Tough day yesterday/Bull

[insurman]

When my wife and I took over managing the cattle years ago our first order of business was getting rid of the old Beefmaster bull and start to change the makeup of the herd. We bought a 3/4 Simbrah from our neighbor who is a big time Simbrah/Simmental breeder.

Over the last several months have noticed several cows coming into heat over and over and on Tuesday the wife said that one of our purebreds, that has had a calf every 10.5 months was in heat again...like for the 4th time. So after putting this off (various reasons) I took him to the vet yesterday and not only was he shooting blanks, not much at all was coming out. Vet checked him twice and basically said it was time..

He has forever changed our herd, solid colors and polled. To date, between current heifers in production (first set just had 2nd calf at age 3) and the ones still on momma we are up to 16 heifers from him. I even have a nice purebred bull calf that we will consider keeping..

I know this is not that big of deal for most but he was our first bull purchase and he was a 2,000 lb gentle giant that will be missed. Adios Tex...Thanks for everything!

 

[M.Magis]

It sucks when it's time to sell a good bull. It always feels like the next one will never be as good, even though there's no shortage of good bulls out there. Sorry for your luck, but on the upside I always find bull shopping fun.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

We're about to do the same with a super nice 6 year old Reg. BA bull. He's just getting too darn big and I'm worried he'll break down a cow.

 

[dun]

We're about to do the same with a super nice 6 year old Reg. BA bull. He's just getting too darn big and I'm worried he'll break down a cow.

It dpends on the bull and how he breeds. We had a smller bull that would drive everything he bred including bull grown cows to their knees, as a matter of fact he cost us an excllent 5 year old cow because he drove her so hard she fell into a huge rock pile and she never got up again. His replacement was just the opposite, 2200 lbs and even on yearling heifers they wouldn;t take a step as he bred. He didn;t lay on them, did it pretty much carrying all of his weight on his own. Kind of like " A gentleman carries his weight on his elbows"

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

We're about to do the same with a super nice 6 year old Reg. BA bull. He's just getting too darn big and I'm worried he'll break down a cow.

It dpends on the bull and how he breeds. We had a smller bull that would drive everything he bred including bull grown cows to their knees, as a matter of fact he cost us an excllent 5 year old cow because he drove her so hard she fell into a huge rock pile and she never got up again. His replacement was just the opposite, 2200 lbs and even on yearling heifers they wouldn;t take a step as he bred. He didn;t lay on them, did it pretty much carrying all of his weight on his own. Kind of like " A gentleman carries his weight on his elbows"

I've heard that old adage and I believe it to be true. We did have one cow come up with a mysterious hip ailment last year that in the back of my mind I blamed on the bull.

I'll keep an eye on him.

 

[jcarkie]

i had a judd ranch bull that was so rough, i have seen him pick up a cow with his head to move them. several would hobble around with hurt hips one young cow took 6 months to get well, but he never roamed or got out. when all the cows were bred he would go push the gate up and go lay down in the empty field alone. he did get better the next year, in a multi bull pasture he would hurt the other bulls legs and never let up we would have to move one of them. but, man he sired some good calves.

 

[farmerjan]

Don't matter how good a bull he is, if he hurts the cows, he goes. An occasional misstep or something is one thing, but to "man-handle " a cow no thanks. We keep 6 to 10 bulls since we have so many different pastures that they go out to, and we cannot have bulls that want to constantly fight when we bring them back to the bull field. Usually have 5-6 out at any one time and we rent a couple out to neighbors with small 10-20 cow herds that really don't have a place to keep a bull when breeding season is over.. Don't need bad dispositioned bulls out on lease either. Had one that was great for 5-6 years then he decided that he wouldn't stay in with the cows, would get out and lay alongside the road and watch the cars go by. Everyone got a kick out of it but after putting him back in 4 times, we moved him home and then he took an attitude and wanted to push everyone around and we shipped him. Had a neighbor that had a rough bull, tore down the fence between the pastures, rammed our bull from the side while on a cow and broke his leg. Lost a real nice ,good bull. Disposition is a heritable trait, just ask some of the older dairy farmers. There was a holstein who was high strung and his daughters all had the same attitude. Good milker but ....We have too much money invested in each bull, and cannot afford to have them hurt each other or the cows. Don't want wimps, just not bad attitudes to us or the cows...

 

[insurman]

I meant to update this..

He weighed in at 1890 and we got .90

 

[Nesikep]

That's not that heavy for his age.

Last bull I sold was my Gelbvieh.. he was never a social guy, but always well mannered.. he walked right on to the trailer and didn't fuss at all.. Sired a lot of good calves.. And he looked good (my avatar pic). I have 1 son and a dozen daughters of his, they're all pretty good.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We have a young Angus bull leaving Wednesday. He's easy to be around as long as your not a cow. We've never had a bull fight and bully cows like he does.

 

[farmerjan]

Had a really sweet red poll bull, Bubba. Used him way back when we didn't have many cows, sent him home. One of the dairies used him as a cleanup for 6/8 months. Another friend used him two different times, then the owner said it was time to get a new bull, he had several of his daughters/g-daughters. We bought him and kept him for 7-8 more years. Had a hairline fracture in a hock joint from a neighbor bull getting in and fighting. Vet said best to ship him and we said how long would it take to heal; he was getting around but limping. At least 6 months no use etc. So bubba went to a small pasture with some of the sheep and took a vacation. Then next spring went back to work. Now we don't put more than 15-20 with a bull due to the size of the rented pastures, so they don't get alot of hard use. Finally the last 2 years we could see the stiffness when it got cold weather and he started having trouble getting up so had to ship him. We both shed some tears. NEVER saw him breed a cow, but he was the most fertile bull we ever had. Could walk up to him in the pasture, rub his head feed a little grain and he was happy. Take the trailer into the pasture, open the gate and say come on Bubba, time to go see some girls and he'd walk in the trailer, look at you and wait. Miss him terrible.