Judging The Health of Bull Calves.

[jlmissouri]

I have one main question, I recently went to look at a bull that was two years old. His pedigree looked very good but I was not very impressed when I saw him in person. It is full on summer here and all my cattle are slicked down with no winter coat. The bull I looked at still had a lot of fluff on his sides and wasn't slicked down. Otherwise he looked pretty good. My best cows are always the first to slick down as well as my current bull. I was always told that it is a good way to judge the health of cattle. How true is this?

Also in my search for a future herd sire I noticed a couple bulls that appeared to have shorter front legs than rear legs. When standing straight they would slope down to the head. I wouldn't consider one of these bulls as a herd sire, am I wrong? Maybe it is just the pictures as I have noticed others admiring bulls like this.

Since my bull is half my future genetics I am as picky as I can afford to be. At this rate I may never end up with a bull though. I can see I got very lucky with my first bull.

[cddexter]

Hi, unless the owner can show that poor nutrition is the cause of the scruffy coat, if you can find a another bull you like, I'd pass this one by. Coat condition is a basic test of hormone balance, the faster they slick down and stay that way late into the year, the better the hormone output. On especially good animals, you can even see a darker line along the spine, called 'greasy neck'. You are absolutely right about your best animals slicking down early.

The only thing I can think of is maybe this bull has worms? I'd check with the owner to see if the herd has been wormed lately. If you really like the rest of the bull, including temperament, maybe the owner would hold him for you, with a deposit, worm him, and you could see how he looks in a month or so?

As for the slope, don't know who else you've been talking to, or watching, but it's NOT a good thing. Sometimes in very young animals, there will be uneven growth, but not on an animal that's two or better. We aren't breeding jackrabbits here...

Sounds like you have some really nice animals, so no sense in getting a bull that's going to pull their offspring down.

Something to think about is maybe check out using an AI bull with the qualities you like, use semen on your two best cows, hope for a bull calf and hope he gets the good genes from both sire and dam, and use him back into the herd. A little line breeding isn't such a bad thing. Maybe you can use your old bull on the rest of the cows for one more year?

cheers, c.

[jlmissouri]

Thanks for confirming my thoughts cddexter. I have looked into AI when I first started my herd due to not being able to find a bull I really liked. When I found my current bull before going any further with AI the choice was made for me. I have considered doing AI just as you suggested on by best cows hoping for a bull calf. I was also hoping my best cow would throw a bull calf from my current bull that I would keep for a future herd sire.

I have found several more prospects so hopefully one will pan out.

[zephyrhillsusan]

jlmissouri, another thing that could cause retaining a scruffy coat is lack of minerals. Specifically, if black animals have a red cast to their coats and don't shed out properly, it could be a lack of copper in their minerals. We had this problem several years ago and switched to a high-copper mineral.

[cddexter]

susan, I'm thinking it's something else. J intimates the rest of the animals were in good condition on good grass, just this bull was still not shed out. If it was minerals, it should be common to the whole herd. I'd think there'd be other animals that showed lack of shedding. If not, and minerals IS the issue, then why just one animal? That would be a heads-up to me there was something else going on with him, even just hormone balance--which would be enough for me to pass on him, if I could find some other bull I liked as well. cheers, c.

[zephyrhillsusan]

I'm sure you're right, cddexter. I was just throwing that out for general information as to what can cause a scruffy coat. I agree he should pass this one by.

[cddexter]

oops didn't mean to sound like I had to be right...just thinking of the whole picture. c.