bull question/problem...

[milkmaid]

anyone ever had a bull with an injured/broken..."part"? :lol: Vet thought he'd been jostled while breeding a cow and didn't think there was much hope for him. Implied the sale barn or hamburger was his future. That would be a real shame, as he's a really nice young bull, and only bought last month.

The Merck Vet Manual didn't have any real information on the subject... Anyone seen it before, and might he ever be OK for breeding again?

 

[JHH]

I would say your vet is right. Neighbor just had a black angus bull that that happened to. An oldtimer here said sometimes if they dont have a knot on there side they will heal but most time it is sale barn or hamburger from what I understand. JHH

 

[ollie']

How bad does the injury look milkmaid. Have you seen it? How much swelling ? The calves in my avitar are sired by a bull of mine that broke his penis. I covered 35 cows with him this year. What is the value of the bull and when would he need to be used again? When my bull was injured his swelled the size of a 3 gal. pump up sprayer.

 

[milkmaid]

I have seen it. Sheath is swollen...not near as bad as yours sounds though...and he was bleeding when the vet saw him this morning. I think it happened two days ago; I noticed the swelling yesterday and my boss said he saw it the day before that when he brought the bull in from pasture.

He's a young holstein bull my boss picked up last month, I don't know what he cost but I'd be willing to bet it was at least $2000. He's a registered red and white holstein and said to have some excellent genetics. Boss has two other bulls on the place (although I hope one is leaving for the auction soon; he's mean) so this one doesn't have to be breeding anything anytime soon, but of course it'd be a shame not to have calves from him.

How long did it take your bull to heal, ollie? ...and did you give him any drugs, or just leave him alone?

 

[ollie']

He got hurt in the spring. I collected a little semen in the winter for insurance then turned him on cows in the spring after watching him breed a couple. I may have gave him some banamine I can't remember. I didnt give him anything else.

 

[Larry Sansom]

Had this on a bull several years ago - better to just ship him now - They just never get back to where they were - the libido seemed to have left as well as the function.

 

[ollie']

Had this on a bull several years ago - better to just ship him now - They just never get back to where they were - the libido seemed to have left as well as the function.

Hogwash Larry. They would be prone to reinjury but as far as libido leaving because of a damaged set of muscles and veins????Prove it . Where is the data.

 

[J]

I have no proof but I know that if it happened to me I might not lose any libido but the tought of using it might be painful enough, considering what it went through?

 

[ollie']

Mine covered 35 cows of his own and 35 of another bull after the other bull went down with a cut foot.He is sound and has libido to trot after them. Guess he has a short memory or the risk is worth the reward.

 

[aztumbleweed]

We have had a couple of buuls get broke one recovered and one did not. I would imagine if the vet said to eat him it is a good idea. Broke bulls are a little more common when you have quite a few. Good Luck :cboy:

 

[milkmaid]

It certainly offers a bit of hope seeing it's happened before and the bull recovered.

Where this is a holstein bull, and running with the cows 24/7/365 (as opposed to how you beef folks have a set breeding season), I figure if he's left with the cows and constantly "tempted" he'll soon decide it isn't worth it to try breeding. My boss doesn't have a place to keep him separate for an extended amount of time, so I offered to take him to my place and run him with one of my cows (who's hopefully already bred) and a couple young calves. That way he won't be around any cows in heat until he's healed. Boss said he'd think about it...so maybe I'll have a new animal on the place for a few months, maybe I won't. Who knows. He might well end up being shipped on Tuesday.

How old was your bull, ollie?

 

[jersey lilly]

If it's seriously broken, and stays swollen for very long, what's the fever/temperature inflamation gonna do to his "other parts"??? I'd ship him. Had neighbors bull over here...still here for that matter.....swoll up and broke for about 2 months...swellin extended all the way back to his nuts. Now he's not swollen anymore, and he "acts" like he's interested. But I dont much think he's "able" to. I've seen him try, but nothin happens......(tryin to word this nicely lol) he has no extention now....

Sell him!!!

 

[certherfbeef]

There is a lot of talk about the fever and damage to the "other parts".

Ollie said he had his bull collected this winter before he was turned out in the spring. Maybe he will tell us what the motility of that bulls sperm was and settle the discussion.

 

[ollie']

I am certainly not saying they will all work. I am not even advocating keeping this bull. That is the owners decision. When my bull got injured I called the vet and he didnt' even come examine him. I described the injury and the extent of the swelling. He said it was probably better to salvage him but in some cases they will go ahead and work. I liked the bull and he had some traits that would be hard to replace economicaly . I asked some of my older friends what experience they had had. Some of them told me that they had had bulls that went ahead and worked. They said the trouble would be adheasions growing at the injury site. If this happened they would develop into a bull with the symptoms of Lilly's. They advised I let him in a trap against some bulling heifers and after a month or two to let him try one . I did and he swelled and looked worse after the experience. When the swelling went down I took him to the stud and had some semen collected. I dont' remember the morpholohy or the motility but they won't freeze questionable semen even for the owner. It was good quality semen . This spring when the bull was two past I tried him again on a cow or heifer ( I can't remember) and he struggled but got her bred with no swelling. I turned him out and watched him breed them. In no time at all he was breeding them normally. If it is handy and you have the time and space I would try him. Salvage value is 800 and the replacement cost 2000. Seems like a easy way to make 1200 if it works with only 200 or so in feed and risk. You do what seems best . I am just advising what I would do. If the bull was worth more I would sure try it. The bull of mine was just past 2 this last spring.

 

[milkmaid]

Interesting ollie, thanks.

Well....boss decided to give this bull a chance, and dropped him off at my place this morning. I'll have to give you all an update in a few months as to whether or not he still "works". LOL.

Thanks again for the help and info.

 

[jersey lilly]

If you've got him penned, might be worth the $25 for a box of bolus asprin. Get any fever down and helps with the swelling/inflamation. I had a bull with a broke front leg....no vet would even come out to look at him. I penned him for 3 weeks givin him 2 bolus' crushed up in feed, went out to feed one evenin and the gate was layed over, he decided he was well enuff to jump the gate and go back with hiefers....that was 2 years ago and he's still out there workin today.

On the bolus', I just took em and wrapped em in a dishcloth and beat them to a powder and mixed with his feed.

 

[Chuck]

Lilly, how many of those bolus aspirin come in a box? I've never used them, always just generic (cheap) people aspirin.

 

[jersey lilly]

480 grain bolus, 50 count, $19.35 from valley vet, free shipping.
½ to 1½ boluses two to three times daily, but with a big bull we did 2 at a time twice a day.
well worth it....one dose is probably equivelant to half a box of people asprin. They are huge.