Had a round with a bull today.

Help Support CattleToday:

If the cattle prod puts out 5000V that is theoretically 5000Joules of energy, but it's applied strictly between the 2 points on the end of the cattle prod (electrodes) usually about an inch apart from each other.

(why isn't an electrified fence that has 5000V advertised as 5000 joules of energy?
No, it's because you aren't taking time or amperage into consideration, Fencers deliver a lot of voltage, and a bit of amperage in a VERY short time (Microseconds IIRC)
Volts matter in how far the spark can jump, Amps make it hurt, and keeping the time very short makes it non lethal
 
Yes cows, or more to the point heifers have given me more trouble than bulls. I have sold a few at weaning because they were absolute nut jobs. I had one i thought was fine and my two young daughters walked past the yard she was in, she charged that hard she hit the yard and moved the whole side rail and stunned herself, got to her feet and went again. Another i was tattooing and before i even touched her she was upside down in the crush, she never got a tattoo, she went straight to the saleyards. I was upset at that one, ripping heifer from my best cow at the time out of expensive hard to source semen. Ive never had a cow go me as i weed them out before that point.
 
No, it's because you aren't taking time or amperage into consideration, Fencers deliver a lot of voltage, and a bit of amperage in a VERY short time (Microseconds IIRC)
Volts matter in how far the spark can jump, Amps make it hurt, and keeping the time very short makes it non lethal
The same is true in both the cattle prod and the fence energizer, in regards to amps and duration of each individual shock. The prod delivers a high voltage relatively low amp pulse. You never se either advertised in current (amps) for a reason. Current is a calculated value and is dependent upon resistance and impedance in relation to a fixed value of electromotive force (volts). A fence energizer might have a voltage capability of somewhat over 5000v but how strong the shock is, is totally dependent on how far the pulse has to travel thru both the conductor and the ground(soil) on it's return path. Ohm's Law says so.
 
7 Seconds. The vet told me he watched an 1,100lb str knock down a older man, slid him across the concrete floor to the concrete barn wall. Broken ribs, punctured lung, fractured pelvis.

I have always said with the number of cattle I interact with each year "its not a matter of if I get hurt, its when and how bad"
One of our vets was killed by his own bull - at the vet clinic. He lived for almost a week, hooked up to a gazillion tubes, but his body was broken.
 
I had a bull that my wife fed while I was on foot surgery rest. I told her to never pat him on the head. What did she do the whole dang time? Yep, patted him on the head. Fast forward about 6 months, and I'm walking ok, but not running. I bent down to pick something up and he took that as a challenge. Bluffed me pretty good, and scared the stuff out of her. She doesn't pet any of them now.
Head is off limits!!! Glad you're okay.
 
I will give a cow a strike or two. A bull it is one strike and you are out. Auctioneer / sale yard owner over on the Washington coast got killed by a bull about 3 years ago. Life is too short to play games with a bull.
I never have run for a fence from a bull. One of the things I learned from my rodeo days is that a person can dodge a bull much easier than out run one.
 
I will give a cow a strike or two. A bull it is one strike and you are out. Auctioneer / sale yard owner over on the Washington coast got killed by a bull about 3 years ago. Life is too short to play games with a bull.
I never have run for a fence from a bull. One of the things I learned from my rodeo days is that a person can dodge a bull much easier than out run one.
You and I have similar attitudes on both horses and bulls.
 
