Bull Management
ELDON COLE
MT. VERNON, MISSOURI
The most important animal in a beef cow-calf operation is the bull. I promote artificial insemination, but realize most producers still rely on the bullas either a clean-up or full-time part of their breeding plan. If you have bulls on your farm than they should be treated with respect and all the good health and management practices possible that will extend the life of that animal.
March and April are good times to start extending a bull’s useful life. Back in 2005 bull breeding soundness clinics were started in southwest Missouri in a few veterinary clinics to bring awareness of the various concerns of the bull. At the clinics the veterinarian gives the bull a thorough exam from front to back and top to bottom.
An exam is more than a semen test, but that is an important part.
Data from these clinics reveal about 10 percent are not going to be ready to settle an acceptable number of females in a breeding season of 75 to 90 days.
Even though the semen test is important, another problem that surfaces is physical mobility issues. Feet and legs are very important if you expect your bulls to travel especially in rough, hilly pastures. Your veterinarian can correct some of the hoof problems which may be genetic or management issues. From the genetic side, some breed associations have adopted expected progeny difference (EPD) values to help when selecting bulls.
Work with your veterinarian, breed representative, extension specialist, seedstock breeder as they should be able to help identify and at least reduce soundness issues.
Bulls should be given the same health program your cow herd receives and in some cases more. The excuse some people use for not working the bull where the cows are, is he’s too big for my chute or he’s too mean. The latter issue should be a one-way trip to the sale barn at the end of the breeding season.
We talk a lot about body condition scoring the cows and it’s just as important for the bulls. A good score for the bulls is a 5 or 6 at turnout time.
A final question that is asked at the clinics is how many females can the bull breed this year? Of course, it depends on whether the breeding season is 365 days or 45 days. Rough guidelines are as follow.
• 12 to 18 month old bulls should be able to handle the same number as their months of age are.
• Two year old bulls, one per 20 to 30 females.
• Three to seven year old bulls, 30 to 50 females.
At the clinic I’ve worked with we do not see very many bulls brought in most are under five years old. An outstanding bull that was well- treated all his life finally gave up at 12 years before he was sent to his final resting place.
A statistic University of Missouri Extension specialists estimate is that when all bulls are considered that you buy, the average number of calves sired by the bull is around 50. Taking good care of the bull investment, which may be in the $5000 range, should be worth a $50, more or less, BSE ahead of each breeding season. Think of it as an insurance policy. ∆
ELDON COLE: Extension Livestock Specialist, University of Missouri