|
The toughest time in a
young bull’s life is when he’s thrust into the real world—for
spring breeding—after being well fed all winter. Most bulls are
raised in unnatural conditions—confined and fed concentrate
feeds, pushed for fast growth. Most breeders sell yearlings and
in order to get them big enough and mature enough to do the job,
they are pushed too much.
Even the bulls on
“growing rations” are carrying more flesh than bulls raised on
grass or wintered on hay, and it can be a major adjustment when
suddenly turned out with cows. Some of them just can’t handle
the drastic increase in exercise and decrease in nutrition and
fall apart rather quickly. After experiencing wrecks with
overfat young bulls, most stockmen become more selective about
the seedstock producers they patronize—trying to find a breeder
who offers bulls in better working condition.
It also pays to
have some kind of transitioning program after you bring a bull
home. This will depend in part, however, on how long you have
him before he goes out with the cows. Some ranchers buy bulls in
the fall or winter and others bring them home just a few days or
weeks before turnout. Some breeders offer a feeding or wintering
program; even if bulls are sold in the fall the breeder keeps
and feeds them—delivering them closer to breeding season. This
works well if you have a seedstock producer you have faith in,
not having to worry about keeping and feeding extra bulls until
turnout, relying on the breeder to have the bulls in proper
working condition at the time of delivery.
This situation
works for Ross Middlemist at Dixon, Montana, who runs 350 cows.
He’s purchased bulls for many years from Ron Skinner at Hall,
Montana, who raises Angus, Salers and composites. “The bulls
always look like they’re ready to go to work when they get here;
I don’t think they’re getting any grain at that point. We just
keep them on good hay until turnout,” says Middlemist.
“They look pretty
good when we bring them back in after breeding season. This past
season we brought them in on August 10 and some of the pastures
were pretty meager. I felt good about how the bulls held up,” he
says. This indicates they were conditioned properly. Even if
they’re pushed for fast growth they need time to taper off from
that ration. Most bulls won’t be getting anything but forage
once they reach the ranch where they’ll be working.
Ross Goddard runs
800 cows in the Lemhi Valley near Salmon, Idaho and uses a bull
for every 20 cows. He buys 8 to 10 new bulls each year and tries
to know the breeder or person he’s buying bulls from, to know
what the bulls have been fed. “All of them use a certain amount
of grain or concentrate because they have to, to get them big
enough soon enough. You have to know how much they’ve been
feeding the bulls, and trust their judgment,” says Goddard.
“When the bulls are
delivered, we try to keep them on a little bit of grain
concentrate until they go out, since once they go out they’re
working hard for 45 to 60 days,” he says. They lose weight and
some of them lose a lot of weight, and this can be hard on them
for next year. Goddard tries to keep most of his yearling bulls
on home pastures rather than range, since range terrain in this
country is steep and rocky’ if young bulls go up on the mountain
they really fall apart.
“The next year
they’re in better working shape and we don’t feed them any type
of grain or concentrate until about 2 months before breeding
season. We feed all our bulls 3 to 4 pounds of grain or a pellet
ahead of breeding season, along with their hay to build them
back up and keep them going. We feed alfalfa or a good mixed hay
through the winter. We also keep a good mineral package in front
of them all the time they are home,” says Goddard.
The bulls are
turned out with cows the end of April. Even though Goddard
generally buys bulls in the fall or late winter, the breeder
usually holds them and feeds them until late March or April. “So
the yearlings will be here only about a month before turnout.
Most people have them on a corn ration, so we’ll keep them on a
little corn for a while (but not as heavy a ration) so they
won’t go all to heck right off the bat, because as soon as they
hit the cow herd they are running the weight off,” he says.
He keeps them in a
small pasture rather than a pen, so they get used to being in a
larger area. They have room for exercise, to get their muscles
in better shape for working. “If I don’t have a pasture for them
I put them in one of my bigger pens that’s drier, so their feet
don’t get soft.”
Roy Hoffman, another rancher near Salmon, Idaho runs a lot of
cattle and buys and sells cattle. He says the main thing about
buying bulls it to make sure they aren’t too fat. Optimum
condition for a young bull will also depend on the terrain he’ll
be working in. “If it’s a pasture, you can use a heavier bull,
but if cattle will be out in the hills you want to make sure the
bull is conditioned for that and has had more exercise.” The
breeder’s feed program makes a lot of difference and it really
helps if the bulls aren’t on a very hot ration. “I think it
helps if they are fed more oats and less corn,” says Hoffman.
