Should I be concerned?

[dun]

You need to find and develop a good working relationship with a veterinarian in which you have confidence. Work with the vet to develop a herd health program tailored to your operation based on his/her observation of what is going on in the area. Learn about the forages in your area and when/if they need to be supplemented.

Cannot be stressed enough!

 

[TCRanch]

Couple of observations:
1) This young bull (that had been fed well) was turned out on 15 cows and has lost weight. He may have been standing in knee deep green grass but it does not have a lot of nutrients in it. Orange, TX average rainfall is 64.21 inches per year. A yearling bull needs a little help to keep up, especially as he sheds his teeth.
2). Our weather has been screwy. Big temperature swings. Animals that are stressed are more susceptible to sickness. I know that when running yearling stocker calves, when the day time and night time temperature spread is more than 30 degrees we doctor more animals.

There has been a good bit of good suggestions in this thread. If you are going to own cattle you need facilities to work them (I have worked too many cattle in a trailer because of a lack of facilities). You need to find and develop a good working relationship with a veterinarian in which you have confidence. Work with the vet to develop a herd health program tailored to your operation based on his/her observation of what is going on in the area. Learn about the forages in your area and when/if they need to be supplemented.

Can't agree more about the stress & temperature swings. We just got back from the vet with our bull I mentioned in a previous post. Over the past month he had been fighting with another bull (he won, he's now Alpha bull & they're separated), the temps have ranged from the mid 60's to -13 wind chill, the mild case of foot rot last week and suddenly 2 days ago he started coughing, snotty nose/runny eyes, definite loss of appetite. His temp was relatively normal yesterday (102.2) but clearly felt like azz so we took him in this morning; temp was up to 105, definite respiratory issues & got a hefty dose of Draxxin. Vet said his immune system was probably compromised from all the stress, temp changes, etc.

And a good working relationship with your vet is a must! We are fortunate to have two at the clinic but one of them is currently sidelined, recovering from knee surgery (thankful it wasn't one of our cows that kicked him!) and the other is positively swamped. BUT we have a good relationship and he made time. Can't put a $$$$ value on that.