Bull Yearlings, what to do with them?

patjack

Hi All,

I bought 4 bulls 13 months old, question is what would ye do with them. They aren't quite 400kg. Finish as bullocks or bulls?

yellow50HX

patjack wrote: »

Hi All,

I bought 4 bulls 13 months old, question is what would ye do with them. They aren't quite 400kg. Finish as bullocks or bulls?

Finish as bullocks, bulls too much hassle

Sharpshooter82

yellow50HX wrote: »

Finish as bullocks, bulls too much hassle

why do you say that??

Farmer Pudsey

What breed are they are they bucket fed or suckler stock. Do you want to finish or sell in the mart. When do you want to sell them or if you want to finish when do you want to have them ready for slaughter. What age are they.

agriman27

It depends whether they are story types of calves or not. I would squeeze them if they are story and growthy. If they are inclined to be butty ,stocky and muscley I wouldn't squeez them

Sam Kade

agriman27 wrote: »

It depends whether they are story types of calves or not. I would squeeze them if they are story and growthy. If they are inclined to be butty ,stocky and muscley I wouldn't squeez them

Banding would be better at that age as squeezing will set them back and they are also too strong for squeezing.

agriman27

Never saw banding done before, does the whole sack eventually fall off:eek:

Bizzum

patjack wrote: »

Hi All,

I bought 4 bulls 13 months old, question is what would ye do with them. They aren't quite 400kg. Finish as bullocks or bulls?

Ya want the right set-up to be finishing bulls.
I castrated a lot of bulls older and heavier in my time. There's something telling me you're no let do it nowadays?

Manoffeeling

agriman27 wrote: »

Never saw banding done before, does the whole sack eventually fall off:eek:

Yes, but they need to get the black leg vaccine as well.

Farmer Pudsey

400kg bulls would be squeezeable with budizer If you had a vet calling for something else I get him to squeeze this type of heavy cattle. I also pay for the injection before I would band them.

Sam Kade

agriman27 wrote: »

Never saw banding done before, does the whole sack eventually fall off:eek:

It would take a while before they fall off maybe a month but it doesn't set them back. The sac will go black and smelly in the start and will be well shriveled up by the time it falls off.

Sam Kade

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

400kg bulls would be squeezeable with budizer If you had a vet calling for something else I get him to squeeze this type of heavy cattle. I also pay for the injection before I would band them.

So if the injection isn't paid for it won't work You need them injected well in advance with a booster shot 6 weeks later if they didn't get the booster shot as calves.

Farmer Pudsey

Sam Kade wrote: »

So if the injection isn't paid for it won't work You need them injected well in advance with a booster shot 6 weeks later if they didn't get the booster shot as calves.

I am not talking about vaxcine or there booster but rather with a painkiller while squeezing. Some vets are very good at squeezing if you have not got the skill or if they are exceptionally heavy I get the vet to do it. Vet has squeezed 400kg bulls for me after I refused to band them had it(banding) done once it was a disaster the animal melted. This was years back if cattle were generaly that heavy I used to finish as bulls but would have to look at it now and it would depend on the animal, age and type.

Sam Kade

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

I am not talking about vaxcine or there booster but rather with a painkiller while squeezing. Some vets are very good at squeezing if you have not got the skill or if they are exceptionally heavy I get the vet to do it. Vet has squeezed 400kg bulls for me after I refused to band them had it(banding) done once it was a disaster the animal melted. This was years back if cattle were generaly that heavy I used to finish as bulls but would have to look at it now and it would depend on the animal, age and type.

What time of year did you band them? I got the vet to band 380 kg bulls in April and it didn't knock them and they kept thriving as well.

Sami23

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

400kg bulls would be squeezeable with budizer If you had a vet calling for something else I get him to squeeze this type of heavy cattle. I also pay for the injection before I would band them.

Lads, what age/weight would ye say is ideal for squeezing with the burdizer ?

Insp. Harry Callahan

I got a guy in the spring to cut a batch of bulls for me, they were fine afterwards. wondering how does thrive compare by cutting or by squeezing them?

Manoffeeling

Insp. Harry Callahan wrote: »

I got a guy in the spring to cut a batch of bulls for me, they were fine afterwards. wondering how does thrive compare by cutting or by squeezing them?

The band is the best as there is little stress and pain. They are uncomfortable for a few days, just getting up and down, but nothing major.

patjack

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

What breed are they are they bucket fed or suckler stock. Do you want to finish or sell in the mart. When do you want to sell them or if you want to finish when do you want to have them ready for slaughter. What age are they.

13 months old, I want to finish them, but won't get them finished under 16 months. What are the consequences of having bull beef over 16 months, is there a significant drop in price at the factory?

yellow50HX

patjack wrote: »

13 months old, I want to finish them, but won't get them finished under 16 months. What are the consequences of having bull beef over 16 months, is there a significant drop in price at the factory?

its more the rooting digging and knocking fences and fighting that i'd be more worrid about

Farmer Pudsey

patjack wrote: »

13 months old, I want to finish them, but won't get them finished under 16 months. What are the consequences of having bull beef over 16 months, is there a significant drop in price at the factory?

The real cut off for bulls is 24 months after that you have to target May/June for 24-30 month bulls. In this case it will not apply. If they are fresians or very plain bulls I would consider squeezing them and finishing off grass next year.

