SECRETS BEFORE YOU BUY GIR COW
