The use of this bull calf will not be a major contributor to inbreeding, because, 1) the 45 cows will only produce about 22 heifer calves; 2) of those heifer calves there will only be one-sixth of them by any one sire, thus three to four heifers by any one sire; 3) any bull calf in that calf crop would then only be a half-sibling to three or four heifers, so the inbreeding would only be in those three or four matings and would amount to 12.5 percent in those half-sibling matings. Of course, if the bull is used on the cows, it is possible the bull calf would breed his own dam, but that is only one mating. Again, the total inbreeding impact on the herd would be pretty small. A couple of years of use of this bull should not pose a problem, but any heifers calves kept from the 22 heifers should not be allowed to mate with their sire. A new bull should be added to breed the second-generation heifers.

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