Jersey bull question

[farmerlor]

So we have this little Jersey bullock that we're bottle raising and I LOVE this cow. He was sick when we got him and we've nursed him through that and he's become this wonderful pet who loves scritches and rubbing and his food of course. I work with him everyday handling him, lifting his feet, rubbing my hands all over him and I'm going to start halter training him as soon as he grows into his halter. Now someone needs to pat me on the head and tell me some stories about gentle Jersey bulls because we all know that Jersey bulls are responsible for more injuries at meat processing plants than all the other breeds put together. Even my cow mentor who only raises Jerseys tells me I'm living in a fantasy world if I think this cow will ever be anything more than hamburger though I want him for breeding purposes. Can someone tell me it's possible to raise a bull who isn't a danger to my children or give me tips on how to teach him now while he's small how to be a gentle boy when he grows up?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Sorry, wish I could but I can't. Jerseys are known for being huge jerks. :/ I would say especially because he's going to be so tame he'll be an even bigger danger.

Do you have a Jersey cow herd? Is that why you want him for breeding?

 

[farmerlor]

Sorry, wish I could but I can't. Jerseys are known for being huge jerks. :/ I would say especially because he's going to be so tame he'll be an even bigger danger.

Do you have a Jersey cow herd? Is that why you want him for breeding?

A herd? No. We're just starting out with one Jersey/Holstein cross. She's currently being bred by my mentor's mini Jersey and will calve next year. We'll probably get another Jersey cow next year as well as offer our bull to breed other small homesteader dairy cows in the area. He was orphaned and very cheap so we got him because there just aren't any other dairy operations close to us so getting our cow freshened every year was going to be a challenge. Hoping to end up with three milk cows and a bull unless the whole bull thing just isn't going to work out at all.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

So we have this little Jersey bullock that we're bottle raising and I LOVE this cow. He was sick when we got him and we've nursed him through that and he's become this wonderful pet who loves scritches and rubbing and his food of course. I work with him everyday handling him, lifting his feet, rubbing my hands all over him and I'm going to start halter training him as soon as he grows into his halter. Now someone needs to pat me on the head and tell me some stories about gentle Jersey bulls because we all know that Jersey bulls are responsible for more injuries at meat processing plants than all the other breeds put together. Even my cow mentor who only raises Jerseys tells me I'm living in a fantasy world if I think this cow will ever be anything more than hamburger though I want him for breeding purposes. Can someone tell me it's possible to raise a bull who isn't a danger to my children or give me tips on how to teach him now while he's small how to be a gentle boy when he grows up?

Nope. When a bull starts reaching puberty, his hormones start getting up to the point where he gets very dangerous and unpredictable. There was an episode on Animal Planet's Fatal Attractions that I seen that had people that had been raising a pet bull exactly the way you have described. These people became so complacent with their pet bull that they began to believe that they can do anything with him because he was their so-called "pet," even if he's out with the cows. Well, the one fella that went out on his quad to get his pet bull back in got severely injured by that bull when he turned on him suddenly. Another man was killed by his pet bull when he turned his back on the bull for just a moment.

I hate to be blunt here, but you're playing with lit matches and a few kegs of TNT if you keep the belief that he's going to be a gentle bull when he's grown up. Pet bulls are the most dangerous bulls because of the fact that their human caretaker has become very complacent and has put too much trust into him to see the obvious. And it doesn't matter if he's halter trained or not, he's still going to be a bit of a firecracker when he gets older, bigger and much stronger than you.

I honestly have NEVER heard of a story of any gentle pet bull, let alone a pet Jersey bull.

The farmer who is renting our land has a few cows with a dozen bull calves in the corrals this year. There's a really sweet-looking Jersey bull calf in there, but I have never attempted to make a pet out of any of them because I know full well what they're going to grow up to be. I respect the fact that they are bulls, and I don't trust them because they are bulls. It's easy to forget, at the age when they're just babies, that they're going to grow up to be monsters, but once you've had the experience handling some ornery bulls like I have, you don't forget at all.

Oh, and btw, according to the dictionary, the term "bullock" is a European term for a castrated male bovine, which we North Americans call a steer. And, a cow is a mature female bovine that has had at least two calves. So "bull calf" or calf is the more proper term to use in reference to the little Jersey.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Yep, I agree. Heck, when we had 60 milkers we didn't even keep a bull. There's just no need for the risk when you only have a few cows. You'd have to have a really sturdy fence for him, and you'd constantly have to watch him. There are lots of stories of guys around here who have had run ins with their bulls. Most farmers don't keep bulls around any longer, and if they do they keep yearling bulls for clean-up and then send them when they show the slightest aggression.

Do yourself and your family a favor and castrate him and have a pet! Even then you'll have to keep an eye on him because they are still strong animals.

