chain on bull, yes or no?

locky76

i have a limousin bull with a ring and i was wondering should i put a chain on him:
For- Slow him down, stop him going near the electric fence, you'll hear him coming up behind you
Against- it could make him cross, it causes difficulties when testing and housing for the winter getting wrapped/stuck in things

any opinions are appreciated.

reilig

I wouldn't put one in him unless you need to in order to control him. What I mean is that if an electric fence won't stop him without the chain, then it will with the chain. Putting in the chain could make him more aggressive and at higher risk to attack.

Put a bell on him if you want to hear him coming. A chain is a cruel form of control that will only turn him against you.

dar31

why chance not having a chain in a bull?,
id be more concerned with my own welfare than the bulls.
just long enough that he has to lift his head a bit to run.
if you are concerned at housing, take the chain off, till he goes back out

bbam

We've always had a chain in our bulls down through the years... It definitely makes them respect the electric fence much better..

In the past we had no real problems and the bulls were easily managed..

Our last three bulls (including our current one) have been purebred Charlois and have all become aggressive after 3-4 years, our current one is just getting there and will probably be heels up in the factory soon if things don't improve..
I would wonder if the chain hasn't added to the problem... even though we remove the chain during housing..

I think in future we might leave it out and see how it goes..
Unfortuinetly our part-time set up wouldn't work with AI or I'd be done with the bull for good.

mayo_lad

locky76 wrote: »

i have a limousin bull with a ring and i was wondering should i put a chain on him:
For- Slow him down, stop him going near the electric fence, you'll hear him coming up behind you
Against- it could make him cross, it causes difficulties when testing and housing for the winter getting wrapped/stuck in things

any opinions are appreciated.

it's up to your self whether you put one on the bull or not .

all i would advise is to make sure that it is the right length around 3 foot is usually right just short enough that it doesn't get in his way when he is moving but long enough to stop him from charging at you .

(ie: the chain should just be long enough that when he puts his head down to charge he steps on it . if it is any longer he will just turn his head and it will trail along one side of his body )

Tora Bora

bbam wrote: »

We've always had a chain in our bulls down through the years... It definitely makes them respect the electric fence much better..

In the past we had no real problems and the bulls were easily managed..

Our last three bulls (including our current one) have been purebred Charlois and have all become aggressive after 3-4 years, our current one is just getting there and will probably be heels up in the factory soon if things don't improve..
I would wonder if the chain hasn't added to the problem... even though we remove the chain during housing..

I think in future we might leave it out and see how it goes..
Unfortuinetly our part-time set up wouldn't work with AI or I'd be done with the bull for good.

I've had pure charolais bulls for 25 years now. Never had a chain on one and never would unless it got wicked first.
Never had one get wicked on me yet. I'm not AI sure that would have been the way of I had a chain on them. If someone Hung a chain from my nose, I know I wouldn't be best pleased.

leg wax

i never put a chain in a bull ,and at times when i bought a old bull and he had a chain or rope in his ring i took it out and the bull gained huge weight and condition.

whelan1

saw a bull with the chain tangled in an electric fence , it was pure torture... he was never the same after .. i wouldn't put a chain in a bull now after that ... at the first sign of a bull turning wicked he is gone ... cant take the chance

theroad

Had a chain on the bull 'cos he was a bit lively and it worked very well. But then a few weeks ago he got it caught in the stay of an esb pole and ripped it and the ring off and now he has a broken nose. So, no, probably not. He's headed to the factory, by the way.

blue5000

Chain definitely not, don't have a ring in either, can't understand what a ring would do if it came to the crunch. If a bull wants to kill me thats that. If a bull needs a chain in to control him he shouldn't be there, simple as.

whelan1

blue5000 wrote: »

Chain definitely not, don't have a ring in either, can't understand what a ring would do if it came to the crunch. If a bull wants to kill me thats that. If a bull needs a chain in to control him he shouldn't be there, simple as.

i think you are legally obliged to have a ring in your bull, we would never sell a bull without a ring in him...

blue5000

Thanks whelan, I suppose I'm legally supposed to have two tags in every ear in the place as well? But it doesn't always happen. Is it just illegal to sell a bull without a ring?

whelan1

blue5000 wrote: »

Thanks whelan, I suppose I'm legally supposed to have two tags in every ear in the place as well? But it doesn't always happen. Is it just illegal to sell a bull without a ring?

i dont know... but i always put the ring in ... think its also that other people can see there is a bull there

5live

Ring yes. Chain no. Its no fun trying to get a chain unwound from a tree or bush especially if he is wound tight or worse on the fence. I tend to sell if he gets frisky around me but in general keep angus bulls for 6 or 7 years for the right ones. Friesian bulls go after 2 years or 3 if he is very good. I have a vasectomised friesian bull for 2 years now and himself and the angus are great buddys. Until a cow bulling when the friesian sniffs around and the angus does the job and the friesian cleans up(so he tells himself anyway). Dont know how long i will keep him but he looks at me funny and byebye

mayo_lad

5live wrote: »

