Grain and a Bull's Fertility

stormywood · #1 07/26/10, 02:41 PM

A guy I know has a year old BLK Abgus bull he wants to trade for some of my sheep. The bull has never been on grain, just cow and pasture raised. His reasoning he says has something to do with fertility. Anyone ever heard of this? I'm not looking to buy ocean front property in Ariaona!

randiliana · #2 07/26/10, 03:41 PM

Well, in theory, if a bull is fed too much grain, and get's too fat, it can affect his fertility. What happens is that fat deposits in the scrotum and it affects the bulls ability to regulate the temperature in there. I don't think it is a real huge problem, there are a LOT of yearling bulls fed large amounts of grain for the bull sale market every year. You don't hear of too many problems.

The fact that this bull hasn't been fed grain shouldn't be a problem, as long as he is grown out enough to breed. I would certainly insist that the seller have a Breeding soundness exam done on this bull before I bought/traded for him though. Better to be safe than sorry, there are a lot of reasons for a bull to be subfertile or infertile.

ksfarmer · #3 07/26/10, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randiliana

Well, in theory, if a bull is fed too much grain, and get's too fat, it can affect his fertility. What happens is that fat deposits in the scrotum and it affects the bulls ability to regulate the temperature in there. I don't think it is a real huge problem, there are a LOT of yearling bulls fed large amounts of grain for the bull sale market every year. You don't hear of too many problems.

The fact that this bull hasn't been fed grain shouldn't be a problem, as long as he is grown out enough to breed. I would certainly insist that the seller have a Breeding soundness exam done on this bull before I bought/traded for him though. Better to be safe than sorry, there are a lot of reasons for a bull to be subfertile or infertile.

I agree. A bull would have to be grossly fat for feeding grain to have an effect on fertility. There are more problems with underfeeding than there are with overfeeding. As randiliana says: I would insist on having the bull tested by a vet for fertility. This is just wise practice whenever purchasing a bull under any conditions.

stormywood · #4 07/26/10, 05:28 PM

Thanks. Yes, I will get it tested!

randiliana · #5 07/26/10, 06:18 PM

Well, really it shouldn't be up to you to have him tested. Usually, that is the sellers responsibility. But, whatever the case, don't buy him til you've seen the results.