Most Dreaded Day of the Year...

[WyomingRancher]

...BULL TESTING :!: :!: :!:

The bulls are both fertility and trich tested. This is the one day working cattle out of the year that I don't look forward to :roll: . Like some other male species, I usually just set them up to work so that they think it is their idea to go where I want them to go, also I use food as a distraction as well... we usually get along just fine .

Jake ready to go

Bulls following the "Ice Cream Truck" to the corrals. I don't usually believe in bribery, but if cake keeps their minds off of fighting and tearing corrals up, I'm game

Fooling around with the camera while waiting for the vet to show up

The vet... he needs to be cloned

Patiently waiting their turn

I haul them to their pasture once tested

HOORAY! The corrals are still standing

 

[leanin' H]

So your saying you set us up to go where we think we want to go, but really we are headed up an alley way with a head catch at the end? And ya'll use food to cover your tracks? That is just plain wrong. Nice pictures. Hope they all test good and throw lots of soggy calves! Now i gotta go..... there's a plate of steak and spuds hidden somewhere under this pile of manure i got conned into shoveling. :wink:

 

[Richard Doolittle]

Do you just do one trich test?

 

[WyomingRancher]

So your saying you set us up to go where we think we want to go, but really we are headed up an alley way with a head catch at the end? And ya'll use food to cover your tracks? That is just plain wrong. Nice pictures. Hope they all test good and throw lots of soggy calves! Now i gotta go..... there's a plate of steak and spuds hidden somewhere under this pile of manure i got conned into shoveling. :wink:

Yep, basically that was my point Glad you saw the humor in it, and wasn't offended by my remark... you never know with the internet!

Do you just do one trich test?

Trich hasn't become a problem in this area, but the permittees on the forest decided it would be smart to test all non-virgin bulls prior to turning out on the forest as a preventative measure. Some herds are comingled. We screen once per year.

 

[Northern Rancher]

What the heck you have the same brand as my neighbor.

 

[Hooks]

nice lookin operation........looks like yall did some alley renovation recently.............

and as far a foolin around with the camera.........if that had been me, I'd probably tipped over trying to take a pic of my spurs :lol:

 

[Richard Doolittle]

I was just curious about the trich test because the way I understand it, you need three tests spaced apart to get a true "all clear".

A few years ago we had trich around so I did the three test thing. The next year when I fertility tested I asked the vet about doing one trich test since the bulls were in anyway. He recommended against it unless I was going to test three times because he said one test could just give a false sense of security.

I can see your reasoning for one test if you don't have it in the area, though.

Niice pictures, BTW.

 

[WyomingRancher]

nice lookin operation........looks like yall did some alley renovation recently.............

and as far a foolin around with the camera.........if that had been me, I'd probably tipped over trying to take a pic of my spurs :lol:

Yes, I like projects ! I did renovations last summer when the ground was soft since I had to dig the holes by hand (can't get hydraulic post hole digger up flush with the alley). Also, I built a newer, wider catwalk out of cull lumber I had since I like a nice, wide place to walk. Originally I was going to tear the whole thing out and start over, but decided to see if I could buy a little time by adding posts... not usually my way, but I wanted to build an alleyway at the calving barn, and didn't have the time or budget to get both projects accomplished ... if only my dogs could help me dig holes, set posts, and nail up boards I'd be set!

As for the spurs, they are the first pair of good spurs I've ever owned and I LOVE them! What a difference :wink:

I was just curious about the trich test because the way I understand it, you need three tests spaced apart to get a true "all clear".

I understand that to be true too. If we run into a problem, we'll have to increase testing, but hopefully that wreck won't happen . I used to work in diagnostics, and remember some trich infected herds coming in with a 60% pregnancy rate... YOUCH!

 

[Doug Thorson]

They have a new Trich test now. One time through and sent off to the state lab. It is called a PCR test and SD no longer recognizes the old test if you are selling non virgin bulls.

 

[Homesteader]

They have a new Trich test now. One time through and sent off to the state lab. It is called a PCR test and SD no longer recognizes the old test if you are selling non virgin bulls.

Trich is just starting to show up in this area. What does the PCR stand for ?

 

[Doug Thorson]

I am afraid I can't answer that but I am sure the new test was developed to get more bulls tested. 3 times through the chute with a herd of older bulls could make bulls and help alike lose their humor about the situation.

 

[Yanuck]

We test our bulls every year, and if you were to get a positive, then you have to retest 3 more times, otherwise it is just once, perhaps each state has its own rules?

 

[Homesteader]

There are tests that can be used to detect trichomoniasis infection in bulls. However, they only detect about two thirds on the infected bulls when only one test is performed. This is true of both the older culture methods and the new polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Conducting three tests at weekly intervals will increase the chances of detecting an infection in a bull to over 80 per cent.

 

[WyomingRancher]

They have a new Trich test now. One time through and sent off to the state lab. It is called a PCR test and SD no longer recognizes the old test if you are selling non virgin bulls.

Trich is just starting to show up in this area. What does the PCR stand for ?

Polymerase Chain Reaction... does that clear it all up for you . Beyond the definition, I don't know what it exactly does, or how it exactly works. Maybe some of the vets on this site could enlighten us.

Here is a good link I've found:
http://mt.gov/liv/news/2007/20071114.asp

 

[WyomingRancher]

What the heck you have the same brand as my neighbor.

Great to know, if I ever go out of the cattle business, I'll know where to send my irons . The way things are going, that may be sooner than later.

 

[DCM]

PCR= Polymerase Chain Reaction

It is method of amplifying and detecting DNA from an organism. Extremely sensitive and specific diagnostic method.