My philosophy has always been to have gentle cattle, it was one of the most important traits to most people including myself. I started out working with a herd of registered Charolais, in keeping several bulls both herd and weaned - yearling, around about all times, I've had to deal with a lot of bulls, since I was young and I will tolerate them being bulls up to a point, I found a lot young bulls will try to test you, but then after they are turned out with cows they are generally not a problem at all. I would cull any bull though if they seemed often and was verily aggressive as I did not want to sell a bull to someone else that I didn't particularly have a decent level of confidence in.
After I ended my run with registered cattle, I've kept the same thought process with selecting and handling bulls. They are individuals and no matter how much we think we know them they can turn, but even though I know that I do tend to get too relaxed a lot of times around them sometimes.
Once bought an 18 month old Hereford bull that was pretty feisty he would come running and slinging his head. Backed him up a time or two with I stick and after being out with cows he was fine. He and several others would put on quite a show though when playing with a roll of hay.
Simmental bull I bought a couple years ago, fooled me. When we went to look at him he seemed fine but the owner was new to cattle and visibly afraid. A few days after getting that bull home he was very aggressive and I don't take anything for granted around him. He got hurt and it was probably a blessing in disguise to get him off the place before he hurt somebody. He was dangerous to load.
The history of the bull in my original post was that he seemed like he was calm and no red flags as a weaned calf, until some of the tenants kids that lived in the house on that property where we had our bulls told us that they had been throwing rocks and other thing at the bulls. The other bulls didn't show any change but that one became high headed and flighty, over a long time he seemed to calm back down but had a bit of an edge to him. The don't know if that's what started him or not but seemed like he changed at that time. I wasn't overly concerned with him but didn't want to get him hemmed up or to be out in the middle of the field with nowhere to go either. I'd kind of had an encounter with him the first year he was with heifers, in the field where he ran towards me bellering but stopped well before me.
Then he did a similar thing last summer when I got off the tractor to check on something here he come but again he stopped and went on by.
Then with that the other day, I thought I'd get some thoughts from y'all. I had been thinking he needed to go, but then sometimes I second guess my self and think I might be too particular, but at my age and health I dont want to take too many chances and sure don't want my wife to get hurt as she works with them too.
We've had a neighbor get seriously injured by a cow, and know of someone else that was killed by one.
Well, you kept him and raised him for these 3 years for a reason. You saw something in him you liked. Has he produced calves for you that met or exceeded your expectations? I guess you owned his sire and dam...were either one of them aggressive? Or a brother? I would assume not, since disposition is one of the factors you breed for. Probably no one on here knows more about handling cattle in your area with your kind of set up. Might know as much, but not more. You can evaluate better than anyone on here, if he is worth having another calf crop by. If you decide to sell him, it is probably the right thing to do. You can find another bull you like, or probably have a yearling of yours already in mind. If you want to take your time looking for just the right one at the right price, I will loan you a good young Brangus.:) With an option to buy him if you like him!
 
A bull ,or cow for that matter ,that won't respect your personal space is an accident waiting to happen. Every year numerous people are killed by gentle bulls.
I don't want my cattle wild , but if the don't respect me and my space they are gone .
 
I sell my bulls as yearlings (13-15 mths of age). I'd rather have them gone than have to deal with them by myself for another year. I do keep one myself to use as a yearling on my heifers then will use him the following year on the main cow herd. Once they go out with the heifers/ cows they mature quickly. I will avoid any confrontation with them, I won't walk between them and a fence or between them and cows. I move them in groups as in with their cows and will use the dogs. I am not afraid of them and just avoid situations where they might think I am challenging them. I have found this works well in my situation. I have had them snort and carry on a bit when feeding them back in the bull paddock and I make light of it, tell them what an idiot they are and will just go to the other side of the feed trough to put the feed in. They are probably carrying on more to the other bulls than me. If I was to carry a stick and lay into them I feel that it would be the start of a continual battle. It is not hard to walk around them calmly avoiding potential confrontations.

Ken
 
So why not pet a bull on the head?
That teaches them its okay to bump and rub on you. They can knock you off your feet by unintentionally swinging their heads. The last thing you want to turn into is a "play thing"

We had a bull that was fairly quiet, but never scratched on his head.
I was opening a gate to the barn to let the cows in to eat silage. That bull walked up behind me and threw me into the gate. Not hurt, just surprised. We had a college kid who had been working for us for a month or so.I went and jumped his but about petting that bull on the head. " How'd you know? " was his answer.
Shame on me for not paying attention, and shame on him for petting the bull.
 
