By mid-June most outfits have bulls out with the cows, or they’re about to. The trich test is done, the breeding soundness exam came back fine, and it’s tempting to call it good and turn your attention to first cutting. That’s where a lot of open cows get made. A bull that passed a fertility check in May can come up lame, beat up, or just plain quit working by the Fourth of July, and you won’t know it until the vet’s arm comes out empty in the fall.
The cheapest insurance you’ve got is a set of eyes. A bull is a piece of equipment that breaks down in the field, and the breeding season is the worst possible time to find out one isn’t pulling his weight.
Run enough bull, and watch the young ones
The old rule of thumb puts a mature bull with about as many cows as he is months old, capped somewhere around 25 to 30 head for a sound, experienced bull in decent country. Rough, broken range stretches that out — a bull covering coulees and timber on a Forest allotment can’t service as many cows as one in a flat irrigated pasture where he can see his whole string. Err on the side of more bull power than the chart says, especially if you’ve got a tight breeding window.
Yearlings and two-year-olds are the ones to keep close tabs on. A young bull will run himself thin chasing cows and lose condition fast, and he can get whipped and run off by an older bull. Don’t ask a yearling to cover more than 15 or 20 cows, and don’t turn him out with a mature bull who’ll spend the summer fighting him instead of breeding. Mismatched bulls fight, and fighting bulls aren’t settling cows.
Drive out and actually look
Plan on checking bulls every week to ten days through the breeding season. You’re not just counting head — you’re watching them work. A bull that’s standing off by himself, not following the cows, or hanging back at the water is telling you something. So is a bull that’s gaunt when the rest of the herd is slick and fat.
Things that’ll take a bull out of service in a hurry:
- Feet and legs. Foot rot, a stone bruise, or a strained stifle from breeding or fighting will shut a bull down. He can’t breed if he can’t follow cows or mount.
- Penile and sheath injuries. A bull can break the penis or tear the sheath during breeding. Swelling, blood, or a bull that won’t extend is a red flag. These often don’t heal in time to save the season.
- Eyes and condition. Pinkeye blinds a bull the same as a calf, and a half-blind bull won’t find cows in big country. Watch his flesh — a bull that’s melting off is working hard or sick, and either way he won’t last.
Pull anything that’s hurt and replace it if you’ve got a spare. This is the argument for keeping a clean-up bull or two on hand instead of running every bull you own from day one. A bull on the bench in June is worth a lot more than the calf you’d have lost.
Mind the heat and the breeding window
Heat hammers fertility, and the damage shows up about six to eight weeks after the hot spell — right when those cows should be settling. A bull that overheats in a July scorcher can throw a stretch of poor-quality semen that lingers long after the weather cools. Bulls with dark hides and heavy condition feel it worst. Shade and good water aren’t a luxury during breeding; they’re keeping your conception rate up.
Keep an eye on the calendar too. If you turned out around the first of June and you want to wrap calving by spring, you’re pulling bulls in mid-August. Marking the date now and writing down which bulls went where saves a guessing game later. When the vet preg-checks this fall and you’ve got a wreck in one pasture, those notes tell you whether it was the bull, the grass, or the water — and which bull not to keep.
None of this is complicated. It’s the same habit that keeps a swather running through haying: you check it before it breaks, not after. A few drives across the pasture between now and August is the difference between a tight calf crop and a fall full of open cows you can’t explain.
