Farmer Frank & The Tale Of The Bull Calf Dilemma

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

There are always lots of discussions about castrate or not - band or cut. Well here's an article that was at CattleNetwork.com - thought it was interesting.
Sorry, the "tables" didn't come out as "tables" so you will have to use your imagination to read it:

"Farmer Frank was sitting at the market watching the cattle being sold. He has always in the past bought steer calves, but he noticed that quite a few of the calves being sold were bull calves. He saw quite a few bull calves that he would have been interested in buying if they were steers. Frank wondered to himself if it would be worthwhile to start buying bull calves. The main question he had was how much less a bull calf was worth in order for him to buy it.

Many stocker operators buy bull calves. There are many reasons for them to do this and they include:

To get enough cattle to meet their needs, they must buy both steers and bulls.

They perceive the bull calves to be a better bargain than equivalent quality steer calves.

The real question is how much more a bull calf costs after you purchase him than an equivalent steer calf? After calculating the additional “costs” associated with bull calves, you can then calculate how much you should initially pay for them at the market relative to the price of steer calves. The extra costs associated with buying bull calves include:

1.The cost of castration
2.Decreased weight gain post castration
3.Increased likelihood of getting shipping fever (BRDC)
4. Increased likelihood of calf loss to death (from BRDC or castration complication)

The following tables compare the health and performance in steers versus bulls. The bulls in this study are relatively lightweight (3 weights). Since castration complications increase the heavier the weight of the bull calf, the differences seen in these experiments would likely be greater the heavier the weight of the bull calves purchased.

Table 1. Receiving performance Experiment 1
Treatmenta

Item
Steers
Banded bulls
Cut bulls

Calves
83
74
106

Pens
2
3
3

Weight, lb
Initial
337
329
326

Final
420
400
409

Daily gain, lb/d
1.99b
1.67c
1.92b

Intake, lb/d
8.00
7.81
7.57

Feed:gain
3.36
3.69
3.44

aCalves entering the feedlot as steers; calves banded on d 1; calves surgically castrated on d 1
b,cMeans within a row containing different superscripts differ significantly (P<.05).

Effect of Castration on Health and Performance of Newly Received Stressed Feedlot Calves, B.A. Berry et al
Table 2. Performance data (Experiment 2)
Treatmentsa

Item
Steers
Cut bulls

Calves
24
81

Weight, lb
Initial
363
372

Final
462
448

Daily gain, lb/d
2.35
1.77

Intake, lb/d
8.85
7.59

Feed:gain
3.77
4.32

aCalves entering the feedlot as steers; calves surgically castrated on d 1

Effect of Castration on Health and Performance of Newly Received Stressed Feedlot Calves, B.A. Berry et al
Table 3. Health response of steers vs bulls (Experiment 2)
Treatmentsa

Item
Steers
Cut bulls

Calves
24
81

Pullsb
.50
.93

1st Med. Ratec
.33
.59

Retreat rated
.00
.12

2nd Med. Ratee
.00
.11

% Treated

at least once
33.30
59.30

> 1 time
.00
23.50

aCalves entering the feedlot as steers; calves surgically castrated on d 1
bAverage number of times calves were removed from their pen for possible treatment
cAverage number of calves which received Nuflor®
dAverage number of calves that received first treatment followed by second treatment within 7 d
eAverage number of calves that received a second treatment after recovery from initial sickness

Effect of Castration on Health and Performance of Newly Received Stressed Feedlot Calves, B.A. Berry et al

In one of the studies listed above, bull calves performed better when castrated instead of being banded. Some larger stocker operators have moved away from the banding of large bull calves because of the effect on performance. As can be seen from the above experiments, bull calves purchased as stockers are worth less than steers regardless of the method of castration. A good rule of thumb is that bull calves are worth $1-$2 per hundred weight less than comparable steers (Table 4).
Table 4
Weight of bulls purchased
Decreased value of bull calves relative to comparable steer calves (per hundred weight)

300 lbs
$3-$6

400 lbs
$4-$8

500 lbs
$5-$10

600 lbs
$6-$12

Source: Dr. John F. Currin, VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, VA Tech






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[Bez!]

Castration is preached by all the feedlot operators I know.

Amazing how many folks cannot count to two when putting rings on nuts.

Bez!

 

[Stocker Steve]

A good post but a little hard to read. I figure bulls are worth about $50 dollars less than steers - - so I am on the higher side of ranges shown at the end.

If your really like to quickly gain experience pulling and treating animals - - you will what to buy small groups of bulls with horns and then band, dehorn and comingle them.

 

[milkmaid]

In one of the studies listed above, bull calves performed better when castrated instead of being banded.

Last time I checked, banding WAS castrating them. :lol: 8)

In all seriousness - that's a neat article, thanks for posting.

 

[Bez?]

In one of the studies listed above, bull calves performed better when castrated instead of being banded.

Last time I checked, banding WAS castrating them. :lol: 8)

In all seriousness - that's a neat article, thanks for posting.

Perhaps I hould have added the word "knife" befoe the word castration?

Lots of ringed animals turn up as not being castrated.

Bez?

 

[milkmaid]

In one of the studies listed above, bull calves performed better when castrated instead of being banded.

Last time I checked, banding WAS castrating them. :lol: 8)

In all seriousness - that's a neat article, thanks for posting.

Perhaps I should have added the word "knife" before the word castration?

Lots of ringed animals turn up as not being castrated.

Bez?

I'm sure they do - fellow that gives us a handful of bum lambs each year can't count to two. We always end up with at least one that isn't completely castrated. Not that it really seems to matter when they're butchered at 8 months of age, but still.

I've never used the knife before; always banded -- and I've always been very careful not to end up with a stag. All the ones I sell as steers ARE steers. :lol: ;-)

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

We just cut 8 yesterday - snacks for supper tonight
One was a bleeder but fine this AM.

 

[andybob]

Castration is preached by all the feedlot operators I know.

Amazing how many folks cannot count to two when putting rings on nuts.

Bez![/quote
I was always taught to use a knife then there are no mistakes just snip,snip and Bob's your aunty
'Bloodless' casterators were popular in our part of the world in the 60's-80's, you had to 'pinch' the chords on both sides (seperately), plenty of stags resulted from this system!