However if not I would aim to finish during the winter as bulls. The factory's can be fussy about bulls for March/April as they try to back them up for May/June. Bulls are much more efficent converters than bullocks. If these are suckler stock they should be capable of achieving 1.5Kgs+/day on 8-10kgs of ration and good silage for 150 days. However you need to either kill in Jan/feb or may/june more than likly. If killing in May/June you would be better feeding them silage and 2kgs until January. However they will achieve very heavy carcasse weights in May and again the factorys do not mant same.

If it was me I would start feeding now and aim to kill in Late January. If they are only barely 13 months 70 days feeding may get them good enough Fat score 2+ to kill before christmass on the Grid. I would house and build them up to 10kgs+silage and see how it goes.

1chippy

Sam Kade wrote: »

What time of year did you band them? I got the vet to band 380 kg bulls in April and it didn't knock them and they kept thriving as well.

I banded and skulled weanlings with the guillotine last feb on the same day. i felt desperate sorry for them for a few days, but it didnt seem to set them back anything notceable.

Alibaba

I've 9 yearling Bulls now -limousines

Just wondering should I squeeze them or just let them as they are.

Thinking about keeping them for the summer.

TUBBY

Alibaba wrote: »

I've 9 yearling Bulls now -limousines

Just wondering should I squeeze them or just let them as they are.

Thinking about keeping them for the summer.

cattle will be scarce mid year. If ya can get them finished before the autumn i would keep them full. What weight are they.

Alibaba

TUBBY wrote: »

cattle will be scarce mid year. If ya can get them finished before the autumn i would keep them full. What weight are they.

They'd probably be around 350 kg so I'd say would be tough ask to finish by Autumn.

Farmer Pudsey

TUBBY wrote: »

cattle will be scarce mid year. If ya can get them finished before the autumn i would keep them full. What weight are they.

I think as the year get later the cattle will get scarcer. IMO there will be a shortage of cattle until late 2016 in one form or another.

Alibaba wrote: »

They'd probably be around 350 kg so I'd say would be tough ask to finish by Autumn.

350kgs as bulls if fed from 2kgs from through August and September will be 600ish at housing in early October deppending on thrive. They should average 400DW around Christmas.

If you intend selling in autunm however I would squeeze them.

atlantic mist

Sam Kade wrote: »

So if the injection isn't paid for it won't work You need them injected well in advance with a booster shot 6 weeks later if they didn't get the booster shot as calves.

we used to do the banding at 14 months when we finished charloais few years ago, it def paid to do it, the animal would want to b hardy enough to take it cause they will go backwards for two weeks
u need them to b at grass and plenty of fly repellent, nearly gettin shivvers think bout it horrid job def easier to squeeze em
many still band them?

Miname

I've often banded here and never a peep out of them. Ten times better of a job than squeezing. Never an issue with flies either but they were always done early in the year.

sucklerlover

patjack wrote: »

Hi All,

I bought 4 bulls 13 months old, question is what would ye do with them. They aren't quite 400kg. Finish as bullocks or bulls?

I finish bulls. I'll b leaving them out this week. I'll start feeding at grass n august put them in start of September and feed for around 80-90 days. Do your sums well because it will take about €300 ish to finish.
I've mixed bulls and bullocks before and they were fine for the summer. They'll dig a few holes n your land. I finish them because as bulls I know they'll be gone end of November.
If I got locked up with tb and they were bullocks I wouldn't have room to carry them through winter so they suit me.

Alibaba

If you intend selling in autunm however I would squeeze them.[/QUOTE]

If I dont squeeze and sell in the autumn will I be cut (if you'll pardon the pun :-) in the price ?

Farmer Pudsey

Alibaba wrote: »

If you intend selling in autunm however I would squeeze them.

If I dont squeeze and sell in the autumn will I be cut (if you'll pardon the pun :-) in the price ?

Can be harder to sell less customers. Lads that finish bulls are specialists. As bullocks you will have 3-4 times more buyers and can bring them home from the mart. Dodgy with bull as they can be unsetteled and be fighting and lose condition if you bring them home. Ideally if keeping as bulls you should sell straight from farm.

orm0nd

patjack wrote: »

Hi All,

I bought 4 bulls 13 months old, question is what would ye do with them. They aren't quite 400kg. Finish as bullocks or bulls?

sucklerlover wrote: »

I finish bulls. I'll b leaving them out this week. I'll start feeding at grass n august put them in start of September and feed for around 80-90 days. Do your sums well because it will take about €300 ish to finish.
I've mixed bulls and bullocks before and they were fine for the summer. They'll dig a few holes n your land. I finish them because as bulls I know they'll be gone end of November.
If I got locked up with tb and they were bullocks I wouldn't have room to carry them through winter so they suit me.

op post is from sep 2013 I'd say he has them finished by now , one way or the other

agriman

I wouldn't rule out the bulls. I buy them in over the winter as 8 - 11 month old weanlings. You do need a good set up with fencing and housing and it helps to put them straight into the shed or enclosed small paddock (is better again) after buying them in. I tend to let them go hungry over night before turning them out to grass in spring as this quietens them after turnout.

CloughCasey1

What types and wright would you buy and at what age would you finish at?