Mine has gotten into the nasty habit of knocking the feed bucket right out of my hands. He'll lay siege to me inside the barn until I figure a way to distract him to get to the troughs with the buckets. That's why I asked about a hotshot earlier. My previous dog would not let any cow or bull get near me, but she died in February and the dog I have today is afraid of the cows.
That's not cool....a bull's encroachment is serious business. I've trained my bull and cows to wait on the other side of the feeder troughs. They know key words "Stay", "No!", "Come-on". The cows are still worse than my bull now. Few years ago i had a few issues with my bull encroaching me while i was ready to feed them. When that happened...they did not get fed outside...they got feed in the dark barn's feeders-safer for me. Years ago, that bull chased me down, around my truck, with a bag in hand...needless to stay all the cows were watching too as I laid down sharp angles around my truck. I then put the bag in the truck and left for home (not feeding the cattle)....I was vocal yelling at the cattle (something i never do). Boy...you could hear those cows balling when i was on the road leaving. After that one incident, all the cows must have really been angry with Mr. Bull cause he never chased me down for food again...no rewards given here.
The key training factor is always go to your bull first and feed him wherever his location is at the feeder. (Respect) This way...he knows he gets at the food first...first bite....that you'll come to him first.
 
That's not cool....a bull's encroachment is serious business. I've trained my bull and cows to wait on the other side of the feeder troughs. They know key words "Stay", "No!", "Come-on". The cows are still worse than my bull now. Few years ago i had a few issues with my bull encroaching me while i was ready to feed them. When that happened...they did not get fed outside...they got feed in the dark barn's feeders-safer for me. Years ago, that bull chased me down, around my truck, with a bag in hand...needless to stay all the cows were watching too as I laid down sharp angles around my truck. I then put the bag in the truck and left for home (not feeding the cattle)....I was vocal yelling at the cattle (something i never do). Boy...you could hear those cows balling when i was on the road leaving. After that one incident, all the cows must have really been angry with Mr. Bull cause he never chased me down for food again...no rewards given here.
The key training factor is always go to your bull first and feed him wherever his location is at the feeder. (Respect) This way...he knows he gets at the food first...first bite....that you'll come to him first.
The first bull that had a ring put in his nose was a big Char. He was super quiet, but I was feeding cows in the middle of a pasture daily and had to carry buckets. That SOB would have his head up to his eyes buried in the bucket as I was trying to carry them. But once his jewelry healed. All I had to do was give it a little twist and he learned manners real quick.
 
The key training factor is always go to your bull first and feed him wherever his location is at the feeder. (Respect) This way...he knows he gets at the food first...first bite....that you'll come to him first.
Yes, I do that. When I enter a group, I'm looking to see where the bull is. I should add my cattle know what pails are and what's in them. When I enter a group, the cattle watch and see what I'm doing. If I enter holding a pail, the rush is on. If the bull is handy, he will confront me. I see him coming and leave a grain pile in the closest, clean spot. The bull goes for the pile and I slide by to the feed bunk.

Sometimes the bull is off somewhere and I start feeding. I already dumped the grain and my pail is empty. Here comes the bull. He's making a bee line for me, so I set the empty pail down. The bull goes for the empty and I slide by and get a full pail. Sometimes the bull will wait for my return and I feed him. Other times he will divert to the feed bunk.
 
Funny story my grandma use to tell . A neighbor asked to fish in their pond where my great uncles had his registered polled Hereford cattle . The lady went fishing and stayed for a long time so my grandpa decided he better go check on her . He found her up a tree next to the pond with the herd bull nearby grazing . Grandpa asked her why she was up that tree . She replied: I figured it was easier climbing this tree than having a Hereford calf . Seems the bull got a little close for comfort. 🤣
 
Last October after getting the cows home we sorted off the bulls and was getting ready to load them up to haul them across the road. We for some odd reason dad decided to get that small alley with the bulls, of course he no longer moves very fast, and should have never got in with them. Well one bull walked up to him and just pushed him over, this could have been disastrous, but that bull just backed off. I would have thought he would no better, he has delt with cattle most of his life. I kind of gave him hell for getting in with those bulls; I would not have. They are pretty docile, but I still am not going to trust them, they are bulls, and can one never knows when some wild hair may get up their you know what.
 
Last October after getting the cows home we sorted off the bulls and was getting ready to load them up to haul them across the road. We for some odd reason dad decided to get that small alley with the bulls, of course he no longer moves very fast, and should have never got in with them. Well one bull walked up to him and just pushed him over, this could have been disastrous, but that bull just backed off. I would have thought he would no better, he has delt with cattle most of his life. I kind of gave him hell for getting in with those bulls; I would not have. They are pretty docile, but I still am not going to trust them, they are bulls, and can one never knows when some wild hair may get up there you know what.
Us dads sometimes have a hard time letting go of things we have always been able to do .
 

Latest posts

Top