i don't care whether guys clip them or not - i used to spend lots of time clipping bulls and it was just to have them presentable.... but now i don't think its worth the effort. for the experts - what could i do with this bull, for example, with a set of clippers or torch to make him anymore presentable. i just try to keep clean straw under them and the only thing i will do before he is delivered is cut his long hairs of the end of his sheath... the less an animal goes thru a chute is good by me
If he can get by without doing it that would be great. When the weather doesn't play nice there isn't much a guy can do about it. He could start the new standard for selling bulls "no clip, no ship bull bash" and kill two birds with one stone save money on clipping and shipping.
I think it depends on what you are selling, whom you are trying to sell to, and your climate to some extent. I won't clip a bull of our own in the winter - to me it's like removing their underwear. Galloways have a double hair coat that is an advantage in our climate, why take it away? That said, we can clip them up come April, and all of a sudden, guys who have been using Angus or other bulls for years, stand up and pay attention. Normally it's tough to get people to look through the hair, so we remove a bit of it and they take a look. Simple marketing for a unique circumstance
Example.
Fuzzball this winter
Slickster last spring
If you were a purebred Galloway breeder you would want to see him au naturale to know how good his hair coat is. If you're a commercial cattleman and I'm trying to convince you to try a Galloway bull for the first time, which one would you choose? It all comes down to evaluating your circumstances and making a decision from there. JMO.
