ringing a bull

Muckit

Hi Lads

Looking for some advice on ringin a bull. I've a bull that want to ring, he's 11 mths old, I've a 2.75" self piercing ring got.

Can I do him myself or would it be a good idea to get vet? (Is there truth to rumour that the bull will remember handler if I do it myself??) Is there a special tool needed to close ring or will hand pressure fit it?

Thanks!

vanderbadger

Muckit wrote: »

Hi Lads

Looking for some advice on ringin a bull. I've a bull that want to ring, he's 11 mths old, I've a 2.75" self piercing ring got.

Can I do him myself or would it be a good idea to get vet? (Is there truth to rumour that the bull will remember handler if I do it myself??) Is there a special tool needed to close ring or will hand pressure fit it?

Thanks!

i think a fella was telling me once that once the bull was restrained he would push some red hot thru to make the hole,it might even have been a prong of a fork, could be wrong now but it was something like that,if you are a bit worried about it maybe get the vet to do this one and try yourself next time

Sisu200

Hi,

My father always said never ever ring your own bull, we did ring a bull and a friend of the father's done it, I will get an explanation from him why but I think it is the fact that it bloody hurts and the bull may associate it to you!! animals are not as dumb as people make out, I will follow it up with his explanation

whelan1

we do them ourselves , we have the puncher thing for putting the hole through and then just push the ring through tbh i wouldnt even attempt to push the ring through with out making the hole with the punchers first .... i'd imagine it would be very painful that way

Bitten & Hisses

Get one of these:
http://christiesdirect.com/product.php?sp_p=4032
I got one earlier this year and can't recommend it highly enough. You punch the hole, then feed the blunt (non-spiked) end of the ring through without fuss. If you hit the right spot, the bull won't even bleed. Just be sure you have the bull well restrained, of course.

Muckit

whelan1 wrote: »

we do them ourselves , we have the puncher thing for putting the hole through and then just push the ring through tbh i wouldnt even attempt to push the ring through with out making the hole with the punchers first .... i'd imagine it would be very painful that way

Hi Whelan

I did bull today myself. I bought the bull nose punch (mullinahone brand), but tbh it was a pile of sh*t and has to go back and get back my €60. No way it was going to cut the hole.

In the end I sterlised a sharp pointed scissors. Like a knife through butter. slipped ring on no bother. I thought he'd be buck leaping around the place, but twas quite uneventful tbh. Not that I was complaining!:D

whelan1

MAKE sure you have the head properly secured, we sharpen the point of the punchers with a small file... not one of my favourite jobs

jerdee

I find that copper rings are th best for edge and punch makes hole too big making the nose weaker also the younger you do the easier although i ring about six or seven every year sometimes they ca n be a bit older than i wished bought the brass ones of pedigree .ie. Not as god edge wise.

milkprofit

check screw will screw in first --clear treads
Just push ring in no need for punch
put bag onground in case u drop screw

whelan1

milkprofit wrote: »

check screw will screw in first --clear treads
Just push ring in no need for punch
put bag onground in case u drop screw

very good points, you learn from your mistakes....nothing worse than trying to find the screw! We also found that the bull must be really well tied up, had abull a few years ago and he jumped when we went to put the ring in him and ended with the upright bar ofthe crush going up through his belly... straight to factory :eek:

Muckit

whelan1 wrote: »

very good points, you learn from your mistakes....nothing worse than trying to find the screw! We also found that the bull must be really well tied up, had abull a few years ago and he jumped when we went to put the ring in him and ended with the upright bar ofthe crush going up through his belly... straight to factory :eek:

Was his head in the skulling gate?

whelan1

we where doing 8 bulls that day, did the first few through the gate, then got brave . he was secured with a halter... will never forget it ... we where ringing them on an outfarm had to leg it home to get digger to lift him off the bar... then had to get jeep and trailer to get him to factory... learned a lesson that day:cool:

Muckit

whelan1 wrote: »

we where doing 8 bulls that day, did the first few through the gate, then got brave . he was secured with a halter... will never forget it ... we where ringing them on an outfarm had to leg it home to get digger to lift him off the bar... then had to get jeep and trailer to get him to factory... learned a lesson that day:cool:

Ya them old skulling gates were a disaster. Too low and dangerous with the bar sticking up. Less chance of anything like that with the automatic ones

Bizzum

Any I ever ringed (not rang:)), were in the skulling gate with a halter on them pulling their head tight to one side. All I ever used was the ring.

It's important the bull has had his shots for tetany before ringing.

Muckit

Bizzum wrote: »

Any I ever ringed (not rang:))

Ring ring !!

Hello?

Mooooo!!!!

onyerbikepat

How do you decide what size ring to put on a bull?
There seems to be 3 different sizes available, 2.25",2.75" and 3".

whelan2

onyerbikepat wrote: »

How do you decide what size ring to put on a bull?
There seems to be 3 different sizes available, 2.25",2.75" and 3".

normally go for the middle one in silver

Rovi

We used to try to match the ring size to what we thought (hoped!) the final adult size of the bull was likely to be.

You don't want one so small it's cutting into his nose and there's no room get a hold of it, but equally you don't want it so big it's hanging down in front of his mouth.

We pretty much always used 3", to be honest.

C4d78

Are most fellas putting rope or chain on the bull ring? What length is recommended? Does it interfere with bulling if too long?

Muckit

whelan2 wrote: »

normally go for the middle one in silver

Yes the 2.75" is a nice size ring. The silver nice on the black Angus. I think the brass is nice on ch and lm.

Tis gas l've rung a good few bulls now myself since I first posted. :-)

Gillespy

C4d78 wrote: »

Are most fellas putting rope or chain on the bull ring? What length is recommended? Does it interfere with bulling if too long?

It's trial and error really, it depends on the size of the bull, at least so it goes under the front legs. Some bulls are cute enough to swing it over their back out of the way so they need a longer one.

visatorro

My bull lost his ring in shed. He's back with cows now. Should I replace it or leave him work away. He's two year old holstein

freedominacup

We always give a good shot of a local anaesthetic before ringing a bull. No horsing once they have it.

Genghis Cant

freedominacup wrote: »

We always give a good shot of a local anaesthetic before ringing a bull. No horsing once they have it.

Where would ya give it?

Bodacious

i got vet to ring my lad as tb test was on anyway.. I think he gave him local anaesthethic down between shoulder blades...or back further could that be right?

J.O. Farmer

Bodacious wrote: »

i got vet to ring my lad as tb test was on anyway.. I think he gave him local anaesthethic down between shoulder blades...or back further could that be right?

It wouldn't have been a local anaesthetic as that's too far away. Local anaesthetic is what the dentist gives you and deadens the area around where it's given. Between the shoulder blades may have been in towards the spine a bit like an epidural but I don't know if that could be used to deaden the nose.
I would have thought that some kind of cream could be applied to the skin in the region as I don't think there's much nerves in deeper where the ring goes. I don't really know though.

freedominacup

Genghis Cant wrote: »

Where would ya give it?

Between the nostrils.

Muckit

Or alternatively straight into the stones

Muckit

God that went down like a lead balloon. That was a bad attempt at a joke folks in case anyone goes trying it!

freedominacup

Muckit wrote: »

God that went down like a lead balloon. That was a bad attempt at a joke folks in case anyone goes trying it!

I laughed but I wasn't sure why.

Sam Kade

Any time I put a ring on a bull I just pushed the ring through, they would be around 15 month bulls.