Badly behaved Dairy bull?

All, forgot to update you.

The bull in question was wintered and brought to the abattoir in spring after never leaving his own shed since.

We now have one of his sons being kept with the dairy herd and big lim stock bull in the hope we can rear him to be quiet.
 

digger64

Member
Lots of bulls will go through a bit beds cont frisky stage and then settle down
I used to run a big Ayrshire bull, he had been a bit wild as a younger, I wouldn't go into the field of he was close
By the time he left he was like a pet, he'd eat cake out of my hand every day
But if you don't think you can manage him safely then he has to go
If you let a bull eat cake out of your hand you ask for all you get FFS , familiarity breds contempt
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
got a young bull with some hfrs, in a field near the village, no foot path, or any problem with people walking through, lady that owns the field, told me the bulls so quiet, it comes up to the fence, so I can give him a 'scratch'...…………………..
Reared a young jersey bull up, nice and quiet, served 2 hfrs, and turned really nasty, two days, was all he took to change, expensive lesson that, up in the lorry, and gone !
 

Treemover

Member
Location
Offaly
Im confused. I don't understand how show bulls are so placid. Some are hand rared, some are not. My neighbour had a wicked Belgian blue. He sold it to a local AI station, and within 6 months, this bull was a show bull?
I worked on a farm with Fleckvieh bulls. The ones that came in from Austria which were hand rared were easy going... but I never trusted them.

We have some really wicked bulls on our farm, and I think its all about facilities. If you don't have the facilities, you run a risk.

With regards ringing a bull, that farm I worked on used to ring bulls most weeks. I always wanted to see it or take part to learn, but one day I was working within 30ft, and the guy doing it, ringed 3 bulls, and not even a roar. He did it on his own, with just a halter.

I heard horror stories of lads pinning bulls with back actors and then ringing them.

A freshly calved cow once charged my son, and to this day, it haunts me. He got away with only a scratch, but it thought me to never think 'ah sure it will be fine'.

A fella that rears lots of bulls told me that to manage a bull, you have to display dominance. SHow the bull, your in charge. Our last wicked fella we had, if he acted the maggot, Id run him up the crush and put a long rope on him, ie 20ft. Leave him get used to it, if he got quiet after a few days, bring him back and change it for a shorter one. This worked, and if he went off, back in and long one again. The ropes would often come out and have to be replaced, but, I had to stay at it and show dominance. Then my father would intervene and remove the rope or shorten it, and then Id be told the bull is mad again. Funny thing, if I walked in to the shed, this bull would go the other end. Anyone else, hed come up and paw the ground and roar.
I don't think a cross bull has any place out in a field, where people have to run the gauntlet twice a day. But I don't think culling every cross bull is the answer either. Id rather an excellent handling setup that eliminates any chance of close contact with the bull. I have also found the better the breeding, (in dairy bulls) the more wicked they are.
 

Coldbrook

Member
I know an old guy who used to have a Bull hire company, when ever he bought a bull he would check the location of the hair swirl on a bulls face. If it was above eyes then the bull would be nasty, below, the bull would be quiet. He swore by it.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
over the years, we've had good ones, and bad ones, the secret is simple, don't trust them, full stop, then you stand a good chance of keeping them longer. Never forget, a big bull is a ton of muscle, and if determined, takes an awful lot to stop one.
 

brigadoon

Member
Location
Galloway
I know an old guy who used to have a Bull hire company, when ever he bought a bull he would check the location of the hair swirl on a bulls face. If it was above eyes then the bull would be nasty, below, the bull would be quiet. He swore by it.
Read something along those lines in an interview with some well known figure (Temple Grandin?)
 

Gulli

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
Im confused. I don't understand how show bulls are so placid. Some are hand rared, some are not. My neighbour had a wicked Belgian blue. He sold it to a local AI station, and within 6 months, this bull was a show bull?
It's easier to show them if they are doped up to the eyeballs.
Though to be fair the ai station probably had more experience in dealing with bulls that your neighbour.
 

Ribble

Member
If a bull is supposed to be masculine and full of testosterone, how do you distinguish between the alpha male who wants to dominate his space, and the plain crazy?
 

Anymulewilldo

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cheshire
I think I understand, you want a quietly confident chap who gives you a sideways look. Not the one who is weak nerved and goes for you like a dog that bites out of anxiety?
Yep. My Limmy stock bull needs a slap on the arse to make him move out of the way. And even then he only plods 6/7 steps and turns his head too look at you as if too say "what?"

The b&w feeding bulls on the other hand, I sort finished ones with the pitchfork too hand...

Next door dairyman had a sim couple of years ago. I could hear him bawling from my yard. A good 6/700 yards over the hill. Had to be shot through the hole where the gate fasten is in the end!!
 
If a bull is supposed to be masculine and full of testosterone, how do you distinguish between the alpha male who wants to dominate his space, and the plain crazy?

You will know when he roars for over 20 minutes at the sight of you or hears movement.

When hes carefully let out in the yard for tb test and needs pushed with a tractor back in the shed.

When a protectaline pipe (like an alkathene pipe but so much harder, google it) just bounces off his nose with no effect.
 
When i was growing up in the 1980s in South Cumbria (in the days when unpasteurised milk was fairly common still ) and on a farm we knew well, me and my mum were chased by a jersey bull, managed to leap over the gate in time (was only about 8/9)
I remember it charging and knocking down various stone walls!
what is with dairy bulls likes a jersey being so aggressive as compared to something like a Hereford
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
I have a vivid recollection from the early 60's, as a wanabee very young farmer, 7/8, and wanting to 'help' all the time, of being put in a gap, to stop the cows going into a barn, fine, cows went on by, but the 'nasty' bull, in the loose box, directly opposite me, and less than 20 foot away, shattered the door, bawling, feet pawing the lot, panic stations, dairyman threw a wooden stake at him, hit the bull, on the head, collapsed in a heap, got back on his feet, shook his head, turned round, walked back into the box !
 

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