Teaser / vasectomized Bull

John_F

That time of year again of cows starting to cycle, What do you use to detect cows in heat? a few farmers in recent years have begun to use teaser bulls around here with a chin ball on them, id like to find out if people use a vasectomized bull or would a bullock do the job aswell? Also what age do you get the bull snipped and what is the procedure involved, we have a angus bull kept from last years calves that i would like to see used for the job but unsure what age / size they should be

thanks in advance,
John

whelan1

i have the heat time system which i think is great

pakalasa

Hi John F,

I just got a young bull vasectomised on Friday last. If your cows are starting to bull now then you're too late. It takes 6 weeks for the fertile semen to work through the bull so you can't use him for the first 6 wks.

Procedure - The vet will restrain the bull by the head and the nearest back leg with tied ropes. With us, the bull dropped almost immediately when given the general anesthetic so we did him there and then in the cattle crush with the lower 2 bars pulled back out of the way. He woke up fully alert in the middle of the operation for about a minute, the vet doubled teh dose and then fell back down again, kinda funny looking back now. The vet will cut him in 2 places and cut the internal cord. He also took these to confirm in the lab that they were the correct ones. I let him out into the field to keep clean afterwards, but proberly better to let him into a shed with clean straw. He was dopey as hell and even went through a ditch on me.

The bull I did was only about 10 months and very light, but he was starting to mount cows and the vet said we was mature enough. I hope to get 2 seasons out of him if he doesn't turn wicked. He will after all have the same temperment as a normal bull.

For the last 2 years I used a lively bullock I bought specifically.I had the halter on him with marking paint. He worked great in that he marked the cows but he never really followed them coming into heat, in the way a full bull would.

I bought my halter here on this US site.
http://www.allivet.com/The-Kow-Ball-Chin-Ball-Marker-p/50027.htm
It was half the price of the local COOP.
The vasectomy cost about €70. (Haven't seen the bill yet.)
Hope this helps!!

John_F

heat time is definatly out of the question for us i would think unless price of milk jumps up!

thanks for the details pakalasa! testing there in november i asked the vet would he be fit and he said no even though he had started jumping the breeding bull, i might say it to the old lad again (one of those situations :rolleyes: ) Might get the raddler and put it on a bullock that would be going to the factory see if we did give him the snip and takes 6 weeks as you say that would be the end of april, is it too late would ya think? be calving in feburary march anyway, That US site says free delivery, is this including Ireland? have you used any other method before this like tail paint or kamars like has your submission rates gone up?

whelan1

i bought the heat time in the autumn of 2008 , if i had known what the milk price was going to be i wouldnt have bought it , but wouldnt be without it now

John_F

whelan1 wrote: »

i bought the heat time in the autumn of 2008 , if i had known what the milk price was going to be i wouldnt have bought it , but wouldnt be without it now

ya sorry if it seemed like i was having a go, i wasnt. no regretts so, i bose its alot handier as more time can be devoted to other activities

theroad

John_F wrote: »

That time of year again of cows starting to cycle, What do you use to detect cows in heat? a few farmers in recent years have begun to use teaser bulls around here with a chin ball on them, id like to find out if people use a vasectomized bull or would a bullock do the job aswell? Also what age do you get the bull snipped and what is the procedure involved, we have a angus bull kept from last years calves that i would like to see used for the job but unsure what age / size they should be

thanks in advance,
John

We used a vasectomised bull last year, one of the calves kept for the purpose. He was done with a local anaesthetic (tied up the back legs, cord cut cord in two places and removed) at the end of March for €115, which I think is more than most people are paying. He was a HO bull, tall enough for the job and about a year old. He went into a paddock to recover afterwards and was fine. He was ready for work six weeks later, but we only put him in after the first month of breeding. It worked very well. He followed the cows around for a day before they came bulling. Didn't bother with a chinball as they're pricey and I've heard unreliable and we were tail painting the cows anyway. I'll keep him for this season and see how moody he gets.

For the last two years I've used Estrotect strips with the heifers and they work fine too.

irishh_bob

John_F wrote: »

That time of year again of cows starting to cycle, What do you use to detect cows in heat? a few farmers in recent years have begun to use teaser bulls around here with a chin ball on them, id like to find out if people use a vasectomized bull or would a bullock do the job aswell? Also what age do you get the bull snipped and what is the procedure involved, we have a angus bull kept from last years calves that i would like to see used for the job but unsure what age / size they should be

thanks in advance,
John

a bullock is frankly , not horny enough , a fresian is by far the best choice as they are along with angus , the most active , an angus will most likeley be too short to mount and mark most of your cows you can have the bull snipped as young as six months old , the proceedure involves the vet putting the animal to sleep and then cutting the testicles cord as far as i know , its very simple and the bull feels no real pain , most important thing is that you dont allow the bull to join the herd for at least six weeks after the operation , thats how long it takes for him to litterally , clean the pipes