Bull acting strange - thoughts

[cliq20]

I've been farming cattle for 15+ years and farming has been in the family. We have a 50-55 head cow/calf operation. just recently purchased a 4-5 yr old Stewart Seeds (SS) bull. Bull was nice, just not that heavy. well, the bull we had there (we usually run 2 bulls) before is starting to act strange. off by himself, when i drive up to him he acts like he wants to fight the truck (i haven't gotten out yet at this point - not sure if is should), goes back and forth looking at other cattle and bawling from a field away. then some days he will be back with the herd as usual.

i've not seen them fight, this one is much bigger than the SS one, and there are no obvious signs of bad feet, hips, limping, etc.

any thoughts as to what might have happened?

i work quite a bit as a CPA so i'm there maybe an hour a day and usually at night so i don't see all that's going on.
the SS bull replaced another bull we had that came up with a bad foot.

not sure what else y'all might need to know or if there are any ideas as to what his issue might be...

Thanks...

 

[dun]

The only thing that I can think of is that he got his butt whipped

 

[cliq20]

Kind of what I was thinking at first but usually if they are 300+ lbs heavier they would have had to get hurt unless the other one is a stud fighter.

Not sure why he wants to fight the truck unless his pride is hurt. He doesn't seem to even challenge the other bull.

 

[Suzie Q]

I have heard of brain tumours causing aggression in bulls that never showed it before.

 

[Cowdirt]

The only thing that I can think of is that he got his butt whipped

Pretty sure he's taken a whuppin. He's probably challenging other things in the pasture to lift his deflated ego, which Bulls have in abundance.

 

[cow pollinater]

How long has the old bull been with the cows? He may be acting that way because there's nothing left to breed. That was always our cue that the bulls were done for the season when the cows moved up into th hills and the bulls came down and started tearing up fences and fighting again.

 

[cliq20]

How long has the old bull been with the cows? He may be acting that way because there's nothing left to breed. That was always our cue that the bulls were done for the season when the cows moved up into th hills and the bulls came down and started tearing up fences and fighting again.

maybe 3 years. it's possible i guess but he's never acted that way before even when they were probably all bred and he has always been with another bull.

i'd say he's gotten whipped (although doesn't seem reasonable due to the sizes). maybe why the aggression against the truck...i just don't know. as long as he doesn't attack me i guess i'm OK, although he does have nice calves, i hope he still does at least half of the breeding.

 

[cliq20]

well, i've definitely figured it out. i think 2 things:

1. they both have scabs on their foreheads where they've been fighting - and the SS bull is acting strange when i drive up to it also - like i'm challenging him also
2. i think all the cows are bred (having calves now so this should help)

So hopefully they don't fight enough where i have to fix all my fence or they start hurting each other.

Thanks all.

 

[Suzie Q]

This is where high enough electric fences seem like magic. I have also heard that a donkey will stop bulls fighting.

 

[cliq20]

that and keep dogs away. thanks.