Bull can't lift his tail

[gdale]

Has anyone ever had a bull (or cow) that's unable to lift its tail? I'm using yearling Limousin bull to breed my small group of 8 head, and have noticed for the past 2 weeks that he's had a dirty tail. Just the other day I watched him push out manure and he never attempted to his tail, and he hasn't even moved his tail to fight flies. Tail head isn't swollen, and I'm beginning to think he had this injury prior to turning him out with the cows. He was in an 80-acre lot with about 25-30 other yearling bulls and probably broke it then. He's been breeding cows just fine, and occasionally I notice a very slight twitch in his tail, about 6 inches below the tail head, as if he's trying to move his tail. I checked with the vet and sounds like there's not much we can do, other than give it time to heal and see if he gets any movement back. All I can do is clean his rear end maybe once a week to keep the flies down and keep the skin from getting sore. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[Till-Hill]

He probably fell off a cow breeding and broke it. Happens to some of my bulls when I put them on concrete with the dairy cows that are twice the bulls size.

Biggest problem is semen checking them, if you can't get the probe in next year you won't be able to know if his semen is any good.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Sound like a typical broken tail. Clean him up good, and clip his hind quarter and tail (not switch though) really short. Then slather on some baby oil. Should help him stay a bit cleaner.

 

[TCRanch]

Last year we had a 1st calf heifer with a pinched nerve near her sacral vertebrae, most likely from being mounted, and couldn't lift her tail. Have you noticed any swelling on his spine? After a series of Dex & Banamine we moved her & her calf to another pasture until the swelling went down (and yes, I hauled out the poo-bucket every day to clean her). Our vet said it was possible she would fully recover but probably would take up to 6 months so we ended up selling the pair.

 

[gdale]

Thanks for the suggestions! I can't see that there's any swelling anywhere along his spine. I like the suggestion about clipping his hindquarter and tail, and applying baby oil. If he hasn't gained any movement or function in his tail over the next couple months, he'll get sold.