Aggressive Bull

[VikingMT]

Walked into the bull lot today to check on our 2 year old Hereford bull. He bellowed,blew snot and charged. I was close enough to the gate to get out safely.
Up until today he was always gentile. He has been alone in this lot most of the winter as the other bulls have been breeding the fall calvers and the cow we put with him we took out to calve over a month ago.He is fed hay by tractor once per week and hand fed a protein supplement every other day in a fenceline feeder, so he has had constant human interaction and has never been handled roughly, hot shotted, hit, or abused in any way.
We chose Herefords because of their calm temperment.
There are cattle across the fenceline, bulls and cows, and a neice's show heifer and it's mother is penned in the barn about 30 feet away. The bulls to bellow and growl at each other across the electric fence but he was never aggressive to humans before.
What do I do? :???:
Will he calm down if put in with cows?
Do I ship him or put him on feed and butcher him?
No bull is worth getting hurt/killed or someone else hurt/killed but if he will rehabilitate it would save me from finding a new bull to use starting in 10 days until the end of April.
Our facilities for loading out of the breeding pastures are portable corral gates so to load/unload there is considerable contact with the cattle. So if he is mean there is a considerable opportunity for getting injured.

 

[Taurus]

Few weeks ago, a young girl got attacked by her own show Belgian Blue bull. That bull put her in ER but she was lucky to be alive. Her parents sent the bull to the sale barn on same day of the attack. At least he brings the girl a fat paycheck. 110 per cwt and his weight is 1874lbs....

I would ship him if he's still aggressive and snorty.

 

[branguscowgirl]

This is the time of year (and age) that they start to get agitated by the other bulls and the cows coming in heat. He wants to be with the girls. ;-) One of the worst bull attacks I have heard of was with a very gentle halter bull. He was agitated by a bull in a neighboring corral. So who knows what set him off, but he definitely will be happier out with cows. Now whether he will continue to show aggression in all situations, hard to say. But I don't trust ANY of them, no matter how gentle they are!

 

[govols]

I'd put him with the cows to see if that calmed him down. Our bulls seem to get agitated after an extended period of being by themselves. After turning them out they calm down.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

I don't like bellering...ESPECIALLY at people...it is a warning sign of aggression and he was basicaly telling you not to let the screen door hit ya where the good Lord split ya...so I would send him on. You HAVE to handle your cattle and while you can't trust ANY bull, you can't tell me you're not going to be at least a little intimidated the next time you handle HIM. Putting him in with other cattle probably WILL calm him down and if you're willing to take that chance, then its your call but he'd only have to look at me sideways a second time and he'd be gone. What if you hadn't been next to the fence???

I had a bull that I thought was the "cat's meow"...however, I've since learned what a pain in the arse he was...and as much as I loved him THEN, I'm glad he's gone. Didn't sell him... ate him. No one's life is worth it.

 

[jerry27150]

most all who get who get hurt, are injured by a tame bull. maybe why the old guys always said keep a bull afraid of you

 

[snake67]

Had the same thing happen quite a few years ago - it put me in the hospital

Two years ago we had an Angus do something similar to my wife - the next morning he was on a trip to be ground into burger

Bez

 

[Aaron]

Bulls are always snotty when cows are around and they know they aren't getting any action. Bet his attitude would change back if he had at least one lady friend. I might be more surprised he hasn't gone through fences yet to find his own companions.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Bulls are always snotty when cows are around and they know they aren't getting any action. Bet his attitude would change back if he had at least one lady friend. I might be more surprised he hasn't gone through fences yet to find his own companions.

Agree, and if you were standing in front of the gate, his goal may have been to go through the gate and NOT YOU. I would not be too quick to discard him for normal bull behavior.

 

[cowgirl8]

I have a ton of bull stories..mostly about bulls our neighbors keep. We dont keep anything aggressive...BUT our neighbors dooooo...I think he tries to buy the meanest rodeo bulls who have a score to settle with anyone human....
Had this one brangus bull get into our pasture. I swear that bull was 6ft at the shoulders and he could run like the wind. Anywho, the owner said if we saw him in our pasture, the way he gets him to move is he shoots him with a shotgun. Well, after several times being charged on my 4wheeler, husband went out there and shot at him. OK, this is what happened when he did that. I was giggling at the bull and what was about to happen maybe 1/8 mile away. I was not on the bulls pasture side of him because i figured he'd go the other way to his home. Husband shot at him, bull snorted, spinned a couple times and stopped in my direction like spin the bottle and the gross boy just spun it..lol. He snorted real loud and came at me...I was on old Red Pony who had a hesitation problem, oh and a starting problem( i had turned it off) SO, here comes this giant rodeo bull as fast as he can at me. I could see the red in his eyes against the dark black death hair. Red pony started cranking, cranking, and it started. I put it in gear(and usually right after it starts it would die at least once) and i floored it and it went!. That bull chased me for quite a while and then gave up. To this day i wonder what i would have done if my 4wheeler didnt start.
Neighbor has moved cows and there is now a new fence just in case some other wonderful leaser moves their cows in...

