Bull not back-chewing

PatL23

I bought a quiet (so far) pedigree limousin bull in carrick-on-shannon 3 days ago in the pedigree sales. I brought him from carrick to mayo, was a nice spin.
He will be a year old in the next few days, but there is one thing i have noticed is that he is not back-chewing, however he is making his manure, he is out on on good grass and i started to feed him bull nuts 18%.

I have a thought that his stomach could be twisted from the journey as he did give a lunge in the trailer on the journey.
So i have been thinking that i should do the same again bring him around the roads for good spin to untwist his stomach if that is indeed the problem.

So the moral of my question is did anyone here have a similar experience with one of their cattle not back-chewing, if so, how did you sort it out?

reilig

PatL23 wrote: »

I bought a quiet (so far) pedigree limousin bull in carrick-on-shannon 3 days ago in the pedigree sales. I brought him from carrick to mayo, was a nice spin.
He will be a year old in the next few days, but there is one thing i have noticed is that he is not back-chewing, however he is making his manure, he is out on on good grass and i started to feed him bull nuts 18%.

I have a thought that his stomach could be twisted from the journey as he did give a lunge in the trailer on the journey.
So i have been thinking that i should do the same again bring him around the roads for good spin to untwist his stomach if that is indeed the problem.

So the moral of my question is did anyone here have a similar experience with one of their cattle not back-chewing, if so, how did you sort it out?

he's probably not back chewing because he never learned how to. He was most likely fed ad-lib on meal for all of his life to push him on. Unless the animal is sick and not eating, I'd give him some meal and slowly start to reduce it as he goes onto grass. If he's not well, get your vet to look at him.

I've never heard of an animal's stomach twisting in a trailer. If he is eating and making manure, then it is definitely not twisted.

Give him time, he's new to the place and just needs some time to figure it out!!

PatL23

reilig wrote: »

he's probably not back chewing because he never learned how to. He was most likely fed ad-lib on meal for all of his life to push him on. Unless the animal is sick and not eating, I'd give him some meal and slowly start to reduce it as he goes onto grass. If he's not well, get your vet to look at him.

I've never heard of an animal's stomach twisting in a trailer. If he is eating and making manure, then it is definitely not twisted.

Give him time, he's new to the place and just needs some time to figure it out!!

Thank you reilig for the quick reply, really appreciate it.

Do you think that i should continue to feed him a nice bit of nuts(3-4kg day) along with the grass that he's getting? Because i want to try to keep him as timid as possible, as i will also be brushing him as i am feeding him. I know to be cautious around bulls as i know that they can snap at any time.

I mainly purchased him this year as a tester, to catch the cows in heat, as i find it impossible these past 2 years to see them in heat. The cows are not rising on each other like they used to.

redzerologhlen

PatL23 wrote: »

Thank you reilig for the quick reply, really appreciate it.

Do you think that i should continue to feed him a nice bit of nuts(3-4kg day) along with the grass that he's getting? Because i want to try to keep him as timid as possible, as i will also be brushing him as i am feeding him. I know to be cautious around bulls as i know that they can snap at any time.

I mainly purchased him this year as a tester, to catch the cows in heat, as i find it impossible these past 2 years to see them in heat. The cows are not rising on each other like they used to.

Dont try to make a pet out of him, you might think you are doing the right thing to have him quiet but more often than not those are the bulls that turn wicked, thats my 2 cents.

reilig

redzerologhlen wrote: »

Dont try to make a pet out of him, you might think you are doing the right thing to have him quiet but more often than not those are the bulls that turn wicked, thats my 2 cents.

+1

But I would continue to give him meal and gradually wean him off it over 4 to 6 weeks. Remember that he has eaten a main diet of meal for the last number of months so coming onto your farm and being put on grass is a bit of a shock to his system.

Muckit

@12mths he would easily have been eating 6-7kg a day ad-lib so 3-4 kg for the next two weeks while he gets used to grass would be a good idea. You can start to reduce it then.

The quietest of them can be frisky when off the halter, so be careful, but don't be alarmed if he starts leapin and playin about;)

PatL23

Thanks everyone for your very informative replies.