Okay... so I bought a beautiful jersey bull that is perfect for crossing for first time heifers of a larger disposition as he is massive for a jersey bull! I am 100% certain that he is fullblood but based on the tape he is close to 1800 lbs and he is 5 years old. Most laid back bull ever and I have grown fond of him... the problem: He has a massive gut and has had it since I bought him 2 months ago. I thought maybe he was wormy or it was his diet but so far after addressing those factors nothing has changed. I have quality hay for him to forage on and I also provide extra quality hay aside from the ample forage grasses (I have only 3 animals on a 15 acre pasture) I give him loose mineral and a a lb of cubes a day or every other day. My beef heifers are Romagnola and they look great! I have dewormed him within the hour I got him home and separated him from every other animal for a week before moving him out of that pasture. He doesn’t seem to have water belly either so i don’t know what to do to lean this guy out. Also I have other jersey heifers in a pasture next to him and none have this gut issue so I don’t think it’s due to rich/poor diet. Can some cowboy guru help a lady out?
Jersey bull pot bellied ???
- Thread starter lms0229
- Start date
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Workinonit Farm
Well-known member
Picture?
Was he a bottle-baby?
He actually has a good temperament?
Was he a bottle-baby?
He actually has a good temperament?
Does he have a hard time peeing? I'm thinking maybe waterbelly
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/urinary- ... ge-animals
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/urinary- ... ge-animals
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Maybe he just has good volume and is supposed to look like that. Picture please.
OwnedByTheCow
Well-known member
Pictures would help
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
Jerseys are big gutted, for the most part. as are alot of dairy cattle... Could be normal for him. Has a lot has to do with their phenotype. Not as muscled ...makes them look out of proportion ...he may be laid back but,,,he can lay you out....can be the most aggressive bull around..been a lot of folks killed by them
Mat Man
Well-known member
Had one Jersey bull years ago. He would total hay rings feed troughs and trucks if he could get to them.He was not mean but I did not turn my back on him.
Son of Butch
Well-known member
lms0229":2ouyn0kq said:
Hmmm... you describe him as Beautiful... yet pot bellied from the day you got him. (major contradiction to me)
So we know the pot belly was not caused by how and what you are feeding.
All cattle have some worms, by age 5 any healthy enough to be considered beautiful can carry whatever worm load
they have previously picked up.
You say it is not water belly.... I believe you.
You want to LEAN this guy out, yet never said he has excessive fat cover.
I assume you mean you want reduce his 'waistline' and for him to have a smaller belly.
Dairy breeds are often genetically predisposed to a deeper larger belly (body capacity) for increased milk production.
Pictures would help...But be warned newer members posting a picture of their bull on here is like playing
Russian Roulette with only one bullet removed from the chamber.
My advice would be to worm him again with an injectable wormer and continue to supply him with good nutrition.
I doubt that you will see any change, but you will have done what you can and even with no change he's still beautiful.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Pretty much all "newbies" in owning cattle think their cattle are BEAUTIFUL. Eye of the master comes with time.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
You got that right.. Looking at some of the old sale catalogues That have drool stains on them.. Are now stained with tears... :cowboy:Jeanne - Simme Valley":jt24nud8 said:
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Poster - please, please take Alacowman's warning about his temperament. Jersey bulls are absolutely the worse known bulls of ANY BREED - beef or dairy. They can be man-killers. Any bull, of any breed, should NEVER be trusted. Never turn your back on one.
Ky hills
Well-known member
Jeanne - Simme Valley":1ybs9uxx said:
Y'all are telling the absolute truth, I can speak from experience as to the temperment of dairy breed bulls including Jersey. A friend that had a dairy was hurt by a Holstien bull, it has left him with ongoing back problems. When I raised dairy calves on nurse cows, I decided once to keep a Jersey and a Holstien for bulls that was a short lived idea. By the time they were close to a year old they were bellering continually and pawing dirt and charging. Have raised quite a few Charolais bulls as well as several Angus, and Hereford bulls, and only one them showed any signs of aggressive behavior. The dairy bulls were not even bottle raised, but raised on nurse cows. I sold both of them at around a year old, and decided to AI the Jersey cows and breed everything else to an Angus bull at that time. I was not going to put my self or anyone else in danger just trying to feed those things.
JCcattle
Well-known member
Ive always thot every Jersey was potbellied! Not that I’ve had a lot to do with them but I’d guess he’s probably just the way he’s going to be!
BK9954
Well-known member
I have used jerseys for heifer bulls many times, they all look potbellied to me. A lot of jersey bulls WERE BOTTLE CALVES so it's a good chance he has been this way for a while from malnutrition as a calf. I wouldn't worry too much. DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON HIM. I wouldn't keep one past 14 months old. They are as mean as heck and have come at me and the kids many times, every one I have owned. Too much testosterone. I have had them breed at 10 months old.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
You know just to look at a jersey bull, youd think it would be the most gentle, docile..of any breed out there..big old soft eyes...the most gentle Brahman cow I had ..had a eye set,that would make Charlie Manson feel uneasy...
BK9954
Well-known member
The first one I ever owned I made the mistake of letting him get over 800 pounds. Almost tore my old trailer apart on the highway going to the auction. He was kicking and ramming the sides like a rodeo bull. Sometimes in the rodeo you will see those darn Jersey cross bulls, I don't care for them at all, just those small babies, had a heifer give birth to a calf that was UPSIDE DOWN, UNASSISTED!!!! Small thing just slid on out after about 10 minutes while I was changing clothes and going to get the chains.ALACOWMAN":2bzoq03s said:
BK9954
Well-known member
This is a jersey/brangus cross steer. The calves won't have much beef but this one has plenty of ear and naval to go around. I will get docked at the auction but I didn't have to leave work to pull a calf.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Anyone notice the OP has never been back. Hope the bull didn't get him! LOL
Serious, maybe he's trying to post a picture.
Serious, maybe he's trying to post a picture.
BK9954
Well-known member
:lol: :lol:
:lol: An 1800 pound jersey bull is a dangerous thing, a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. I had a jersey leave a bucket of cubes just to come at me and my son 100 yards away. 1800 pounds can go through a lot of fence and panels. My son jumped on top of a round bale and I had to get a 2x4. That jersey looked at me a little different after that, he tore everything up in that pasture, couldn't keep a mineral feeder, he dumped every bucket or feed trough I put out there. Finally took a mineral tub, slammed 8 T-Post in the ground surrounding it and bent them over the the top so he couldn't roll that tub. It's the only way I could feed minerals to those heifers that were with him. Any hay ring he would push them upright like a wheel and roll them into the electric fence and short it out. Every day when I got home I would look in the pasture to see what he had broken. I how I don't miss that bull.Jeanne - Simme Valley":l2i0aerf said:
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
I just hope he has read these comments and takes us serious.
