Bull selection based on scrotal

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I can definitely tell you that you'll never catch me taking a measuring tape to a bull. I can tell by looking if he's got nuts. But if people want to use a measurement and it makes them feel they are getting a superior bull, good for them.
Well when you are counting on a bull to help create the only paycheck your cows create in a year you do everything you can to help them be profitable.
Bulls with small nuts have less carrying capacity. So when you have several cows come in heat at once the bull may not get them all stuck.
Scrotal measuring is the first thing my vet does in a BSE.
 
This reminds me of a patriotic song my brother and his friends sang in Jr. High school

Do your nuts hang low'
Do they wobble to and fro
Can you tie 'em in a knot
Can you tie 'em in a bow
Can you throw 'em over your shoulder
Like a Continental soldier
Do your nuts hang low
 
Them low hangers are not good on a bull. They got to go somewhere when the bull lays down. When he gets up, don't want the low hangers and the feet to intersect. If they do, low fertility is in his future.
 
SC has a lot to due with breed as well. Brahman influenced yearling bulls will have a smaller SC than purebred Angus yearling bulls due to time of puberty. However, the Brahman influenced bull will start being in his prime when the Angus bull is going down hill and he will dwarf the angus bull.
 
That bull is a Bos Indicus Brahma type bull in India.
Abstract[
The creation of any model is complex requiring vast amounts of data, typically gathered over a series of experiments. Specifically the temperature humidity index (THI) and heat load index (HLI) are used as management tools to implement mitigation strategies during hot climatic conditions. Exposure of the testes to hot climatic conditions has a negative impact on spermatogenesis in the bull, and other species.

Move that bull to a more northern clime and he would sire many calves.
 
That bull is a Bos Indicus Brahma type bull in India.
Abstract[
The creation of any model is complex requiring vast amounts of data, typically gathered over a series of experiments. Specifically the temperature humidity index (THI) and heat load index (HLI) are used as management tools to implement mitigation strategies during hot climatic conditions. Exposure of the testes to hot climatic conditions has a negative impact on spermatogenesis in the bull, and other species.

Move that bull to a more northern clime and he would sire many calves.
Bos Indicus doesn't have the ability to "hair up" for the cold, and the excess skin will dissipate heat until they are hypothermic. In northern climes they will sire calves that will be more prone to freeze to death.
 
Bos Indicus doesn't have the ability to "hair up" for the cold, and the excess skin will dissipate heat until they are hypothermic. In northern climes they will sire calves that will be more prone to freeze to death.
The biggest market bull I've ever seen in person was a Santa Gertrudis. He weighed 3,200lbs and I couldn't see over his back (I'm 6'2")
The seller had moved to Illinois from Florida and bought his Santa Gertrudis herd with him. I talked with him. He said he had switched his calving to June, tried it two years and still couldn't get those baby Gerts to not get chilled. He sold out.
 
The biggest market bull I've ever seen in person was a Santa Gertrudis. He weighed 3,200lbs and I couldn't see over his back (I'm 6'2")
The seller had moved to Illinois from Florida and bought his Santa Gertrudis herd with him. I talked with him. He said he had switched his calving to June, tried it two years and still couldn't get those baby Gerts to not get chilled. He sold out.
LOL... I think I'd have kept the Gerts and moved south.
 
Bos Indicus doesn't have the ability to "hair up" for the cold, and the excess skin will dissipate heat until they are hypothermic. In northern climes they will sire calves that will be more prone to freeze to death.
OK... let's see if I can derail this then... @Travlr, are you saying they should be wearing a "calf jacket"? :unsure:
 
Checked a few bulls today.
A 15 month old Simmental bull had a 43cm scortal.
A 27 month old Simmental bull had a 40.5cm. Both were raised by Simme in South Carolina.
Checked 2 12 month old Charolais cross bulls for a friend and 1 passed, 1 wouldn't do anything to test. I didn't expect either one to be old enough to test.
 
Checked a few bulls today.
A 15 month old Simmental bull had a 43cm scortal.
A 27 month old Simmental bull had a 40.5cm. Both were raised by Simme in South Carolina.
Checked 2 12 month old Charolais cross bulls for a friend and 1 passed, 1 wouldn't do anything to test. I didn't expect either one to be old enough to test.
maybe I'm not realizing what a 40cm circumference looks like. Talking the 600 U bull? He and franchise looked similar in that department when they were here
 
Checked a few bulls today.
A 15 month old Simmental bull had a 43cm scortal.
A 27 month old Simmental bull had a 40.5cm. Both were raised by Simme in South Carolina.
Checked 2 12 month old Charolais cross bulls for a friend and 1 passed, 1 wouldn't do anything to test. I didn't expect either one to be old enough to test.
That younger one always had an impressive set.
Generally accepted minimums are:
30 cm for bulls less than 15 months,
31 cm for 15 to 18 months,
32 cm for 18 to 21 months,
33 cm for 21 to 24 months,
and 34 cm for over 24 months.

Those are minimums to pass the test. Bigger is better.
 
That younger one always had an impressive set.
Generally accepted minimums are:
30 cm for bulls less than 15 months,
31 cm for 15 to 18 months,
32 cm for 18 to 21 months,
33 cm for 21 to 24 months,
and 34 cm for over 24 months.

Those are minimums to pass the test. Bigger is better.
Has anyone ever actually tested bulls with small measurements against those with larger? I'd bet there could be a difference at some point... but I'm pretty skeptical about the "minimums to pass the test". Is "the test" a matter of a measurement? Or a matter of settling cows?
 
The "test" is the breeding soundness exam. A physical exam of the repro system and a microscopic exam of the semen. Even if a bull passed the test, it does not mean that he will settle cows. There is the "want to" factor in addition to the "capable" factor. Even those that do not "pass the test" can probably settle some cows. But not up to the standards of the test.
 
The "test" is the breeding soundness exam. A physical exam of the repro system and a microscopic exam of the semen. Even if a bull passed the test, it does not mean that he will settle cows. There is the "want to" factor in addition to the "capable" factor. Even those that do not "pass the test" can probably settle some cows. But not up to the standards of the test.
I guess I'm having a problem understanding why the quantity of ejaculate is considered to be so important when there are billions of sperm and it only takes a single one to do the job. Especially when we cut the amount down significantly to do AI and it works.
I mean, I'm sure there must be some kind of difference, but is it 50% or is it .001%?
I can definitely understand the microscope test because sperm motility and even the percentage of deformed sperm is important.
So anyhow, I know many people here are big on measuring scrotums... but I still think it's a lot of hype over very little if any difference. I'd have to see some real world results to make it important enough to make it a criteria in bull selection... and I haven't seen that.
 

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