Off-Season Bull Management

In most spring calving herds, the breeding season is hopefully wrapping up. Most producers will pull their bulls after 60-90 days to shorten up their calving season. The question then turns to what do I do with them now?

If you have several bulls they should be sorted into groups. One group of mature bulls in good condition and one group with young bulls that need to finish growing and thin bulls that need to regain condition.Mature bulls will do fine in a good pasture with shade and water. Young bulls or thin bulls will need to have access to some supplemental protein to grow and regain condition. If you don’t have enough to separate, they can run together on quality pasture with a protein tub. Your bulls should be de-wormed and vaccinated the same as the rest of the cow herd. They should also have access to a mineral and vitamin mix, like the cows as well.

If you have any question on their fertility, you can do a breeding soundness exam. This gives you plenty of time to put weight on before culling and time to plan for a replacement. Doing these things now will give them the rest of the summer and fall to regain condition lost during breeding. Remember, it is not a sign of poor management or bad genetics if a bull loses condition during breeding season. The good bulls should be working hard. However, if they cannot maintain condition while they are not working and grazing good pasture, their female progeny may not be able to either.

Overall the easiest way to recondition your bulls are with protein tubs. Stop in to your local SFG as we have a large selection of protein tubs to choose from and we can help get the right tub to match your situation. Let us help make taking care of the bulls as stressfree as possible.