Blinding Dairy Bulls ???

[FarmGirl10]

:shock: The other day I heard a couple dairymen talking about blinded bulls. As everyone knows dairy bulls get really mean, and to cut down on this someone decided that blinding good (but mean) bulls was a good way to be able to keep them. :???: Needless to say, this is very unethical (IMO).

Has anyone ever heard of or seen this?

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

I haven't heard of this. Nor do I agree with this. For a number of reasons. 1st- for the ethical reasons, 2nd- blind cattle I know are more prone to lashing out.

 

[regolith]

Yes, first farmer I ever worked for lost his uncle that way.

Had a fight with his bull one time and blinded him. The bull was waiting for him next day.

That's the only story I've ever heard on this subject. Dairy bulls have a good life of about five years before they get too mean to work with - replace 'em.

 

[novaman]

Yes, first farmer I ever worked for lost his uncle that way.

Had a fight with his bull one time and blinded him. The bull was waiting for him next day.

That's the only story I've ever heard on this subject. Dairy bulls have a good life of about five years before they get too mean to work with - replace 'em.

I don't think I've ever seen a bull last five years around here. Quite often bulls must be moved after one breeding season. Even the bulls that aren't "mean" can still be intimidating because they can change their attitude overnight. I guess that's why my bulls are in a tank.

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

"I guess that's why my bulls are in a tank.

Best place to keep them.
On the other hand our "senior" herd bull will be 9yrs old this Aug 8th he's a fantastic bull gentle as a lamb would never trust him but he's a keeper and a Jersey to boot ;-). He'll be here until he dies & he'll be buried beside his momma.

 

[showing71]

I haven't heard of this. Nor do I agree with this. For a number of reasons. 1st- for the ethical reasons, 2nd- blind cattle I know are more prone to lashing out.

I'm going with aussie on this one. Nothing like blinding an already angry animal. Plus, letting my inner little girl out, it's mean.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

I haven't heard of this. Nor do I agree with this. For a number of reasons. 1st- for the ethical reasons, 2nd- blind cattle I know are more prone to lashing out.

I'm going with aussie on this one. Nothing like blinding an already angry animal. Plus, letting my inner little girl out, it's mean.

(By ethical reasons I also meant letting my little girl out :secret: )

 

[showing71]

I haven't heard of this. Nor do I agree with this. For a number of reasons. 1st- for the ethical reasons, 2nd- blind cattle I know are more prone to lashing out.

I'm going with aussie on this one. Nothing like blinding an already angry animal. Plus, letting my inner little girl out, it's mean.

(By ethical reasons I also meant letting my little girl out :secret: )

It's good we're in touch with our inner kids ;-)

 

[Keren]

I agree with aussie and everyone else in all regards.

Also, I'd never heard of this? How common is this practise?

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

I've never heard of it being done but I have seen some things that would make you cringe. The main lesson I leant was to never "manage" a dairy when the bank is in possession of the cheque book

 

[dun]

Having had the pleasure of dealing with a number of blind cattle, this sounds like one of the stupidist solutions I've ever heard of.

 

[FarmGirl10]

Having had the pleasure of dealing with a number of blind cattle, this sounds like one of the stupidist solutions I've ever heard of.

That's what I thought, why make an already mean animals more dangerous by having a blind mean animal?

The best way I've ever heard of or seen "calming" down a mean bull was either get rid of it or make it drag a 10ft log chain from its nose ring. That'll stop them for a while.

 

[bigbull338]

doing that to a bull or any animale is just plum wrong.if you have a mean you either learn to deal with him or you ship him.have a friend that had 1 heck of a reg holstein killer bull.an he kept him in a solid steel pipe pen.an he was the only 1 to deal with the bull.we also had a mean reg holstein bull.that big boy weighed 3200lbs in his prime.an he would get you given a chance.

 

[novaman]

Having had the pleasure of dealing with a number of blind cattle, this sounds like one of the stupidist solutions I've ever heard of.

That's what I thought, why make an already mean animals more dangerous by having a blind mean animal?

The best way I've ever heard of or seen "calming" down a mean bull was either get rid of it or make it drag a 10ft log chain from its nose ring. That'll stop them for a while.

The best ways to make a bull not mean are to put a 7mm between its eyes or make it a steer.

Easier said than done. Many people spend good money on bulls that have good breeding behind them. Dairy bulls just aren't the same as beef bulls in that they get mean a lot quicker than most beef bulls. The beef bulls are usually out in the pasture during the season and away from any situations that would put people in harms way. On the other hand dairy bulls are dealt with twice a day (or even three times a day) and they become aggresive quicker and unexpectedly at times. Many dairyman around here use a bull for one season and then ship them in hopes of getting some salvage value back before the bull becomes an uncontrollable beast. In the end there is no quick fix to the problem but blinding certainly isn't the answer. Stuff like that just makes organizations such as PETA and HSUS stronger in their fight against animal agriculture.

 

[FarmGirl10]

Stuff like that just makes organizations such as PETA and HSUS stronger in their fight against animal agriculture.

I have to agree. A lot of that crap is just wrong....why anyone would do it is beyond me. I've never seen one blinded and hopefully never will. The only time I heard of something similar was when a bull charged into the parlor and got hit over the head with a pipe. He got hit good enough and just in the right spot that one of his eyes popped out. :shock: Which someone will probably say it never happened....even the vet was shocked.

 

[Chi496]

Before we quit milking occasionaly we would put horse type blinkers on the bulls stall halter to cut down on his vision.

 

[Frankie]

:shock: The other day I heard a couple dairymen talking about blinded bulls. As everyone knows dairy bulls get really mean, and to cut down on this someone decided that blinding good (but mean) bulls was a good way to be able to keep them. :???: Needless to say, this is very unethical (IMO).

Has anyone ever heard of or seen this?

No, I've never heard of such a thing. It's probably something the animal rights people put out.

 

[CattleHand]

Before we quit milking occasionaly we would put horse type blinkers on the bulls stall halter to cut down on his vision.

Yea I could understand that, or glueing patches to cover some of their eyes. We have done that on calves that had eye issues, squirted some medicine in the eye and glued a piece of an old jean over the top to help keep the fescue seeds out while they heeled up.

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

"Easier said than done. Many people spend good money on bulls that have good breeding behind them. Dairy bulls just aren't the same as beef bulls in that they get mean a lot quicker than most beef bulls.

There are plenty of "good" bulls out there these days that there is no need to keep bulls that are going to kill or injure someone. Some people need to be taken out into the desert & tying over an ant's nest

 

[novaman]

"Easier said than done. Many people spend good money on bulls that have good breeding behind them. Dairy bulls just aren't the same as beef bulls in that they get mean a lot quicker than most beef bulls.

There are plenty of "good" bulls out there these days that there is no need to keep bulls that are going to kill or injure someone. Some people need to be taken out into the desert & tying over an ant's nest

I'm not suggesting that people keep a dangerous bull. What I am saying is that people spend good money to buy a bull that likely was not dangerous at the time. Take him home and use him for a few months and suddenly he isn't such a timid bull anymore. It's a bit difficult to simply ship him so suddenly and take a big loss when he goes for slaughter. I'm not advocating that anyone try to keep these bulls simply because they paid good money. I'm simply saying it isn't such an easy decision to make.