Frisky 18 month old bull

farmer2018

I am new to pedigree breeding. I have a 18 month old bull by himself in a paddock, he seems to have got frisky, he can see other cows and bulls. When I go near him he tries to charge with the head down at times, I need a stick with me.

Will this go out of him or would be best to factory him?

trixi2011

farmer2018 wrote: »

I am new to pedigree breeding. I have a 18 month old bull by himself in a paddock, he seems to have got frisky, he can see other cows and bulls. When I go near him he tries to charge with the head down at times, I need a stick with me.

Will this go out of him or would be best to factory him?

If the bull is charging you should hang him up . Leaving bulls by themselves is never a good idea

Lady Haywire

Shouldn't be alone by himself imo. Stick an incalf heifer or cow in with him and see how he behaves then. If no improvement, then yes, factory. no pint passing on a danger.

whelan2

Has he a ring in him? What breed is he

farmer2018

He has a ring yes. Hereford. A big factor could be that he is by himself.

_Brian

Best solution is hang him up, last thing you want is to regret not doing it.

farmer2018

If he was to be sent to the factory what is he worth? He is around 650 kg.

Bellview

Put in an in-calf cow or 2. You can see then how he is after a few days...if you still need to hang him up having the cows with him will make it easier get him into holding pen etc

I would have thought Hereford would be quieter end of scale....but a bull is a bull

farmer2018

Bellview wrote: »

Put in an in-calf cow or 2. You can see then how he is after a few days...if you still need to hang him up having the cows with him will make it easier get him into holding pen etc

I would have thought Hereford would be quieter end of scale....but a bull is a bull

I think the problem is that he is by himself, I bet he will quieten down if there is another animal put with him.

Another thing is he sees ladies all around him, neighbors too!

Mooooo

I would say get rid first off. But if you want to see how he gets on with others put older stock in with him, preferably ones that wouldn't be bullied by him too much at a feed trough. That's what I do with the vasectomised bulls here, I put them in with older animals the majority of the time so they are never top of the pecking order

grassroot1

If you sell him and he hurts somebody
Would you be able to live with yourself?

charolais0153

A calf goes daft on its own nevermind a bull. Let him with abfew heifers or cows or something. They are herd animals after all

cacs

charolais0153 wrote: »

A calf goes daft on its own nevermind a bull. Let him with abfew heifers or cows or something. They are herd animals after all

I would never be a fan of bulls flexing there muscles, but definitely worth putting a few cows with him and see how he behaves. I always find bulls a little more hard to handle / frisky / aggressive this time of year. They seem to get wrestles when all the cows are gone incalf. I suppose you wouldn’t expect this from a young bull.

patsy_mccabe

Do you know who the head mamas are in the herd? Put a few of them in with him. They will put manners on him. If he doesnt settle down, get rid of him.

cacs

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Do you know who the head mamas are in the herd? Put a few of them in with him. They will put manners on him. If he doesnt settle down, get rid of him.

I think you got it in one

squinn2912

My thing about bulls is if I’m ever in doubt then go for the hook

Never wrestle with pigs

Let in a bigger bull with him if you have one. He'll put manners on him and be company then too.

Angus2018

Cattle should never be left alone, they are herd animals, especially a bull with a view of cows. We leave either a cow due to be culled or two to three tame bullocks with him.

Bass Reeves

If you do as Patsy says always treat him as dangerous. Even in 4-6 years time if you still have him and he is as quite as a mouse still treat him as dangerous. Too many lads do not treat bulls as always being dangerous. They become immune to him being a bull. I have finished bulls and often had 20 in a field. I always walk around the edge of a paddock/field with a bull or with multiple bulls. I would never walk into the middle of them. When moving them I would never go into the field I always let them come out if one stays inside it is the tractor or van that goes in not me on foot. All bull are dangerous just as all freshly calved cows. Treat as dangerous and you will live longer. Usually a lad gets caught when he goes into a field to bring out cows or cattle taht are with a bull.

High bike

Bass Reeves wrote: »

If you do as Patsy says always treat him as dangerous. Even in 4-6 years time if you still have him and he is as quite as a mouse still treat him as dangerous. Too many lads do not treat bulls as always being dangerous. They become immune to him being a bull. I have finished bulls and often had 20 in a field. I always walk around the edge of a paddock/field with a bull or with multiple bulls. I would never walk into the middle of them. When moving them I would never go into the field I always let them come out if one stays inside it is the tractor or van that goes in not me on foot. All bull are dangerous just as all freshly calved cows. Treat as dangerous and you will live longer. Usually a lad gets caught when he goes into a field to bring out cows or cattle taht are with a bull.

good advice sure a cross bull never killed anyone, it’s the quiet lad you take the chance with

KatyMac

We have a neighbour's bull in field atm. He arrived from one side and a heifer from the neighbour's on the other side also arrived and they had a date in our field (actually that looks like I've crap fences! which up to yesterday I didn't have!)
Our cattle are completely ignoring both of them. Only trouble is I'm sending a cull cow and a weanling to mart tomorrow and have no idea if we will be able to get them safely in. Am hoping my cattle will come to the shed following a bucket of nuts.

KatyMac

Ah the power of the yellow bucket full of nuts! Ours followed the bucket into the pen no bother and up the ramp with very little trouble. Now off I go to pay a few bills!

patsy_mccabe

I think how you handle a bull is very important. Leaving them on their own, for starters is a big mistake. They have a huge herd instinct and stay calmest when in a group. Trying to quieten them when they are young, by making a pet out of them, is another mistake. Just leave them alone and let the cows put manners on them.
I always try and keep a certain distance back from a muture bull when he's with cows. It's like that personal space that humans have. Stand too close to them and they will take notice of you. 'Flight zone' I think the experts call it. I never put a chain on their nose either. I think it will just agitate them.