Bull

[Fatdogman1]

Recently our Angus bull seems to have no interest in the cattle herd he's been on for over 4 years. He's been off by himself for several weeks. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kenny thomas]

Get your vet involved. Have him checked. You may be loosing a calf crop.

 

[bird dog]

How old is he?

 

[Fatdogman1]

Get your vet involved. Have him checked. You may be loosing a calf crop.

Thanks for your reply.

How old is he?

He's about 7

 

[Fatdogman1]

Thanks for your reply.


He's about 7

The other bull gets after him pretty good and I think he's just tired of getting dominated

 

[bird dog]

You answered your own question. I would rather sit in the shade than get my butt whipped day after day. Its time to take him for a ride to town.

 

[coachg]

How many cows ? Do you need 2 bulls ?

 

[wbvs58]

The smart ones will often go off by themselves once they have the job done. They don't like hangin around listening to woman talk if there is no prospect of a bit of action.

Ken

 

[Fatdogman1]

How many cows ? Do you need 2 bulls ?

44 cows. I think I need 2 bulls

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Pride month just ended, maybe he'll start up soon. Swap him out for another.

 

[Travlr]

44 cows. I think I need 2 bulls

That's a lot for an old bull but only slightly for a young one. I've had good success with 18/24 month old bulls on forty cows. It's only a lot of work for the first heat cycle. Of course if the bull isn't doing the job it's a problem but you should know in one estrus.

 

[TCRanch]

I think @bird dog probably nailed it but absolutely what @kenny thomas said.

Does he have any signs of sickness? Limping, drooling, losing condition, not grazing/eating cubes (whatever you feed), etc. Did he pass his most recent BSE (assuming he had one)? It could be a number of things. Time for your vet. Or the sale barn.

 

[coachg]

44 cows. I think I need 2 bulls

If you spread the breeding out over the whole year one bull could cover that many but if you do a short duration, say 60-90 days you definitely need 2

 

[sunnyblueskies]

He might have been demoted to being the 2nd and the other bull took over the position of herd boss. I've found many older bulls who get kicked off the main position withdraw and go off by themselves.
That could be one, but if he is sick or injured he would do the same.
If it were my place I would ship the older one bye bye and get a yearling as replacement. Prices are good right now, here at least, you might get just about enough money for the old one to buy a yearling, depending on your 'wants' in a new bull.
Agree with others, you definitely need 2 bulls for that amount of cows.
Have a good one.

 

[Fatdogman1]

He might have been demoted to being the 2nd and the other bull took over the position of herd boss. I've found many older bulls who get kicked off the main position withdraw and go off by themselves.
That could be one, but if he is sick or injured he would do the same.
If it were my place I would ship the older one bye bye and get a yearling as replacement. Prices are good right now, here at least, you might get just about enough money for the old one to buy a yearling, depending on your 'wants' in a new bull.
Agree with others, you definitely need 2 bulls for that amount of cows.
Have a good one.

Thanks for your response.

 

[SDgrampa]

how long have your bulls been with the cows? It could be he knows his job is done for the year

 

[tex452]

The smart ones will often go off by themselves once they have the job done. They don't like hangin around listening to woman talk if there is no prospect of a bit of action.

Ken

We had a Hereford bull like this back in the eighties, very seldom would we find him with the cows, always by himself, he was the only bull too.
He did get the job done, but I wouldn't take any chances now, I would get him checked out.

 

[Fatdogman1]

how long have your bulls been with the cows? It could be he knows his job is done for the year

We leave the bulls on the cows year round.

 

[Warren Allison]

We leave the bulls on the cows year round.

If you do that, then you don't need 2 bulls with 44 cows.

 

[Lucky_P]

While some bulls keep going strong into their teens, most bulls - if they even make it to 7 years of age - start having pretty significant reduction in fertility from that point on, not to mention the effects of wear & tear, fighting injuries, arthritis.
It may be time for the old boy to take a ride to town.