Cleft Testicles

We have an excellent looking simmental bull, a little over a year old. He's been in the pasture with 4 heifers since March. We've seen the ladies mount him but never seen him mount them, and my vet pointed out today that his testicle are slightly cleft. He said that might make him have breeding issues. If that's the case, he's going to the freezer before he gets much bigger. He's around 1500lbs now (vet guess). Picture attached.
We are new to cattle and I'm wondering if anyone would weigh in on their experiences with this sort of thing. Thank you!

Maybe he is young, small, and dominant cows ride him but he does not ride them. Does he need more time as a teenager? I am not an expert in bull testicles. In warmer climates they 'swing low' because sperm need a cooler climate than body temperature to be viable. These look to be pretty up tight.

There should not be a prominent "W" between his testicles at the bottom. I understand it can affect fertility. Don't know if it has anything to do with libido. 1500# is plenty big and old enough he should be getting after it.

There should also be a distinct neck at the top of the testicles. He probably can’t control the temperature of his testicles so might have problems with sperm production. I think this is highly heritable so probably a bad idea to keep any calves from him he might leave.

The very first thing the vet should have done was a fertility test. That takes away a lot of questions.

kenny thomas said:

The very first thing the vet should have done was a fertility test. That takes away a lot of questions.

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Ideally, but we are all new to farming and have made a few mistakes. We didn't know we needed a head gate or chute, so that's in the works, so my vet can't do testing.
We're up against him being too large soon for our processor to accept, so we feel we're needing to make a decision in shorter time than we'd like. If this is heritable and his offspring shouldn't be bred, then we would process him. No sense in continuing bad genes. There's always a chance the heifers he's with are already pregnant so that's why there is no activity, but we won't know until we get our corral done and can check our until winter when they're dropping calves (we purchased this group as a package deal, they've been together since at least 8 months old).
So, rock and a hard place.... what would you do?

Pictures of our bull and the heifers

Take him to the vets facility to get tested asap. You might also take some of the cows to see if they are bred.

Most large animal vets have portable chute set ups. Another option is to talk to the local sale barn and see if the vet they use can test your bull in their chute. I can't imagine a processor that can't easily handle a 1500 lb animal, I don't think you should be that pressed for time. And at only a year old, I doubt he's 1500 lbs unless you're really feeding him hard.

NeilsenFarm said:

Pictures of our bull and the heifers

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Hi Neilsen. You need to goback into yur profile and add your location. You will get a lor\t more, and a lot more acurate responses thay way/ Maybe not in this question, but on most, the area you are in is crucial to getting more answers.

As others have said.
I'd load every one of em, and have em checked. The bull too.
If ya have to, a sale barn vet will check them for you. They have the facilities and know how.

I'd probly sell/eat that bull regardless.
Looks like ya need a nice belted bull!

Welcome to the forum....

I would tend to agree with @MurraysMutts ... sell or kill the bull at this point.. simply to not perpetuate a possible defect. If the heifers are bred, then you can take some time to find a bull that might suit better. If they are not bred, then he probably can't settle them, and no sense in feeding a bull , plus you will have to find another... and do not need any possibility of a fight between them and a new one getting injured.
As stated, many vets have a portable chute...some have facilities at their office; some do not and a couple here have an agreement with a local stockyard to work cattle through.

We also have a local farm that is associated with Virginia Tech, and they have facilities... Our local cattle association does BSE testing (breeding soundness exam) for bulls, open to the public... just have to sign up and pay the fee per bull... which is around $60-75 a bull....
Call your local extension office... they may have a clinic coming up or offer a suggestion.
I am surprised your vet did not offer a suggestion on getting a BSE for the bull somewhere or with another vet even... and I would get the heifers preg checked.

One thing, are the heifers tame? There is a urine preg test you can do ... Check with Valley Vet supply or Premier 1.... both have all sorts of equipment for animal handling and such... You would not need as restrictive a chute if they are tame and you could get a urine sample more easily...
Just a suggestion...

NeilsenFarm said:

Ideally, but we are all new to farming and have made a few mistakes. We didn't know we needed a head gate or chute, so that's in the works, so my vet can't do testing.
We're up against him being too large soon for our processor to accept, so we feel we're needing to make a decision in shorter time than we'd like. If this is heritable and his offspring shouldn't be bred, then we would process him. No sense in continuing bad genes. There's always a chance the heifers he's with are already pregnant so that's why there is no activity, but we won't know until we get our corral done and can check our until winter when they're dropping calves (we purchased this group as a package deal, they've been together since at least 8 months old).
So, rock and a hard place.... what would you do?

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Are the cows still jumping him or is he chasing, herd, pushing on them in any way? Is he acting lazy, putting on weight, hanging out by himself more?

Since he was put out in March, he should be dang near be trying to hide from them if they are all bred.

Do you have a trailer?

If so, you should be able to load the bull and cows and get them fert tested/ preg checked.

If not, ask the vet if some one in the area helps load and haul cattle.

Are you saying you are looking at purchasing a squeeze chute right now? Is that some thing that yall can easily do or will it put yall in a bind?
Squeeze chutes are pretty expensive so you might consider paying some one to help haul them to the vet vs having the vet come to you facility.

I would not panic. Just start making a plan and work through it.

A simple alleyway would work as well. Bar in front, and one behind. A simple headgate could be attached as well.

Forgot to mention, even if he happened to have poor fertility, he would still be “breeding” the heifers just like any other bull. So not seeing him mount them doesn’t mean a lot. In all likelihood, you just aren’t seeing it happen. He could very well have already bred all four of them.

MurraysMutts said:

As others have said.
I'd load every one of em, and have em checked. The bull too.
If ya have to, a sale barn vet will check them for you. They have the facilities and know how.

I'd probly sell/eat that bull regardless.
Looks like ya need a nice belted bull!

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I love the belteds (ours are angus/belted mix) but my husband wants "bigger steaks" . So far my favorite has been my little Hereford/Angus mix, and we might lean towards more hereford in the future

NeilsenFarm said:

Ideally, but we are all new to farming and have made a few mistakes. We didn't know we needed a head gate or chute, so that's in the works, so my vet can't do testing.
We're up against him being too large soon for our processor to accept, so we feel we're needing to make a decision in shorter time than we'd like. If this is heritable and his offspring shouldn't be bred, then we would process him. No sense in continuing bad genes. There's always a chance the heifers he's with are already pregnant so that's why there is no activity, but we won't know until we get our corral done and can check our until winter when they're dropping calves (we purchased this group as a package deal, they've been together since at least 8 months old).
So, rock and a hard place.... what would you do?

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You have to start somewhere and you have to learn. Everything will never be perfect. You are started and learning and I hope enjoying it.

kenny thomas said:

You have to start somewhere and you have to learn. Everything will never be perfect. You are started and learning and I hope enjoying it.

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Thanks! Loving every moment, even the hard ones!

M.Magis said:

Forgot to mention, even if he happened to have poor fertility, he would still be “breeding” the heifers just like any other bull. So not seeing him mount them doesn’t mean a lot. In all likelihood, you just aren’t seeing it happen. He could very well have already bred all four of them.

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I agree on not seeing the bull mounting.

The only proof I have of the bull I borrowed last year is that I have 5 black calves from him

I never did see him mount a single one, but he got them all and they all calved pretty close together, so he was on top of it.

I think you are worrying over nothing. I'd concentrate on getting your facilities sorted and go from there.

Ken