Ring yes. Chain no. Its no fun trying to get a chain unwound from a tree or bush especially if he is wound tight or worse on the fence. I tend to sell if he gets frisky around me but in general keep angus bulls for 6 or 7 years for the right ones. Friesian bulls go after 2 years or 3 if he is very good. I have a vasectomised friesian bull for 2 years now and himself and the angus are great buddys. Until a cow bulling when the friesian sniffs around and the angus does the job and the friesian cleans up(so he tells himself anyway). Dont know how long i will keep him but he looks at me funny and byebye

that would be because the chain is to long a chain will never get caught if it is the right lenght as it said before 3 to 4 foot is the right lenght for a bull chain

as
1 it will never get caught in any fence or pole

2 it doesn't aggravate the bull while he has it on

3 it will do what a chain is suppose to do which is stop a bull from charging at you because when he puts his head down to charge he will step on the chain. in all other times it will not effect the bull apart from the added kg attached to his nose

5live

3 foot chain. Bull flicks his head and chain flies around the tree. He wasnt happy. If he was cross it would have been a disaster. For me. I go for the cattle in tractor now and only check heifers when the bull isnt near. It may be safer in some ways but more than once has a bull thrown his chain

vanderbadger

had a young bull in his 2nd season that got wicked overnight, he was a lovely bull so considered chain etc to get the season outta him, anyway went into field in tractor one evening as I couldnt trust him at this point and the devil came straight over and started banging into tractor, anyway i headed for home and to my surprise he started following tractor, he ran alongside tractor and kept trying to butt the back wheel even as i speed up,frightened me to be honest as i had never seen a bull get wicked in our place before.. anyway he followed me all the way into the yard at which point i ducked out of tractor and closed gate behind him..he never saw grass again!
i posted about it at the time and and someone gave me a great reply..
"factory him before he factories you"
it was good advice i reckon

pakalasa

Van,
You did the right thing to get rid of him.
Was that the Charolais you were on about?

vanderbadger

pakalasa wrote: »

Van,
You did the right thing to get rid of him.
Was that the Charolais you were on about?

ya thats the one, very disappointing

capslock88

A ring on a bull is very important, for handling etc but i'd be totally against chains...if the bull needs a chain he shouldn't be there in my opinion...although theyre quite popular and effective(so i hear)..i'd never put a chain on a bull...we've always had Herefords...never had a problem...they just drive them wicked and prevent them thriving and greatly increase the chance of the bull getting chain caught up in fences/ditches....i certainly wouldnt like to be trying to free an aggressive bull's chain caught up in a ditch!...
If the bull is quiet, i'd keep the chain away...it's your choice though!:D

Henwin

a neighbour of mine has a bull tat recently wants to keep all the cows in 1 corner of the field and doesnt let them out at all. if 1 tries to escape he pucks her back in. if there is a cow bulling, he is ok.
so tey hav to move him into a field on his own. any ideas on why he is doing this and any resolutions. would a chain help. cheers.

ZETOR_IS_BETTER

Henwin wrote: »

a neighbour of mine has a bull tat recently wants to keep all the cows in 1 corner of the field and doesnt let them out at all. if 1 tries to escape he pucks her back in. if there is a cow bulling, he is ok.
so tey hav to move him into a field on his own. any ideas on why he is doing this and any resolutions. would a chain help. cheers.

Time for the chop. The Bull is not worth the risk

pakalasa

I have a yearling teaser bull that's doing that aswell. He gets all excited and starts running around gathering them all up, when they're all spread around grazing. He only does it some times. Looks funny.
Kinda expecting he might turn agressive too. We'll see.

1chippy

We have had bulls round here for years and never really had any issue (problematic cow though). if he needs a chain he needs a bullet. if for some reason you do need to chain him, i was told to only put a bit of a chain around 18-20 inches long on. its just enough to twist the bulls head , when he gets tunnel vision he will be chasing you and the will be enough to pull him off line.

PMU

put the chain on him when he is young ,he will get used to it. it wont make him agressive or stop him breeding, it will stop him charging because he will stand on it.

blue5000

This is a very old thread, I said before no ring, 3 bulls here now and still no rings in any of them, still no problems, but as a terrorist would say 'you have to be lucky all the time, I only have to get lucky once.'

When I'm in a field with a bull I watch him all the time.

dar31

ring and chain. at the very least you can hear him comming

pakalasa

blue5000 wrote: »

...When I'm in a field with a bull I watch him all the time.

I had a wild cow that I couldn't take my eye of either. It was a great pleasure, after I got rid of her, to go into the filed and not need a stick.

redzerologhlen

pakalasa wrote: »

I had a wild cow that I couldn't take my eye of either. It was a great pleasure, after I got rid of her, to go into the filed and not need a stick.

We have one extremely wicked cow. She calved the other day and if you go within a few hundred yards of her shes going with the head and making shapes. After what happened the man down in cree last week shes getting the hook as soon as the calf is reared, lifes short enough without keeping the likes of her around to make it shorter. Have a few that are a bit iffy for a day or 2 after calving but are alright after but the other one stays like that for most of the year.