age of bull

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Depends on the bull, some are fertile till 11 or 12, that's the oldest I've seen anyway.

dunmovin farms

> At what age does a bull become
> infertile ?
 
Too big for what?

> Besides age, isn't one of the
> factors determining using a bull
> past age six or seven, their size?
> Is there a time when a bull gets
> too big?
 
Too heavy to get up on top to service the cow? Too heavy (too big) for the cow to be safe under him...? The last bull dad had started throwing calves that were over a hundred pounds... is that possible???? the calves just kept getting bigger.... but, basically the first question is the main question.

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I suppose it is possible for them to be too heavy, but in most herds a bull doesn't last that long because of inbreeding. Of course with terminal breeds like limo. and charolais they could stay around longer. A bulls calves do not get bigger as he gets older, it's the same gene pool, he just may have more or less viable sperm but they don't start throwing bigger calves. The only heifer we ever lost do to calving was one we got from a jerk that used a young chrolais bull so that she would have a small calf. He originally told us she was bred to an angus. The idiot.

dunmovn farms

> Too heavy to get up on top to
> service the cow? Too heavy (too
> big) for the cow to be safe under
> him...? The last bull dad had
> started throwing calves that were
> over a hundred pounds... is that
> possible???? the calves just kept
> getting bigger.... but, basically
> the first question is the main
> question.
 
Another thing to consider is aggressiveness. Potency shouldn't change with age but vigor can. If you're seeing cows cycle more than once, it's time to replace him.
 
My experience is with the Murray Grey breed, so I have to speak from that point of view.

One of our best cows was out of a first calf Murray Grey heifer and a 10 year old Murray Grey bull. The calf had a 60# birthweight.

The birthweight is almost all in the genetics of the bull and the cow. The birthweight of the calf sired by a particular bull won't get bigger as the bull ages.

As for the size of the bull, if his conformation is good & he is healthy with good feet, he should have good balance when breeding a heifer or cow, no matter what his age. As a Murray Grey breeder friend says, "The bull should be able to pick apples out of a tree."

> Too heavy to get up on top to
> service the cow? Too heavy (too
> big) for the cow to be safe under
> him...? The last bull dad had
> started throwing calves that were
> over a hundred pounds... is that
> possible???? the calves just kept
> getting bigger.... but, basically
> the first question is the main
> question.
 

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