hereford pics
- Thread starter sporder
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bigbull338
Well-known member
that bull looks post legged to me as well.but i really cant see his front end or rear end to good.but other than that he is a goodlooking bull.
sporder
Well-known member
new to all this. can that be a problem. should i breed from him or look for a better bull. he is 2 years old will they change with age
sporder":3btx4zbl said:
Yes, that most definately will be a problem, maybe not this year, but certainly in the future. The problem is three fold, when the bull mounts the cow his weight is ditributed between the cow/heifer and his rear legs, being post legged he lacks the springiness to take his weight better so more weight will be placed on the cow or heifer. This often causes spinal and hip injuries in especially old cows and yearling heifers.
When the bull gives the final thrust when breeding (when he ejaculates) he gives a little jump, if he hasn't got enough set to his hocks he'll easily hyperextend the achilles tendon causes inflamation and laminitis making him unwilling to breed because of the pain associated with breeding. Compare this to a tennis elbow in humans, if you have ever experienced this you'll know a quick extention as used in a throwing action is very painfull and you'll avoid that as far as possible when having a tennis elbow.
The set in the hocks in combination with the pasterns acts as the shock absorbers of the bull when on rough or hard terrain. If the hocks aren't contributing because of a lack of set it forces the pasterns to overcompensate causing early breakdown in the pasterns. If you look at your bull you'll see the pasterns are already giving away more than ideal. The ideal angle of the pastern is about 45degrees with the ground, your bull's is already shallower than this.
Part of the reason I wanted to see the cows (other than curiosity) is that the very little I can see they look very good, much higher quality than the bull. Never use a bull that won't make an improvement in your herd, so just based on that look for a better bull. You certainly don't want to breed a fault as serious as this into your next generations.
Yes, but structural problems only get accentuated with age and added weight. His hocks and associated problems will indeed change, but only for the worse. If I have to make a prediction his pasterns is going to give in completely before he reaches mature weight, in the meantime there is still every chance that he might injure one of your heifers.
sporder
Well-known member
thank you for explaining that so well. i'd like to give the bull a chance but now i have that information it would not make sense. next question is what is the future for this bull
