This past summer, just when it was time to bring bulls home, one of mine had an injured (broken?) right shoulder. He couldn't make it through the sale barn so I put him in a small pen here at home and pretty much hand fed him. He's up and around now out in a small pasture with a couple of bred cows for company. He has only a slight limp but he doesn't seem to be putting much, if any, weight back on. I've been feeding him cubes to supplement the grass. Any of you gone through this? Could you tell me how it turned out? He's a good, young bull, great disposition. I'm more concerned at his lack of weight gain now than I am his shoulder. Thanks.
Bull question
- Thread starter DejaVu
- Start date
Soapweed
Well-known member
If the bull is still alive, you are ahead of the game. If he gets saleable, sell him.
Faster horses
Well-known member
Pain will cause cattle to not gain weight. I can't imagine he would be in pain this long, though. In our country,young bulls don't gain weight til spring, then it's like they change overnight. Shove the feed to him. Wish I could be of more help. Good luck!
Kato
Well-known member
We had one we suspected did that. It almost looked like it was in his elbow, but we couldn't tell for sure. We think he got knocked by another bull when he was breeding a cow. He hung around a bale feeder, so I carried him water for almost a month, until he started getting around on his own. He was in the pasture, it was early, and he had lots of grass by the time he was getting around, so we gave him the summer to recover.
He did that and then some. By fall, he wasn't even limping, so we brought him to the yard with the intention of selling him when he gained a bit more weight. He did that, and the limp still didn't come back. By spring you'd never know anything had happened, so he went back out with the cows. He did good all last summer, in a big pasture, and still doesn't limp.
I guess we should change his name to Lucky.
He did that and then some. By fall, he wasn't even limping, so we brought him to the yard with the intention of selling him when he gained a bit more weight. He did that, and the limp still didn't come back. By spring you'd never know anything had happened, so he went back out with the cows. He did good all last summer, in a big pasture, and still doesn't limp.
I guess we should change his name to Lucky.
river rat
Well-known member
We've had a couple bulls through the years with an injury we thought was a broken front shoulder, and they eventually healed up well enough to breed cows for a few more years. I concluded afterwards, that maybe they had smashed a nerve in their front shoulder fighting, and in time they got the feeling back in that leg. It was three months or more before they made much progress healing, and I would have sold them but they were so sore that they couldn't hardly drag that leg in a trailer. I thought they were both crippled for life when it happened so I would suggest if he appears to be getting better don't sell him to quick, unless your SURE that his shoulder is broken, because that can fool you.