 

[3waycross]

I have a ton of bull stories..mostly about bulls our neighbors keep. We dont keep anything aggressive...BUT our neighbors dooooo...I think he tries to buy the meanest rodeo bulls who have a score to settle with anyone human....
Had this one brangus bull get into our pasture. I swear that bull was 6ft at the shoulders and he could run like the wind. Anywho, the owner said if we saw him in our pasture, the way he gets him to move is he shoots him with a shotgun. Well, after several times being charged on my 4wheeler, husband went out there and shot at him. OK, this is what happened when he did that. I was giggling at the bull and what was about to happen maybe 1/8 mile away. I was not on the bulls pasture side of him because i figured he'd go the other way to his home. Husband shot at him, bull snorted, spinned a couple times and stopped in my direction like spin the bottle and the gross boy just spun it..lol. He snorted real loud and came at me...I was on old Red Pony who had a hesitation problem, oh and a starting problem( i had turned it off) SO, here comes this giant rodeo bull as fast as he can at me. I could see the red in his eyes against the dark black death hair. Red pony started cranking, cranking, and it started. I put it in gear(and usually right after it starts it would die at least once) and i floored it and it went!. That bull chased me for quite a while and then gave up. To this day i wonder what i would have done if my 4wheeler didnt start.
Neighbor has moved cows and there is now a new fence just in case some other wonderful leaser moves their cows in...

Wrong weapon...........30-06 would have been a much better option. He wouldn't have run far.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

The last bull that did that, on my place, went for a trailer ride to the sale 3 days later.

Katherine

 

[salebarn junkie]

We used to keep a horse in our bull pen. We did that for 2 years. It was a big foxtroter and we had 2 limi bulls with him. The horse kicked them or bit them every chance he got. It might have been some other reason but those were the 2 best manered bulls I've ever had. We sold the horse so ive never tried it with any other bulls.

 

[Taurus]

We used to keep a horse in our bull pen. We did that for 2 years. It was a big foxtroter and we had 2 limi bulls with him. The horse kicked them or bit them every chance he got. It might have been some other reason but those were the 2 best manered bulls I've ever had. We sold the horse so ive never tried it with any other bulls.

We always keep the horses with the bulls. It's always the bulls that got picked on, kicked, bit or being chased by the horses, even the pony. Never seen any of the bulls we had dominated the horses in my life...that is unless you're a bucking bull.

 

[Alan]

Bulls are always snotty when cows are around and they know they aren't getting any action. Bet his attitude would change back if he had at least one lady friend. I might be more surprised he hasn't gone through fences yet to find his own companions.

Don't want to fight with you Aaron, but You gave a load of dangerous information. Most of the bulls I have own, and more than a few, have always let me walk around them making sure I leave a distance between them and me, not the cows. Meaning they respected me and walked away when I walked towards them. two have not followed that rule and the where gone in a very, very few days, one was a big dollar bull. ! Ship the bull, it only gets worse.

 

[Rafter S]

I agree that him being by himself for a while may be part of the problem, but I'd definitely keep an eye on him. Cattle are herd animals and don't generally respond well to being alone.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Bulls are always snotty when cows are around and they know they aren't getting any action. Bet his attitude would change back if he had at least one lady friend. I might be more surprised he hasn't gone through fences yet to find his own companions.

Don't want to fight with you Aaron, but You gave a load of dangerous information. Most of the bulls I have own, and more than a few, have always let me walk around them making sure I leave a distance between them and me, not the cows. Meaning they respected me and walked away when I walked towards them. two have not followed that rule and the where gone in a very, very few days, one was a big dollar bull. ! Ship the bull, it only gets worse.

Alan, I don't know if you raised those bulls, or not. But I believe a lot has to do with how they are raised. Every one of my bulls will approach you, cause they think they are going to get some grain. I sure hope every rancher I have sold them to doesn't "ship them" for it! My halter bulls don't walk away from you, cause they were handled and caught. Hope the don't all get slaughtered for it.

 

[Aaron]

Bulls are always snotty when cows are around and they know they aren't getting any action. Bet his attitude would change back if he had at least one lady friend. I might be more surprised he hasn't gone through fences yet to find his own companions.

Don't want to fight with you Aaron, but You gave a load of dangerous information. Most of the bulls I have own, and more than a few, have always let me walk around them making sure I leave a distance between them and me, not the cows. Meaning they respected me and walked away when I walked towards them. two have not followed that rule and the where gone in a very, very few days, one was a big dollar bull. ! Ship the bull, it only gets worse.

I know what you mean, Alan. I was thinking about what I was writing. I might be wrong assuming the OP has enough brains to know what I mean. The core issue is that even bulls, should not be left alone in a pen. How many bull attacks are due to single bulls in a pen, wanting to assert their dominance on the next human that crosses their path? Always keep a younger bull, or an old cow with them. I've been through countless bull pens and have had enough of my own. Single bulls kept by themselves (small herds) are usually more rank. The easiest going groups, I ever found, were several bulls with a fair distance away from the cows (1/4 mile +). Cuts down on the fighting, but still provides company. There are exceptions in all cases, but that is the trend I found.

 

[Alan]

Brangus, All but a few have been raised by me, none halter broke. My main message is you can't mess with bulls. My bulls are not pets or haltered broke, they respect me as the alpha, if they challenge me, it's wheels. Two have challenged me and two have been shipped as soon as I could get them on the trailer. A few posts lately of bulls and cows attacking folks on CT lately, including the Belgium Blue show bull who attack the young lady, he was halter trained.

 

[Alan]

Good points Aaron, one should always leave safety and a reliable exit a first when dealing with bulls or some cows.

Thanks,
Alan