Speaking of bulls.

[hillsdown]

So after all the controversy with the "Pulling the bull out" thread it got me wondering about how many people do a breeding soundness exam on their bulls before turning them in with the cows.

So on the same level whether you preg check or get a vet to do it, do you every year make sure your bulls are sound before you let them in with the gals.

This is more for the ones who use a bull for more than one breeding year as any new bull should have a vet's OK before being bought.

I will say in my own herd if I use the same bull for one more breeding year that an exam in the spring is a must as our winters here can reek havoc on any bull even with adequate shelter and bedding.

Just curious as to how different our management systems are? :tiphat:

 

[bigbull338]

on bulls i buy i make sure they pass a BSE.once he is turned he stays with the cows year round.i have a 17 month old bull.an he needs tobe dehorned an a BSE.an thatll be done when i get him up.

 

[backhoeboogie]

My bull has been getting changed out to preclude inbreeding. A new bull that tests "hot" (as my vet calls it) stays for 3 years max. Once I quit expanding, the situation may change if I keep a bull around longer than 5 years old. Right now I am retaining most all eared heifers.

 

[hrbelgians]

No, we haven't at this point, I just use my best eyeball. :lol2:
Maybe I should?

 

[bandit80]

We do every year on all bulls kept over from previous years. Our situation is we have a few single bull breeding pastures with 20-25 cows. Be a tough pill to swallow to have that many ladies come up open because you tried to "save" a few bucks. It is a no brainer to have it done, at least in my situation.

Had one bull go bad between last year and this year. Got an infection in one nut, and it dissolved to nothing. Now he wouldn't have gotten very many cows bred, if any.

 

[dun]

We jsut run him in when we do spring workup and get him checked. That's usaully late April and we start breeding late May so that gives me a month to figure out what to do if he's infertile.
But we'vew only used a bull a few years so don;t know if the way we do it would be considred the right way or not.

 

[randiliana]

We BSE every bull that stays over the winter. It isn't often that we have a problem, but when you are running bulls in separate pastures having 30 dry/late cows would be an awfully expensive result for not having them done. Lost a bull this spring when he tested 30% on his semen test. But better him than all the heifers he would have been with.

 

[msscamp]

So after all the controversy with the "Pulling the bull out" thread it got me wondering about how many people do a breeding soundness exam on their bulls before turning them in with the cows.

So on the same level whether you preg check or get a vet to do it, do you every year make sure your bulls are sound before you let them in with the gals.

This is more for the ones who use a bull for more than one breeding year as any new bull should have a vet's OK before being bought.

I will say in my own herd if I use the same bull for one more breeding year that an exam in the spring is a must as our winters here can reek havoc on any bull even with adequate shelter and bedding.

Just curious as to how different our management systems are? :tiphat:

I would answer this question, but my answer would just have MM in my face again - so I believe I will pass. ;-) :lol: :lol:

 

[hillrancher]

We have bse test at purchase and every time they are rotated. We run more than one bull with each heard, this is not as important as if one was used per heard. We retain our own breeding stock our bulls are changed out before they are old.

 

[KNERSIE]

So after all the controversy with the "Pulling the bull out" thread it got me wondering about how many people do a breeding soundness exam on their bulls before turning them in with the cows.

So on the same level whether you preg check or get a vet to do it, do you every year make sure your bulls are sound before you let them in with the gals.

This is more for the ones who use a bull for more than one breeding year as any new bull should have a vet's OK before being bought.

I will say in my own herd if I use the same bull for one more breeding year that an exam in the spring is a must as our winters here can reek havoc on any bull even with adequate shelter and bedding.

Just curious as to how different our management systems are? :tiphat:

I would answer this question, but my answer would just have MM in my face again - so I believe I will pass. ;-) :lol: :lol:

Why drag milkmaid into this when she haven't even replied to this thread?

 

[Keren]

My breeding program (with the goats - the bulls are out basically all year)

6 weeks before joining - both joining males and females

Four T's test

Teeth
Toes
Testes/Teats
Tossel

Plus condition score - if below 2.5 to 3.0, they are put on a ration.

3 weeks before joining

Again 4 Ts on the bucks, not on the does (too much time)
Condition score both groups, see if gains have been made

On joining day

4 Ts on bucks before they go out

I dont often do semen and/or mounting ability tests unless there is an abnormality shows up at one of the checks.

 

[Keren]

Good thread by the way

 

[3waycross]

My breeding program (with the goats - the bulls are out basically all year)

6 weeks before joining - both joining males and females

Four T's test

Teeth
Toes
Testes/Teats
Tossel

Plus condition score - if below 2.5 to 3.0, they are put on a ration.

3 weeks before joining

Again 4 Ts on the bucks, not on the does (too much time)
Condition score both groups, see if gains have been made

On joining day

4 Ts on bucks before they go out

I dont often do semen and/or mounting ability tests unless there is an abnormality shows up at one of the checks.

Keren
One question, and yes I am being a smart alec. How do you manage to get close enough to the bucks to do those tests.

