Question about Breeding bulls

[artman182]

From time to time I see bulls up for auction that a breeding bulls only and will say something like "He bucked really good at 2 and then got crippled." If he has some sort of physical deformity, such as a back issue or hurts a stiffle, will that weakness get passes on genetically? I understand that if he gets hurt in a fight or being stupid in the chute, but has anyone seen any calves getting hurt backs if their sire has one?

Thanks,
Arthur

[Caja Ranch]

I won't say who it was but about 20 yrs ago a big contractor had a bunch of bulls with back problems. That was genetic. They have since rectified the problem. I have a bull on one of the other sites that I am selling as a breeding bull because he hurt his back fighting. Hair Raiser also is done bucking because of injuries from a fight. My problem and I think probably others will have the same, is that I don't always separate the bulls in they're age or size group and they don't hold up against bigger bulls in a fight. Especially when cows are in close proximity.

[BloydBuckingBulls]

Some of the wild ones just can't take it at a young age and you don't know how wild they are going to buck until you try them. That's why some people don't buck their animals until they are 2 or 3 years old. Their bone and joint structure really isn't ready for the violent movement of bucking that some of these young calves can do. I'd say if it is becoming a problem in your herd though, you need to change something. Maybe more vitamins and nutrients.
And you definately need to keep the little ones away from the big ones.

[JRR]

We have a son of Wolfman, 401 Hitman, that we bought as a coming 2 y.o.. We could buck him but the vet said we would have to put him on pain killers because of his pelvic got broke in a bull fight and it didn't heal right. It was our decission not to do it, Harry and I figured that we wouldn't have asked one of our players to do it when we coached, so we would not ask it of one of our bulls either. Hitman will stay at our ranch till the day we quit.

[artman182]

I hope that no one feels like this is aimed at them, because it isn't. The reason I asked this is that I have seen it tons of times on websites and in auction catalogs. Just curiosty, that's all.

Thanks for the responses.
Arthur

[Caja Ranch]

I think that's a legitimate question that I'm sure crosses everyones mind. It happens a lot and for different reasons. I can tell you it makes me sick that it happens and just seems like aways the good ones. The bull I mentioned was the best one out of the three Gigolo brothers that I had from that age group. Taco Bell and Double Barrel Rocker have not been covered yet. I spent the last year trying to get some movement back in his vertebrae with no luck and just decided he might as well be a breeder.

[cowmomma]

This is a good question. Usually, I think the injuries are just due to bad luck, or some snafu when the animal is bucked, but there can be conformation or size issues that contribute and can be passed genetically.

This means doing your homework on buying a breeding bull and getting the history of how it was injured and looking at closely related bulls to see if any physical issue that set him up for injury is inherited.

Many times I think injuries occur when a young bull get bucked to early, or too often too young before it is physically mature. Patience can cure that- just my opinion.

Eileen

[A&E Rodeo Bulls]

I know I have a bull with a Bad back and we have watched his calves very closely as I do think weak backs, are like bad feet and can darn sure be passed along. I've yet to notice anything with my calves out of my hurt sire, but it did concern me when I made the choice to buy and use him. I figured the benefits of adding a bull from a different line, that bucked really really hard, was worth the risk, and it has paid off as 132's calves are fantastic!