New farmer, new bull please help with pics...

[hicky214]

First off this is my first post and I hope to be around the boards for a long time. In the past 2 months my father and I have bought 26 cows and he just bought a Bull. All of our cows are Black Angus. Well we needed a bull to service the herd as I wanted a registered bull but his old school ways said it didn't matter. So he bought pictured bull.He saw some of this bulls calves at the farm that was selling him and all looked good. Bull is roughly 2.5-3 years old. Well Today I went to check on the cows and I got close to him and noticed the spots on his head. I have googled and looked Are these what they call "Scurs" they almost look as if he was dehorned? I know angus aren't suppose to have horns or Scurs. I will make him sell this bull if this is a problem. This is a small time operation we have about 400 acres but right now 26 cows and the bull. What would you guys do? Is this normal and should I keep him in the herd? I don't want my calves from him to have the same and it affect the calves sales. All the cows we have now are pregnant from previous owners bulls except for 3 that have calved within the month. Please help a new guy out. Also what do you think of him besides the issues on his head?

 

[hicky214]

Those pictures where small I realized after I posted you guys couldn't see them... Thanks for any and all the help.

 

[hicky214]

More pictures to come that are larger I am awaiting moderate approval Thanks again.

 

[3waycross]

don't sweat it. the horned and the scurred gene are not the same. I haven't seen scurs on a purebred Angus(so who knows what else is in there.)

 

[Lucky_P]

Photos too small/fuzzy to tell much, for sure.

A bovine animal with scurs is heterozygous for the polled gene... so, if these are scurs, it's unlikely that this bull is pure Angus - though there were scurred individuals far back in the Angus herdbook; some of the foundation animals, like Shah and Hanton 80, were scurred.

If yours is a commercial herd, and the cows are not registered, it wouldn't be a huge deal(to me) - but if these are scurs, then he'll be potentially passing the horn gene and scur gene on to half of his offspring, and if you ever use another hetero polled or a horned bull over those daughters, you could get horned and/or scurred calves.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Can you wiggle them on his head (are they attached to the skull or loose)? They look like cut off horns to me, but hard to tell without grabbing them. Regardless, I doubt he is purebred, and by looking at the cow in one of the pics your herd has more than Angus in it (white face gives it away).
Whether you want to deal with scurs/horns is up to you. Not knowing the genetic base of your cows, you could end up with some horned calves, but dehorning is not hard if you get them young.

 

[3waycross]

Sumpthin tells me that he is a horned Limo or limo cross. His head doesn't have a polled shape to it.

 

[piedmontese]

I'm no expert but that head looks a little too square to be angus. With your herd already being crossed I would want a full blood bull. If u didn't pay too much you should be able to get your $$ back at the sale barn.

 

[skeeter swatter]

I wouldn't worry about it. If you like the bull just use him.

 

[hicky214]

Thanks guys I really apprciate all the feed back.

 

[OakCreekRanch]

I've seen some registered scurred black angus bulls occasionally but I don't know if they are crossbred or just super uncommon.

 

[mwj]

I've seen some registered scurred black angus bulls occasionally but I don't know if they are crossbred or just super uncommon.

How in the world could an Angus bull be registered and crossbred at the same time? :???:

 

[Jake]

I've seen some registered scurred black angus bulls occasionally but I don't know if they are crossbred or just super uncommon.

OK, no purebred angus has scurs or horns. Period end of story. They may have papers but that doesn't make them pure.

Now to the OP's question, looks like scurs on a black continental bull of some sort. Hard to tell without a profile shot.

 

[OakCreekRanch]

Like I said, I've seem them occasionally. Doesn't mean I am a liar. Maybe a seller is a liar or the cow is a liar.

 

[Jake]

Like I said, I've seem them occasionally. Doesn't mean I am a liar. Maybe a seller is a liar or the cow is a liar.

Not calling you a liar but I am calling whoever is selling a scurried papered angus bull a crook

 

[highgrit]

Like I said, I've seem them occasionally. Sounds like he's seen more than one to me?? You have to be really green to buy a registered Angus bull with scurs or horns.

 

[OakCreekRanch]

Nah just very small scurs. Button sized scurs that is. I probably saw three bulls so far.

 

[Jake]

Like I said, I've seem them occasionally. Sounds like he's seen more than one to me?? You have to be really green to buy a registered Angus bull with scurs or horns.

I hate to beat the dead horse but I am standing my ground. NO reputable breeder is going to be trying to sell a scurred bull as purebred papered angus. Dont' want to be confrontational but fact of the matter is if they are trying to peddle them as pure they are lying.

 

[hicky214]

Thanks guys he's going to the sale barn. We will cut our losses. Lesson learned. Thanks again for all of your help.

Matt