 

[rockridgecattle]

our bulls get tested each year before turn out.
we preg test cows that had problems calving , or retained placentas the previous season. All the heiffers get preg checked. As well we check any that did not calve the previous season. We give each cow a second chance if her BCS is up to snuff, so if she was open one year she better come off pasture with a reason to stay on the farm.
This year however with the poor hay crop, we will test all and ship any opens.
it has not stopped raining since haying started...9.5" in less than three weeks. Most of us are just starting haying and we should be near 70-80% done by now. The hay that is left from the alfalfa weavels is getting old.

 

[Aaron]

We have never had a BSE done on our bulls. On some of the ones we have bought, they were done. Only had problem with infertile bull once, for fall breeding two years ago. One bull went lame (footrot), but still managed to kill the other healthy mature bull that we were going to use for the fall herd. Luckily, sale was four days away and breeding hadn't started yet. We picked up a 5 year old that I had sold 3 years earlier as a breeding bull. He ran with 16 cows for a month before we pulled him and threw the lame (at that point, not lame) bull out. One cow was bred to the non-breeder. Later on, I figured out that the bull had severely frostbitten his testicles the previous winter.

Have sold a handful of purebred bulls to commercial guys. None had a BSE. All very happy. I stand behind my breeding stock. He breeds/she's bred or your money back plus extra for your trouble/expenses. There are clues and old-time hints to figure out if a bull will breed or not. Remember that cattle were being ranched in the 30's and 40's....and there was no such thing as a vet in many areas of N. America. People couldn't rely on a vet to tell them how they should do things. They had to actually sit and watch their animals for the tell-tale signs and listen to the advice of their elders. :cowboy:

 

[msscamp]

We have never had a BSE done on our bulls. On some of the ones we have bought, they were done. Only had problem with infertile bull once, for fall breeding two years ago. One bull went lame (footrot), but still managed to kill the other healthy mature bull that we were going to use for the fall herd. Luckily, sale was four days away and breeding hadn't started yet. We picked up a 5 year old that I had sold 3 years earlier as a breeding bull. He ran with 16 cows for a month before we pulled him and threw the lame (at that point, not lame) bull out. One cow was bred to the non-breeder. Later on, I figured out that the bull had severely frostbitten his testicles the previous winter.

Have sold a handful of purebred bulls to commercial guys. None had a BSE. All very happy. I stand behind my breeding stock. He breeds/she's bred or your money back plus extra for your trouble/expenses. There are clues and old-time hints to figure out if a bull will breed or not. Remember that cattle were being ranched in the 30's and 40's....and there was no such thing as a vet in many areas of N. America. People couldn't rely on a vet to tell them how they should do things. They had to actually sit and watch their animals for the tell-tale signs and listen to the advice of their elders. :cowboy:

Thank you, Aaron, you stated it much better than I could have. I won't say we never have had a BSE done on our bulls, but I will say that the only time it happened was at the request of the buyer. As far as our own bulls went, I remember having a couple of bulls with fertility issues due to injury, but I do not remember any infertility issues with our bulls.

 

[jasrnch]

I do a BSE on my bulls before turn out. This spring I had a bull that had an infection that looked like a small white chunk under the Microscope. Last year the bull had the same thing but a different vet had said that he would be ok. Hmm wonder why I had 14 opens last fall? Funny thing is he didn't have any neon sign on him telling me. If you don't use to simple tools we have available to us one day it might reach out and bite you in the checkbook.

 

[Keren]

My breeding program (with the goats - the bulls are out basically all year)

6 weeks before joining - both joining males and females

Four T's test

Teeth
Toes
Testes/Teats
Tossel

Plus condition score - if below 2.5 to 3.0, they are put on a ration.

3 weeks before joining

Again 4 Ts on the bucks, not on the does (too much time)
Condition score both groups, see if gains have been made

On joining day

4 Ts on bucks before they go out

I dont often do semen and/or mounting ability tests unless there is an abnormality shows up at one of the checks.

Keren
One question, and yes I am being a smart alec. How do you manage to get close enough to the bucks to do those tests.

They get yarded ...

 

[3waycross]

Keren
One question, and yes I am being a smart alec. How do you manage to get close enough to the bucks to do those tests.[/quote]


They get yarded ...[/quote]


Does that make them smell better.

 

[angus9259]

We have never had a BSE done on our bulls. On some of the ones we have bought, they were done. Only had problem with infertile bull once, for fall breeding two years ago. One bull went lame (footrot), but still managed to kill the other healthy mature bull that we were going to use for the fall herd. Luckily, sale was four days away and breeding hadn't started yet. We picked up a 5 year old that I had sold 3 years earlier as a breeding bull. He ran with 16 cows for a month before we pulled him and threw the lame (at that point, not lame) bull out. One cow was bred to the non-breeder. Later on, I figured out that the bull had severely frostbitten his testicles the previous winter.

Have sold a handful of purebred bulls to commercial guys. None had a BSE. All very happy. I stand behind my breeding stock. He breeds/she's bred or your money back plus extra for your trouble/expenses. There are clues and old-time hints to figure out if a bull will breed or not. Remember that cattle were being ranched in the 30's and 40's....and there was no such thing as a vet in many areas of N. America. People couldn't rely on a vet to tell them how they should do things. They had to actually sit and watch their animals for the tell-tale signs and listen to the advice of their elders. :cowboy:

This has always been our case and never had any problems, but I'm changing next year. Gonna start BSE. Not sure why, exactly, but feel like I owe it to the buyers.