Winter Bull Management
Fall and winter management of bulls is important to prepare them to be healthy and in top shape for next year’s breeding season. Ken Dunn, an Idaho Angus breeder near Tetonia, says one of the important considerations in regions with cold winters is to recognize the potential for frostbitten testicles, especially if there’s wind.
“Bulls need a place where they can get out of the wind and ideally have straw to lie in,” he says. In his bull pens, he creates mounds of piled straw. If you keep adding straw to the pile, the straw mixed with manure tends to ferment and generate heat.
“Our bulls always climb up onto those piles to sleep,” says Dunn. “It is surprisingly warm on top of the piles. This helps the bulls stay warmer in cold weather and reduces risk for frostbite.” If bulls must lie on bare ground with no bedding, especially frozen ground, it robs body heat and increases risk for frostbite. Having mounds to bed on is healthier in wet conditions, also; the bulls don’t have to stand or lie in mud.
Dunn has windbreaks for most of the bulls, including 175 weaned bull calves. The weaned calves are out in big pastures, with about 75 animals per group. Each group is in a 30- to 40-acre pasture. They are all fed on the ground, and spread out.
“We have a couple big straw piles out in a corner of each field for those calves to lie in. We have two other groups of bulls with four or five in each group. One group is in a 10-acre pen and the others are in a large corral,” he says. Bedding is also provided for these bulls.
Herd health measures are also important, with appropriately scheduled vaccinations and dewormings.
“Our bulls are on the same vaccination program as the cows, and we worm everything in the fall,” he says.
“We also treat for lice and grubs in the fall, using a pour-on, to get internal and external parasites. This usually works for lice through the whole winter, but on occasion we re-treat the bulls for lice before spring. We just use the squirt guns and apply a topical product while feeding. After we’ve put the hay out, while the bulls are standing there eating, we just walk up behind them and squirt each one. That’s a really easy method, since our bulls are gentle,” he says.
