mixing new cows and bulls

[sidney411]

We've got a new lease, almost 400 acres - 1 pasture. We will be putting 40 cows there coming from different herds, I'm not so concerned about the cows but we'll be putting 2 new bulls out there and I'm concerned about the bulls getting hurt. One is a coming 2 yr old RA and the other is a 5 yr old herford. Any thoughts on making the transition any easier between the two?

 

[randiliana]

For 40 cows we would only use one bull, especially if he is a mature fellow. However, if you want to use 2 bulls that is not a bad thing either. Chances are you will find that most of the calves will come from the Hereford as he will likely be the boss.


There is no way to make putting 2 bulls together easier. You could pen them together for a week or so away from the cows and they could work their differences out where there is less "incentive" for them to fight. They will fight, but, being that the one is a 5 year old and the other is a 2 year old they will likely not do too much fighting. Also if your Hereford is horned that will make a big difference too. The Hereford will almost certainly turn out to be the boss. He's bigger and more mature, and horns will add to his advantage. Usually a smaller or younger bull won't do too much more than test the limits.

 

[sidney411]

I have not seen the herford bull yet, our partner is getting him, we are buying the RA. We are splitting the land as neither of us needed the whole place. We're putting 20 cows and a bull, he's putting 20 cows and a bull. We figured at first getting 2 coming 2 yr olds so we would need 2 bulls on 40 cows but the place is big enough I figure the cows will probably not all run together anyway, I could be wrong. Neither of us can afford for cows to come up open so we figured 2 bulls would be better. I didn't know he was going to find an older bull like that, just found out about him this morning and was concerned about the age difference but I've already spoken for the RA 3 weeks ago and the breeder has been holding him for me so I don't feel right about going back on my word, plus he's (the RA) a real good looking bull. The hereford bull is coming with a herd of reg brangus that our partner is purchasing.

 

[mnmtranching]

There is a risk of injury. However its a very common practice. I think its a good idea to have 2 bulls with 40 cows, although I sometimes use 1. Its like insurance in case 1 gets injured, or can't handle it all. I agree the Hereford is likely to be dominant and will do most of the breeding.

mnmt

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Bottomline:

Don't put two breeding age bulls in same pasture with a bunch of females. You're asking for a wreck if you do.

Bulls were designed to Eat, Breed, and Fight...and, not necessarily in that order... :cboy:

 

[sidney411]

I understand the herf will more then likelybe dominate but I still don't want ot chance having only one bull. So how would you acclimate these bulls RAB? There is no crossfencing on this place and no area we can run the bulls seperate. We aren't putting money into a lease place for cross fencing when we have to pay rest also. We are already having to build pens, a barn, and pay for water to the place. We got this place due to our drought conditions and our pastures being practically dead. We are feeding hay every week and hopefully now we can stop that. We are moving cows off several different places to allow for the pastures to regenerate when we get more rain. We've already sold cows and I didn't want to sell any more so the only option was more land but we can't afford the land if the cows come up open.

Thanks for the replys!

 

[WORANCH]

Bottomline:

Don't put two breeding age bulls in same pasture with a bunch of females. You're asking for a wreck if you do.

Bulls were designed to Eat, Breed, and Fight...and, not necessarily in that order... :cboy:

A lot of people use 2 or more bulls together. It's not that big of a problem. Yes they will fight , but they will work it out .

 

[Ryan]

Bottomline:

Don't put two breeding age bulls in same pasture with a bunch of females. You're asking for a wreck if you do.

Bulls were designed to Eat, Breed, and Fight...and, not necessarily in that order... :cboy:

A lot of people use 2 or more bulls together. It's not that big of a problem. Yes they will fight , but they will work it out .

Even when our Longhorn bulls get into pastures together they never fight for very long. Just until they figure out who the boss is.

If possible... i would recommend putting them in pens close to each other (where they could see each other) for a few days, then put them in the same pen. Let them work out there differences then put them to pasture.