“It also helps if
you feed them in an area where they’ve got to climb a hill or
travel between feed and water. Exercise is important. It helps
if you can kick them out in a more natural environment; you can
use hot wires to keep them in a pasture,” he says. Some bulls go
to pieces after you buy them, because of too much feed and lack
of exercise—they can’t handle the change.
Mike Kossler
manages Eagle Valley Ranch (650 cows, 30 bulls) near Salmon and
has taken care of cattle on several large ranches during the
past 30 years. “The transition on young bulls is tough, but ours
have a little more time to adjust after they get here because we
don’t turn them out with cows til early June,” he says. The cows
have a short breeding season while they are on irrigated pasture
before they go to range.
“Usually we get the
young bulls in March while we’re still feeding hay. They get all
the good alfalfa hay they can eat, but no grain. But they
transition to grass in late April and have about 45 days on
grass before they go with the cows. They’re in a big pasture
with the other bulls and have a lot of exercise and start
toughening their feet. When we bring these little guys home and
turn them out they are so happy to have lots of room—they run
and buck and spar with the big guys. Most of them have been
stuck in a pen from the day they were weaned. They are happier
out on pasture, and happy cattle always do better,” says Kossler.
They have room to travel and play and get in better physical
shape before they have to breed cows.
Kossler says most
ranchers don’t feed their bulls grain. When he worked for one
outfit that had 80 bulls, there wasn’t time to fuss with any
that needed extra care. “In a way that’s a good thing, since it
becomes survival of the fittest. Either a bull works well for
you or you soon get him out of the program. You don’t want to
perpetuate that kind of genetics,” he says.
“Years ago, when I
was in Wyoming, I was buying Red Angus bulls from a guy who
didn’t pamper them. The bulls were raised out on pasture and in
winter had pretty good hay, getting about 2 pounds of high
protein cake per day, and that was the extent of the feeding
program. Those bulls never needed any let-down transition. We
were calving in February so the bulls went out in May and always
did well. At the end of breeding season you could tell they’d
been working but they were still in pretty good shape. They
still had the muscling, length and width we wanted. By contrast,
we’ve all bought bulls at one time or another that looked darn
good and seemed to be exactly what we wanted, but when you
looked at them at the end of breeding season you hardly
recognize them and are very disappointed. It’s hard to look
through all that fat and guess at what you’ve got,” he says.
“Since a lot of
bulls have trouble holding up, breeders should take a closer
look at what they are offering. You hate to spend that much
money for a bull and have him fall apart and maybe not even
finish the breeding season. Some don’t bounce back very well
after a tough first season and it hurts their future
productivity. Fat bulls just can’t handle it. It’s always worth
trying to find a breeder who brings them along slower,” says
Kossler.
“I bought 16 young
bulls this spring and 3 of them fell apart even before they went
out with the cows. I probably should be looking closer at the
genetics, regarding the ones that hold up and the ones that
don’t, for future selections,” he says. Rather than trying to
pamper the ones that can’t make it under natural conditions, we
should be culling them out so we don’t perpetuate those traits
in their offspring.
Vaccination/Health Program
A good vaccination program is essential for new bulls, to have
them immunized against diseases they might encounter in their
new home. Some breeders will have the bulls vaccinated before
they’re delivered; in other situations you must vaccinate them
when they arrive. Goddard says the bulls he buys are trich
tested and semen checked, with a breeding soundness exam, but he
generally vaccinates them upon delivery, with vaccines
recommended by his local vet. “We brand them and give them all
the vaccines we want them to have in this area. I usually
consult the vet on what we need to give them because it can
change; there are sometimes newer, better vaccines available.”
Hoffman says young
bulls, in his experience, are often plagued with foot rot and
this can often be helped with a good vaccination and mineral
program. There is a vaccine now for foot rot. Health history of
the bull is also important. “You need to know if a bull had to
be doctored when he was a calf. He may not hold up as well, and
may really go downhill when you put him to work, if his lungs
were damaged earlier,” says Hoffman. It always pays to ask
questions when you buy bulls, to know their history.
“Nowdays, we don’t
have to doctor these cattle very much if they’re on the right
vaccination program and the cow herd had pre-calving
vaccinations. Some people don’t like to use scour vaccines but
in our area if you use those, and proper BVD vaccinations, it
really reduces a lot of problems. We’re in a really hot BVD area
and the cattle have to be vaccinated,” says Hoffman.
Making sure they
are dewormed also helps. “We worm ours 2 or 3 times after their
first breeding season and I know it makes a difference. If you
use injectable wormers these get a little better kill on worms
than a pour-on,” he says. “If some of those bulls don’t look
very good we deworm them again, sometimes 3 times before their
next breeding season.” |
