Young bull is testing me

[Nesikep]

I think I should clarify something here.. TAME, DOCILE, COOL-HEADED, etc are all SEPARATE character traits.. Just because a bull likes petting and scratching doesn't mean he's cool headed at all. With my bulls, I never trust one I didn't raise, I just don't know them well enough.. The last bull we bought was in a pen of 3.. the first one and probably the better bull blew snot at us and backed up, the second was unimpressive in character or build, and the one we got came up to the fence and licked us and was a decent animal.. We loaded him into the little 2 horse trailer calmly, and he preferred to lay down for the trip.. When we got home, I backed up into the corral where I had one docile cow, he got up, stretched, and moseyed out to see her.

Make the bull keep the distance from you that you're comfortable with, and keep an eye on them at all times... They can't speak, but they do have body language.. I really do believe that no bull charges without a warning sign, the trouble is we MISS the signs.

I've also had cows that were 'tame', but I wouldn't trust.

 

[djinwa]

Problem with the advice here is it doesn't offer perspective.

Sure all bulls are potential killers, but so are all cows. Technically we should never walk the pasture with a cow in it.

I've read people telling a guy his pet jersey cow he'd milked for years might kill him.

Meanwhile we all jump in a missile and fly down the freeway at 70 mph and feel safe. Or jump on a horse, for goodness sake. Who came up with that idea?

Like Nesikep said, just learn their behavior and handle properly and teach respect as needed. Not every cow or bull needs beat over the head with a crowbar. That can create aggression where there was none.

And don't mess with them until you know them.

Wide spectrum of personalities in cows and bulls just like people. Timid to aggressive, wild to dog gentle, dumb to smart.

 

[Nesikep]

Tractors cause over 200 deaths per year while cows cause about 20... just to put it into perspective.. Nothing is absolutely safe
On another interesting note, COWS kill more people than bulls per year (slightly).. Granted there are a lot more of them too... So given a herd of 20 cows and 1 bull, your odds are probably about 50/50 on the attacker being a cow vs bull... I've seen a lot of people be FAR too unaware of their surroundings at our sale barn.. I had just unloaded a Longhorn bull and a couple steers, they were totally calm, people were avoiding that pen and walking in with a pair of Angus cows that were out to kill, and honestly, it's a wonder someone didn't get SLAMMED.. What I found staggering was that they didn't even REALIZE it.

Data from here
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5829a2.htm
and here
http://farminjuryresource.com/farming-e ... accidents/

 

[BRYANT]

Or jump on a horse, for goodness sake. Who came up with that idea?
.

It sure wasn't my idea, horses are will kill you, that's why I ride a mule. :deadhorse: :deadhorse:

 

[ddd75]

The truth of the matter is you don't pet, rub or come into contact a bull. No matter how smart you think you are, or how tame you think your bull is, a bull is a massive unpredictable beast. Nesikep is giving some bad advice here and is going to get someone killed.

exactly.


a guy i know was killed by a bull a few years ago..

 

[True Grit Farms]

One other thing needs repeating, never get between a bull and cow. And don't work cattle from the middle of the pen.
Nesikep, I wish you the best but even a bull you raise can catch a whiff of something he wants. And if your between him and his property you better get out of the way. A bull is unpredictable and can't be trusted.

 

[BRYANT]

One other thing needs repeating, never get between a bull and cow. And don't work cattle from the middle of the pen.
Nesikep, .

?????? I don't know that's always possible
at the meat packing house I use to work for we had some 55 gal. drums setting a couple places in the bull pens that were full of cement. They worked real well to have something to get behind when I had a bull that wanted to kill me before I could kill him. I have worked some BAD, BAD bulls and they can do some damage, have had them so rank you could not get them to the kill floor, we had one that had to be killed in the lot he was so bad.

 

[dun]

Reminds me of the old Simmenthal bull Signal. When he was collected they had to use a cow for the mount animal, use a steer and he'ld go nuts. I stopped one day at the stud and they were replacing all of the 4 inch pipe around the arena leading to the mount station. They had made the mistake of leaving a steer n and when Signal came in he started bending those 4 inch pipes like they were soda straws. People ducked behind one and just flatten it trying to get to them. He was never a mellow bull but steers for mounting was way beyond his tolerance level.

 

[Ky cowboy]

Don't trust anyone or anything. You'll live longer. Cows horses bulls dogs etc all are wild animals not matter what we think. Even the most take animal can hurt you intentionally or not

 

[boondocks]

Don't trust anyone or anything. You'll live longer. Cows horses bulls dogs etc all are wild animals not matter what we think. Even the most take animal can hurt you intentionally or not

I've heard especially not to trust your microwave. Or any other appliances. In fact. I've sworn off vacuuming.

 

[Ky cowboy]

Don't trust anyone or anything. You'll live longer. Cows horses bulls dogs etc all are wild animals not matter what we think. Even the most take animal can hurt you intentionally or not

I've heard especially not to trust your microwave. Or any other appliances. In fact. I've sworn off vacuuming.

Not exactly were I was going

 

[wacocowboy]

If you know someone with a bigger herd why don't you make a trade for a heifer and retain some breeding rights for your cows. Another possibility is you said he was of real good bloodlines maybe put him at a place they draw semen give him something to do while he is not busy with your cows. I think keeping him with just two cows and the way y'all previously treated him is just asking for trouble. He may back off and act fine and you will drop your guard and it will just take once to end up with and expensive hospital bill or a funeral.

 

[Ryder]

With only two cows I don't see how you can justify having a bull.
Go AI. If that is too much work maybe you are just not ready to have cows. I am not trying to be rude--just realistic.

 

[FiveOaksFarmGA]

Take him to the Sale Barn, before he hurts/kills you or someone else.

 

[FiveOaksFarmGA]

Tractors cause over 200 deaths per year while cows cause about 20... just to put it into perspective.. Nothing is absolutely safe
On another interesting note, COWS kill more people than bulls per year (slightly).. Granted there are a lot more of them too... So given a herd of 20 cows and 1 bull, your odds are probably about 50/50 on the attacker being a cow vs bull... I've seen a lot of people be FAR too unaware of their surroundings at our sale barn.. I had just unloaded a Longhorn bull and a couple steers, they were totally calm, people were avoiding that pen and walking in with a pair of Angus cows that were out to kill, and honestly, it's a wonder someone didn't get SLAMMED.. What I found staggering was that they didn't even REALIZE it.

Data from here
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5829a2.htm
and here
http://farminjuryresource.com/farming-e ... accidents/

While that may be true from a statistical standpoint, you need to put those numbers into perspective. Every farm generally has at least one tractor, and most farms have multiple tractors.

If you are born a male bovine, you have a 99% chance of being castrated shortly after birth, and one bull can sire the majority of modern day farmers entire herds.

The advice you gave about rubbing the bull... not very good. Especially to a person who is saying they have a bull showing aggression.

To the OP, you have a bull. You have an additional young bull that is hitting puberty. Your older bull is starting to establish his dominance over the herd to protect what he sees as his harem. If you are showing him any kind of affection, he will see you as one of two things: a threat to his harem, or part of his harem. Neither of those are going to be a good situation for you, or anyone else that is near. You may not like the advice you are getting, but you need to take that bull to the sale barn. It's good that you're asking for advice. None of us know everything there is to know, and the majority of us could do things differently than the way we "know" to do them.