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Sid, I sure wouldn't put permanent cross fencing on a lease place either (unless it was for a very long lease term) but have you penciled out what it would cost to run a few lines of solar powered electric fence to divide that 400 acres into several paddocks? (Nothing to do with bulls fighting, but just to better manage scarce grass. Oh, and congrats on being able to find a rental place of that size -- pretty hard to do these days)

 

[Bama]

Two equally matched bull are a lot more of a problem as they will constantly be challenging each other. The younger smaller bull should bow out fairly quick. He won't challenge the older more mature bull after they have fiqured out the pecking order. He will breed if he can slip one buy.

 

[longhorn314]

About 4 years ago,I had a Charlois bull.Anyways,my brother's cattle were in a field that joined mine.He also had a Charlois bull at the time and his bull wanted to cross the fence to join mine.Needless to say,his bull had a little limp to him for a few days ,so he found his pecking order real fast and he learned those weren't his cows to flirt with.

 

[Texan]

I agree that the younger bull should quickly learn his place. And he'll most likely learn it without getting hurt too badly. However, it's not at all unusual for a young bull to be run completely out of a place when he takes his first good whipping. Even 400 acres.

If you have a chance to let him run with your cows for a while before turning them together, I'd sure try to do it. If he's new to your cows and knows he isn't part of either herd, it's possible that he will go over a fence or two if he gets whipped soundly.

I'd be sure that I had him branded before turning them together. Also, be sure you've got your brand registered in the County where your new place is and get to know the neighbors. Just in case....

 

[Beefy]

i agree the hereford will put the RA in his place pretty quickly and without much todo. it wouldnt surprise me if the two herds stay separate. after returning a group of heifers from across the road, for the most part, they tend to stay to themselves. not like AWAY, but together. just throw the bulls out and if they fight dont intervene, you will just make them fight more and possibly distract one bull enough to get hurt. expect more white faced calves next year.

 

[msscamp]

Bottomline:

Don't put two breeding age bulls in same pasture with a bunch of females. You're asking for a wreck if you do.

Bulls were designed to Eat, Breed, and Fight...and, not necessarily in that order... :cboy:

I disagree. We've done it for years and never had an injured bull. If fact, any young bull that became too full of himself was intentionally and purposefully put in with a bunch of cows and an older bull - still had no injuries, but he got over his self-importance in very short order. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[sidney411]

Thanks All! I will see how it works out next weekend, we started cutting hay yesterday and probably all day today, hopeing the rain holds off (I can't believe I just said that!) until next week.

 

[AngusLimoX]

If nobody minds, I'd like to go a little further?

A neighbour of mine had 2 bulls in with some cows, watched them fight, then went out with the loader and buried the loser. Both mature bulls. Sorry, I didn't ask for a lot of details ( breed,age, horned, etc...) but I do not believe he penned them beforehand.

Some type of internal organ damage in this case, but I gotta think it does happen from time to time that one bites the big one?

Probably one of those things nobody likes to talk about. :lol:

 

[msscamp]

If nobody minds, I'd like to go a little further?

Some type of internal organ damage in this case, but I gotta think it does happen from time to time that one bites the big one?

Probably one of those things nobody likes to talk about. :lol:

I don't mind a bit, and I'm sure it does - your neighbor proves that. I didn't say it couldn't happen, only that it had never happened to us. A matter of knowing your breeds tendancies before putting 2 bulls together, perhaps? Some breeds are more inclined to not back down than others. Horned vs polled would also stack the deck unfavorably in one direction, but I have no doubt someone somewhere has put a horned bull in with a polled bull at sometime.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

but I have no doubt someone somewhere has put a horned bull in with a polled bull at sometime.

Yup, the friend I have who had the Brahma (horned) added a young Angus bull to his herd a few yeras ago, no formal introductions, a small scuffle ensued, the Brahma won, no injuries, no problems. I guess my friend was lucky?

I'm not saying injuries don't happen, they do. I knew of someone else who put 2 Angus in with 75 cows, one bull ended up with a broken hind leg and was put down.

Katherine