selling a bull?

[a1cowmilker]

Hi, I haven't posted in forever. My jersey is dry and will remain so for a while.
I just wanted to ask a bull question for my son.

He has raised a bull from his heifer. He is 20 months old. Instead of just sending him to the sale barn he would like to advertise him in the paper.

My question, what does he need to do before he sells him. I am guessing he should be 2 years old. Does he need to be tested? We obviously wouldn't want to sell a sterile bull but do people buy them and then just take a chance? Does anyone here think this is worth it? This is not a papered or special bull in any sense, however, his daddy was a great bull and he never gave us any problems.

Thanks in advance for the help.

a1 ( and pretty embarrassed about the name, what was I thinking?)

[Jennifer L.]

Around here the folks who will buy a bull from the newspaper ads are not looking for anything special, they just want something that will get the heifers bred. I think it would be a waste of money to have him tested in any way. And I doubt that it really means too much to people that he's out of a good sire, as well, although it wouldn't hurt to include it in the ad if you go that route. With AI, anyone can have an animal from a great sire.

An alternative to advertising him in the paper is to call the sale barn and ask if there has been anyone asking about (Jersey?) bulls lately. They will often contact people who are looking when something is coming through the sale barn that they want.

Good luck moving him!

Jennifer

[Up North]

Most breeding bulls can be put into service by 12 months of age. Some are ready to breed heifers at 10 months of age.
There is usually someone who will buy a bull that is not registered . But they will usually only pay the current market price for slaughter bulls. Right now in our market that is 55 to 60 cents a pound. Your market may differ.
If your son wishes to sell bull for breeding purposes, it may be advisable to give bull 9-way Vaccination. I assume he has been dehorned. Unless you are marketing Horned Herfords or the like, buyers will expect bulls to be dehorned.

In this area if you plan to sell a bull, you better have him semen tested. Other than that, anything else is an individual thing. Unless he was used to breed cattle before, then I would maybe suggest having him tested for a few venereal diseases (especially Trichomoniasis).

But, is this bull really breeding quality? Would you use him in your own herd? If you wouldn't chances are most others wouldn't either, and you would be better off taking him to a sale. Here there are so many people raising bulls, that if you don't like the one you are looking at, you can just go to the next place/sale.

[jerzeygurl]

we usually want as young as possible, and sell by the time they are 2 as they are 2 hard to deal with.

[a1cowmilker]

Thanks for all the replys. This has been so helpful. We would love to keep the bull but son doesn't want to sell the mother. We can't blame him for that, he has had it since he was 9.

I was surprised that the bulls could breed as young as 10 months old. We haven't noticed any "activity in the bull pen" so to speak but I will mention it to dh. He may want to get Mama cow in a pen.

I really appreciate the help. I don't post much but it is so much fun to read this forum.

thank you very much

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

Unless he's a proven producer -anyone who buys him must be a gambler -or they will ask that he be fertility tested and Bang's tested.

An infertile bull is quite rare. I've been around cattle all my life (including very large operations here, in MT, and in KS) and in all that time I have only encountered one bull with a fertility problem, and that problem was with frozen semen. He did fine with live cover.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

not always - in areas where predators are an issue, leaving all your cattle "with horns" is acceptable and even desireable. If he isn't dehorned, however, I would expect him to have weighted horns.

Eight reported cattle kills by Wolves since March, 2007 in WI. Note that I said *reported*. Maybe WI Farmers will start stocking horned cattle as well.
Either way, you want all horns or no horns on a farm.

[evermoor]

Originally Posted by Up North

Eight reported cattle kills by Wolves since March, 2007 in WI. Note that I said *reported*. Maybe WI Farmers will start stocking horned cattle as well.
Either way, you want all horns or no horns on a farm.

I totally agree on the all horns or none . But seroiusly 8 head killed by wolves? Isn't there like 15 million cows in WI, as oppessed to the hundreds gored or injured by horned cattle. Bulls are mean SOB's and NEVER think otherwise. Personnally Iwould take him to a sale barn and get pound price, Cause it is hard enuf to sell a good registered,ringed, dehorned, halter broke Jersey bull for $700. This could be a 3 generation jumper bull that could hurt someone unexpectedlly. I KNOW THIS!!!

[Up North]

Evermoor - I know all our cattle will continue to be dehorned. The 8 reported kills were in the last 90 days, which is evidentiary of the upswing in wolf predation problems in the state. One has to wonder how many kills or attacks go unreported.

[evermoor]

Originally Posted by Up North

Evermoor - I know all our cattle will continue to be dehorned. The 8 reported kills were in the last 90 days, which is evidentiary of the upswing in wolf predation problems in the state. One has to wonder how many kills or attacks go unreported.

