Taking bull off feed

[HOSS]

OK.......I am looking for opinions. I bought a new Balancer bull a month ago. He is 14 months old. The breeder I bought him from had him on a feed ration of 25 pounds of 14% protien feed daily plus all the hay and minerals he wanted. Of course the bull looks really well fed. I have continued the same feed regimine since I bought him to help him maintain. I am now considering backing him off. I normally do not feed my cows any grain. They do well on grass, hay and minerals. My last bull stayed actually a little overweight on grass and hay. I don't want this bull to melt away but I want to condition him to perform under the same conditions as the rest of the herd. How would all of you back him off of feed? What rate would you decrease at? He will be on a maximum of 20 cows and heifers this summer.

 

[gerardplauche]

I would decrease feed rations 20% per month.

 

[bigbull338]

hoss he needs the extra feed to grow an to put on extra weight.the extra weight will help him out in the pasture.an hopefully he wont crash an lose alot of weight.if he does youll have to feed him to keep his condition in good shape.

 

[Frankie]

OK.......I am looking for opinions. I bought a new Balancer bull a month ago. He is 14 months old. The breeder I bought him from had him on a feed ration of 25 pounds of 14% protien feed daily plus all the hay and minerals he wanted. Of course the bull looks really well fed. I have continued the same feed regimine since I bought him to help him maintain. I am now considering backing him off. I normally do not feed my cows any grain. They do well on grass, hay and minerals. My last bull stayed actually a little overweight on grass and hay. I don't want this bull to melt away but I want to condition him to perform under the same conditions as the rest of the herd. How would all of you back him off of feed? What rate would you decrease at? He will be on a maximum of 20 cows and heifers this summer.

From Oklahoma State:

Research at Kansas State University has illustrated that young "gain-tested" bulls have normal fertility and libido when allowed to return gradually to moderate fleshiness and hearty physical condition before the breeding season. In fact, many performance-tested bulls are returned to the owner's ranch after the gain test in order that they be allowed to be properly conditioned before the sale date. Test station sales usually offer bulls that completed their gain test about 6 months previously.
Any rancher that purchases a young, highly fitted or conditioned bull should plan to gradually reduce the fleshiness of the bull before the breeding season. To let these bulls down, it is a good practice to start them on a ration that is not too dissimilar to the one they have been accustomed to but that is 60 to 70 percent of their previous intake. The amount of grain can be reduced at the rate of about 10 percent per week until the desired level is achieved. At the same time, substitutions should be made in the form of light, bulky feeds--such as oats or alfalfa hay. Ideally, this letdown should be completed prior to the time bulls are turned out. Dramatic nutritional changes can have an adverse effect on semen production, so it is important that these ration modifications be done gradually. Allow the change to take place gradually instead of allowing a rapid condition and weight loss which could be reflected in a reduced calf crop next year.
If a young bull is coming off of a high energy diet (i.e. gain test), an example feeding schedule would be as follows:


% of lb. for lb. for
Week Type Body wt. 1000 lb. bull 1500 lb. bull



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st bull test 1.5 15 23
hay 1.0 10 15
2nd bull test 1.0 10 15
hay 1.5 15 23

3rd bull test 1.0 10 15
hay 1.5 15 23

4th bull test .75 7.5 11
hay 1.75 17.5 27



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continue feeding the grain mix to the young bull during the breeding season if at all possible.

Here's the link to that particular article: http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/cc-co ... ngbull.htm

And here's a link to their Cow-Calf Corner site. Scroll down and you'll find more info on bull management. Hope he works well for you

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/cc-corner/archive.htm

 

[Elder Statesman]

Wow, 25 lbs. of grain? I would be nervous buying bulls from a breeder who pushes yearling bulls that hard. I would also hate to pay the feed bill for a pen of bulls at that rate. I don't feed yearling bulls more than 15 lbs. of grain per day. By summer he is going to be 16 months old. I would think he could stay in condition on summer grass only breeding 20 head.

 

[bigbull338]

the reason that you push bulls with heavy feed is to get the growth on them.you dont want to stunt a bulls growth by not feeding him enough.at 16 months i like a bull to weigh 1000 to 1200lbs.a well bred bull will not crash on you when you turn him out.ive got a bull thats trained to come in an eat feed.an when he does i give him 10 to 15lbs of feed.

 

[Elder Statesman]

the reason that you push bulls with heavy feed is to get the growth on them.you dont want to stunt a bulls growth by not feeding him enough.at 16 months i like a bull to weigh 1000 to 1200lbs.a well bred bull will not crash on you when you turn him out.ive got a bull thats trained to come in an eat feed.an when he does i give him 10 to 15lbs of feed.

If I have to push a bull that hard to weigh 1200 lbs. at 16 months, he is not going to be a bull on my place or any of my customers. A well bred bull shouldn't need to be pushed that hard to grow and be in breeding condition at 14 to 16 months. I have seen some well bred bulls ruined because of that kind of high feed development. A lot of those bulls have a hard time making it thru more than two breeding seasons.

 

[bigbull338]

the reason that i push them like that is because i dont want them to crash an burn running with the cows.because once they get with the cows they have to hold up in pasture conditions.as well as grow to his mature weight.i wont buy a bull that hasnt been fed.i dont want 1 thats overbloomed.

 

[Boss Cowman]

that's what make's this board great, different opinions :lol: I won't buy heavy fed bulls. I prefer a range developed bull who is used to rustling his own grub. In my experiances a heavy fed bull is way more apt to fall apart while with cows than one that's fed......easier?? I guess what it comes down to is if it works for YOU than do it.

 

[HOSS]

This bull weighs 1,176 at 14 months. He is well conditioned but not fat. I understand the quandry that the breeders are in. Take a slim bull to the bull sale and buyers complain because he is slimmer and they bring less money. The buyers want a fat well fed out bull when they buy but they want it to hold up on pasture conditions after they purchase it. Breeders are supplying what most buyers are looking for in the ring as far as weight.

My feed bill for this bull has been high over the last month but I am willing to pay the price to keep him from "crashing" righ off. That is why I am looking for ideas on letting him down off the grain sort of easy.

 

[TexasBred]

I'd gradually get him off the grain. And we're not that far away from green grass. If you fertilize he'll probalby gain as much grazing as he would on grain. Don't know when you plan to start breeding but he'll work some of the baby fat off during that time for sure and after the "night life" slows down he'll come back bigger and better.