Managing Your New Bull
- •Sale bulls from "Eulalia" have been handled quietly and with care all their lives. They are run in relatively large groups, ie not alone.
- •When they arrive at their new home,they have to adjust to new yards, different noises, loss of their mates, different people, different handling methods, trucking, unloading, new paddocks, different feed and water! That is,it is a stressful time for them.
- •To minimise the stress and speed their settling to their new environment, it is helpful to unload them at the yards into a group of quiet house cows, herd cows or steers so they are again in a "herd" and not alone. Feed with hay and let them settle.
- •This is even more important if they arrive at night. Provide hay and water if they arrive at night and leave handling until the next morning. Definitely don't jump them off the truck into an open, strange paddock. Settling may be immediate or take some time.
- •At his first joining, check your new bull regularly for at least the first 2 weeks, so any injury is detected early. Early detection and removal from the group may mean minimising any loss of use.
- •Try to avoid joining a young bull in a group with an older bull or bulls, as he will be dominated and so do little work for you.