I can totally understand. Here in Iowa there is a rumor that the DNR reintrocuded mountain lions to thin the deer. There was one spotted last year a couple miles from my house. Now tell me doesn't a little jersey heifer staked to a hutch look like an easy deer to eat????

[tyusclan]

Originally Posted by evermoor

I can totally understand. Here in Iowa there is a rumor that the DNR reintrocuded mountain lions to thin the deer. There was one spotted last year a couple miles from my house. Now tell me doesn't a little jersey heifer staked to a hutch look like an easy deer to eat????

Okay, now let's think about this. They could have expanded the season, and increased the bag limits on deer. That would have sold more licenses and tags which would have thinned the deer herd AND increased revenue to the state. Instead they spend thousands of bucks (I don't know the figures, but I'm sure it wasn't cheap) to stock cougars. Yep, that sounds like perfect governmental logic to me.

And I agree, sooner or later they're gonna figure out that those funny-looking little deer can't run very fast.

[JulieLou42]

Those so-called reintroduced Canada grey wolves, as here in Idaho, and any other states where nasty predators have been reintroduced, is for the Agenda 21 purpose of re-wilding the States to pre-Columbus days, and running people out of rural land areas into the cities, where they can be better kept in control by the government.

It's on the Net...go read it and find our for yourselves...they want farm animals all marked [NAIS] and counted, they want to know who's buying grain and hay for their ranches. Don't you know that your animals are thought by the gov't regulators to belong to the "national herd"? Suggest you Google "Doreen Hannes" and see what you get. She's done tons of research to back up what she tells us.

[Oxankle]

What is wrong with the hunters in Wisconsin?

Around here a hunter in a stand shoots a coyote anytime one comes by even if it means scaring off a buck. It would be folly to think they will not do the same with wolves or cougars.

You had better believe that if a wolfpack is ranging on my land there will be hot lead flying over it too.
Ox

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by Oxankle

What is wrong with the hunters in Wisconsin?

Around here a hunter in a stand shoots a coyote anytime one comes by even if it means scaring off a buck. It would be folly to think they will not do the same with wolves or cougars.

You had better believe that if a wolfpack is ranging on my land there will be hot lead flying over it too.
Ox

Hard time, Federal Prison. That said, a few do get it. Quite a few of them have radio collars and when one stops moving they investigate it immediately.

[Tango]

Any creedence to those reports? I hear stuff like that from people here quite often. It reminds me of a fallacies that can't be substantiated - like those new diet pills tested in a Swiss hospital or the stuff that used to happen "behind the iron curtain." It's always a neighbor telling me how there are too many deer???? Why not increase th bag limit? Hello? Extend the season? I think some of that chatter is baseless imo, at least as it proves out here in regard to the supposed wolves and bears that have been released. My dogs have been anxiously waiting to try bear.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by Tango

Any creedence to those reports? I hear stuff like that from people here quite often. It reminds me of a fallacies that can't be substantiated - like those new diet pills tested in a Swiss hospital or the stuff that used to happen "behind the iron curtain." It's always a neighbor telling me how there are too many deer???? Why not increase th bag limit? Hello? Extend the season? I think some of that chatter is baseless imo, at least as it proves out here in regard to the supposed wolves and bears that have been released. My dogs have been anxiously waiting to try bear.

Oh, I've heard all the rumors, and most of them are just that;rumors. The wolf problem is for real and getting worse. My Dad and his partner lost 35 calves in 1976. Wolves. The DNR swore up and down that it couldn't be as we were "out of their range". Thing is that there had been a horrible winter kill on deer in "their range" that winter. They moved to "greener pastures" so to speak. The population has increased enough since then that now we are in their range and I hear and see them occasionally. They do collar quite a few of them and I've read LE reports about them getting killed once in a while.

[JulieLou42]

Out here, those would NOT be rumors!!! We live beside a pretty deep canyon where a mama bear lives and births 2 or 3 cubs every year. I've seen her on the other side of the canyon, my neighbors can see her and inform me when she crosses our hill. I saw one of her halfgrown cubs sitting by the side of the road a few years ago, under a tree near the road. I've seen and heard coyotes, most every day. I've seen cougar less than a mile from my home...so has my neighbor...that was in '01. The neighborhood men gathered up and with rifles in hand chased him down the canyon. Four Canada Greys were spotted within a mile of here nearly two years ago by other neighbors about 1/2 mile from here as crow flies, not far off the main road up here drinking from a small pond about 50ft from the road. This is why I have two Pyrs and one 1/2 Chow dog, that bark quite often through the night while on patrol...I'd worry if they didn't bark!