Help!!! Neighbors bull broke through!

Marleydexlola · #1 06/01/13, 12:06 AM

He is huge, and we have dexters. One of our cows is cycling (idk the proper term.. In heat?) he is chasing her around our forty acres, also our bull (a 7 month old dexter) is trying to protect her but just getting his butt handed to him.
Owners are on vacation!!!!!
What do we do?!?!

I'm afraid he's gunna kill one of them, and even if he doesn't, if he impregnants her, that calf will be way too big and kill her!

jolly rabbit · #2 06/01/13, 01:16 AM

shoot him, unless you know how to rope and ride? You have every right to protect your property.

dkhern · #3 06/01/13, 04:49 AM

if you shoot him i hope your cattle never get out. id pen the cow others will work it out

Micheal · #4 06/01/13, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marleydexlola

........ if he impregnants her, that calf will be way too big and kill her!

Just because the bull is "huge" doesn't mean his calves will be. Size of calf is more determined by breed then by individual animal.
I had a polled Shorthorn bull that weighed in over 1800 lbs and stood bout 6 foot at the shoulder; his calves weighed in bout 35-40 pounds........ In turn my neighbor had a lot smaller "dairy type" bull that dropped calves over 70 pounds.
So what breed is the neighbor's bull????

SpaceCadet12364 · #5 06/01/13, 06:04 AM

If he is huge he can hurt her bad enough to have too put her down. Did he leave a number to call in case of something like this. If you go out there to get her away from him he may charge you so take a gun with you, you may have to use it.

G. Seddon · #6 06/01/13, 06:04 AM

Once you get the cow and calf away from the bull (see dkhern's reply above), contact your vet and explain that your cow was probably bred by the neighbor's bull. The vet can prescribe Lutalyse and a shot can be given to abort the pregnancy; should be about 8 days after exposure (it will make her come into heat within about 3 days). It's about time to wean the 7 month old bull before HE breeds his mother. Owner of stray bull should pay the bill for the vet call plus any possible injuries to your cow and calf. Be sure to notify the owner and/or animal control so there's a record of this. Photos might be useful.

randiliana · #7 06/01/13, 04:09 PM

Just remember, some day your bull and/or cows will get out..... And, just as you would prefer not to have your Dexter cows bred to someone's large breed bull, they probably don't really want their cows bred to your Dexter.

First off, I would suggest that you get the animals caught up in a corral. Separate the cow in heat (and her calf) and the bull, after all he's probably done all the damage he can do already. If you are able, then separate the cow and bull from each other, but if you have problems don't get too worried about it, within about the next 12 hours she will come out of heat and he will no longer really be interested in her and you should be able to separate them then.

Now, if the neighbour isn't around I would simply load the bull up and take him back home, and I'd fix the fence and possibly add an electric fencer to it to stop the problem from happening again! When the neighbour got back, I would go have a visit and let him know about the problem and see what you could BOTH do to hopefully keep it from happening again. Stuff like this happens, it will probably happen again and there is no point in starting a war with a neighbour if you can avoid it!

I certainly wouldn't go out there with a gun intending to shoot the bull, and it really isn't that big of an emergency, as G. Seddon said, it is a pretty simple matter to give the cow a shot of Lutalyse to abort the pregnancy in about a week. I would also let the bull's owner know about the vet visit and cost, and hopefully he wouldn't make too big a deal out of paying for it. Of course, I don't know your neighbour, and he may be a real ****, but most people are happy to work with you if you approach them without being a **** yourself.

Your little 7 month old really isn't trying to protect her, he's just a calf after all, but he's sure interested in finding about the Birds and the Bee's, lol. It probably won't happen, but he could certainly be injured by the bigger bull. As far as your cow being hurt by the bull, again, it probably won't happen but it is possible. After all we breed 7-800 lb heifers to 2000 lb bulls quite often and it is pretty rare to have one be injured.

Now, I would go the Lutalyse road myself, just to be safe rather than sorry, and I imagine that you are probably more interested in raising purebred rather than crossbred cattle?? But just because the bull is a large breed doesn't mean that the cow would be guaranteed to have major problems calving, you can't forget that her genetics are in the calf as well, and that they may be the ones that come through as far as calf size. Also, the bull may throw light BW calves too.

So, take a DEEP breath, relax a bit and THINK rather than react! As much of a PITA that this is (been there, done that) it is not an end of the world situation, and please don't burn any bridges before you even talk to your neighbour! I am pretty certain that if you go out and shoot his bull, that he will not be very happy to work with you if you ever have another problem...

ksfarmer · #8 06/01/13, 05:08 PM

[QUOTE=randiliana;6609665]Just remember, some day your bull and/or cows will get out..... And, just as you would prefer not to have your Dexter cows bred to someone's large breed bull, they probably don't really want their cows bred to your Dexter.

....................................

Now, I would go the Lutalyse road myself, just to be safe rather than sorry,
So, take a DEEP breath, relax a bit and THINK rather than react! QUOTE]
.......................

randiliana makes a lot of sense. Been there, done that. Just remember, "the world is round", anybody with cattle will have similiar problems sooner or later. Cattle go through fences both ways. Talk it over, work it out.

The worse thing you could do is shoot the bull. You might end up paying for him plus having a neighbor who views you as a problem.

tinknal · #9 06/01/13, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G. Seddon

It's about time to wean the 7 month old bull before HE breeds his mother.

The OP does not say that this bull is the cow's calf.

G. Seddon · #10 06/01/13, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinknal

The OP does not say that this bull is the cow's calf.

You know, you're absolutely right! I just assumed. Maybe the OP will tell us!

Marleydexlola · #11 06/02/13, 01:56 AM

Sorry it's been a busy day lol.

The bull is not the cows in question. He is a totally separate bloodline

Thank you everyone for the info and the opinions.

I tried my best to be nice about it, as I know it happens, but I do take the situation seriously.

Sadly with our terrain and our novice knowledge of cattle I asked him to come back to get his bull, or have a friend of his or something help us out. I'm sure be was t happy driving 4 hours back and dealing with this at 2am....

Great, the only neighbor we even know!

Thank you all again!!!!

willow_girl · #12 06/02/13, 07:10 AM

Ahh, the dreaded, "Your cows are out!" phone call ...

Why do they always seem to know when we're on vacation?

SpaceCadet12364 · #13 06/02/13, 09:34 AM

"I certainly wouldn't go out there with a gun intending to shoot the bull,"........

The advice of "going out with a gun" was not meant to indicate just go and shoot 'em.....it is more from the angle of not-your-bull-so-he-dont-know-you-and-you-dont-know-him...... bull might be nice and regular with his owners, but doesn't cotton to strangers. Better to have protection with you just in case you need it. I don't think I'd depend on a stern "NO!" or other words, or even just a big stick, trying to work with a strange bull.

Especially one that is chasing around cows in heat. Male animals thinking with their other head tend to be a bit more dangerous than they normally would be.

Marleydexlola · #14 06/02/13, 02:26 PM

Yeah he was definatly not a bull I'd mess with by choice... He was really ----ed when we got between him and what he thought was his cow. We did have our rifle with us just in case.

bruce2288 · #15 06/04/13, 04:46 PM

I am stunned that 3 people like jolly rabbit's response.

G. Seddon · #16 06/04/13, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruce2288

I am stunned that 3 people like jolly rabbit's response.

Me too.

FamilyFarm1 · #17 06/04/13, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G. Seddon

Me too.

I have a neighbor that raises mean animals, we never go near them when they get in our yard without a gun. We have only had to shoot one dog, but not worth the chance