CowboyRam
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Picked up my new bulls today.
Post a pic of your bull
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This is a January '23 gelbvieh that I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on. Not many local gelbvieh breeders and I thought about trying out these folks. Pretty average EPDs but I liked his dam alot. Not great pictures but I'd welcome any feedback. Hard to notice, but he does have small scurrs.
Travlr it was years ago I did read a study that a bull with larger testicular development were capable of producing more semen. It has been years since I read it and can't remember where it was but it's out in the world someplace. I remember more because it saved me from the genetic defect train wreak that so many had from using the GAR Precision bull. I was ready to buy the semen then read the article and talked to a commercial producer that told me he loved my bulls but they didn't have enough SC to suit him. Those two things changed my breeding decision on using Precision he was a negative SC bull so I took a pass. Just a few years later the genetic defect storm hit and the Precision bull was at the eye of that storm. If I recall the article discussed the bull with a larger SC could generate enough semen to cover several cows in a short period of time so it's more about having shots left in the tank than how much per shot.
Travlr
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So it said (if you recall correctly) that larger testes made more sperm and also increased the ability of the bull to cover more cows? I knew the larger equipment generated larger volumes but was interested in if that volume was really necessary to do the job. So (if you recall correctly) that would answer my question. Thanks.
EasTex
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What if the circumference is less than ideal, but they hang a foot down?
Well I have slept a few times since I read it but that is how I remember it.
farmerjan
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The lower hanging is more for the temperature of the semen... especially in hotter climates... too hot temps and the semen can be rendered infertile... the further from the body, the more likely it will not be as hot....bull body temp of semen is actually too hot for a long period of time... a bull's ability to help to control the temps is one of those "miracles" of nature... It is also seen in sheep .... in very hot temps they "jewels" will hang further down... especially in wool sheep.
Us men "regulate temps" that way too.
Most male mammals do.
And on the flip side, the jewels can get too cold in the winter, especially the low hanging fruit. I always provide bedding for my boys but one of our neighbors ended up with a bull with frostbite - and 2/3 of his herd open.
Side note: Tallywacker just turned 3 and measured 46 cm at his BSE & passed with flying colors a few weeks ago. Yet another reason he's being upgraded to the main herd this year.
Wall Murray Greys
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CowboyRam
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That is why I always semen test my bulls. Don't want them out there shooting blanks.
farmerjan
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BSE tests in 2 weeks for our bulls... We also will leave a bull in for 45 days, then either pull him and put a different one in ....just in case.... or just add a 2nd bull if it is not a good place to get them out without alot of setting up catch pens etc... due to rotational grazing at a couple places that it is very hard to get them from some of the fields to the catch pen area.... we did not set up the fencing, it is pre-existing... but we utilize it to rotational graze... although catching someone up is difficult at the back couple of sections....
Had one bull catch a bunch of cows... 6 months bred.... then the rest open...so that is the reason to put in a second bull for "cleanup" ..... they were good, younger cows, so we wound up moving them to the fall calving group and they all settled right away.... not their fault.... and he was "good" when he went in... who knows what happened. He had some age so we just shipped him... but had been a very good fertile bull before that problem.
Had one bull catch a bunch of cows... 6 months bred.... then the rest open...so that is the reason to put in a second bull for "cleanup" ..... they were good, younger cows, so we wound up moving them to the fall calving group and they all settled right away.... not their fault.... and he was "good" when he went in... who knows what happened. He had some age so we just shipped him... but had been a very good fertile bull before that problem.
Same here! And not just my neighbor, but a lot of people I know around here have learned the hard way. Obviously, a BSE can't test whether the bull has game, but at least you know he's fertile and not frostbitten, doesn't have spiraled tails, etc.
I assume that's the 44 Farms? How is he holding up?
I have never owned a bull like that but heard stories about them stepping on themselves and having other issues like thorns and such.
When I'm down south you will still see these old Gert and BM bulls that are massive and old and they will have a sack dang near dragging the ground. They can almost hit their own backs it they run.
puzzled in oregon
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Put a band on em.
Caustic Burno
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That is not funny !
I will have to spray paint that freeze brand now!
Silver
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This yearling bull was delivered yesterday and should be the last one for the year barring any disasters.
TexasJerseyMilker
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He's not mine but I have his half Jersey daughter. "The Specimen", a home bred bull blind in one eye but still siring good calves into his twenties. The neighbors were sad to cull him last year but he had a lot of meat for salvage value at this point. Ted said dying of old age is hard for a bull. They are driven off by younger bulls, loose weight and die alone in a ravine someplace.