 

[farmerlor]

So we have this little Jersey bullock that we're bottle raising and I LOVE this cow. He was sick when we got him and we've nursed him through that and he's become this wonderful pet who loves scritches and rubbing and his food of course. I work with him everyday handling him, lifting his feet, rubbing my hands all over him and I'm going to start halter training him as soon as he grows into his halter. Now someone needs to pat me on the head and tell me some stories about gentle Jersey bulls because we all know that Jersey bulls are responsible for more injuries at meat processing plants than all the other breeds put together. Even my cow mentor who only raises Jerseys tells me I'm living in a fantasy world if I think this cow will ever be anything more than hamburger though I want him for breeding purposes. Can someone tell me it's possible to raise a bull who isn't a danger to my children or give me tips on how to teach him now while he's small how to be a gentle boy when he grows up?

Nope. When a bull starts reaching puberty, his hormones start getting up to the point where he gets very dangerous and unpredictable. There was an episode on Animal Planet's Fatal Attractions that I seen that had people that had been raising a pet bull exactly the way you have described. These people became so complacent with their pet bull that they began to believe that they can do anything with him because he was their so-called "pet," even if he's out with the cows. Well, the one fella that went out on his quad to get his pet bull back in got severely injured by that bull when he turned on him suddenly. Another man was killed by his pet bull when he turned his back on the bull for just a moment.

I hate to be blunt here, but you're playing with lit matches and a few kegs of TNT if you keep the belief that he's going to be a gentle bull when he's grown up. Pet bulls are the most dangerous bulls because of the fact that their human caretaker has become very complacent and has put too much trust into him to see the obvious. And it doesn't matter if he's halter trained or not, he's still going to be a bit of a firecracker when he gets older, bigger and much stronger than you.

I honestly have NEVER heard of a story of any gentle pet bull, let alone a pet Jersey bull.

The farmer who is renting our land has a few cows with a dozen bull calves in the corrals this year. There's a really sweet-looking Jersey bull calf in there, but I have never attempted to make a pet out of any of them because I know full well what they're going to grow up to be. I respect the fact that they are bulls, and I don't trust them because they are bulls. It's easy to forget, at the age when they're just babies, that they're going to grow up to be monsters, but once you've had the experience handling some ornery bulls like I have, you don't forget at all.

Oh, and btw, according to the dictionary, the term "bullock" is a European term for a castrated male bovine, which we North Americans call a steer. And, a cow is a mature female bovine that has had at least two calves. So "bull calf" or calf is the more proper term to use in reference to the little Jersey.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I really knew when we got him that he should be considered beef and not get attached but then I started thinking what a great breeder he would be and allowed myself to hope. I grew up on a beef cattle farm so we knew that you never, ever turned your back on a bull but those big Angus boys were sort of slow and stupid and while we respected them no one was ever even really threatened by one. I used to play at the neighbor's dairy farm and they had Swiss and Jerseys and the bull just ran the pasture and was never really handled at all but we weren't allowed out there either so I guess he may have been mean. Well, I guess we'll go back to play A. I'm hoping to get a breeding out of him next May after my cow freshens and then we'll take him in. In the meantime we'll work on making less of a pet of him mostly so we won't be quite so sad when he goes. I never knew that about the word Bullock. Grandpa (who ran our farm) always called the baby boys bullocks. Of course I knew that a cow was a female who'd had a baby but I tend to use it as a diminutive for all the calves.
Sad-I'd hoped to keep him just running the pasture like the old Angus bulls I grew up with.

 

[farmerlor]

Yep, I agree. Heck, when we had 60 milkers we didn't even keep a bull. There's just no need for the risk when you only have a few cows. You'd have to have a really sturdy fence for him, and you'd constantly have to watch him. There are lots of stories of guys around here who have had run ins with their bulls. Most farmers don't keep bulls around any longer, and if they do they keep yearling bulls for clean-up and then send them when they show the slightest aggression.

Do yourself and your family a favor and castrate him and have a pet! Even then you'll have to keep an eye on him because they are still strong animals.

He'll be almost year old just about the time Star has her calf next May. If we get a breeding out of him right after she freshens that would be optimum and we can take him in right after. I'll be watching in the meantime and keep the kids out of the pasture and at the first sign of aggression he's gone. We'll just do AI after this and that way I can concentrate more on the mini Jerseys.

 

[goodhors]

I would strongly suggest that you just plan to use the neighbor's bull again next season or go AI, and castrate the calf. Waiting for a first sign of agression, may be the point where he hurts someone! Then it is too late to be sorry. Jersey's are quick, have very short fuses, are nothing like modern, well-bred Angus bulls. Angus are hamburger if they get tempermental, with their calves being culled out of breeding herds for possible future poor temperment. Beef breeds have done enormous work in producing much quieter bulls, mostly easier to handle than in the past. My rancher friends want to be able to work with their cows doctoring if needed, without having to worry about the bull going berserk while they are on the ground. They pay HUGE amounts for quality beef bull calves that are rated for quiet tempers. Have to say it was nice the last time I rode with them to have bulls that were fairly cooperative! I still watched carefully, but that is always how we dealt with bulls, so it is habit. The couple of bulls that needed doctoring were managed between a couple horses with ropes, problems taken care of. Bulls were not happy, but did not go crazy either. Have to say I was impressed!!

One of my friends said he has only had one bad bull in the last 15 years. When it went bad, he went back and removed EVERYTHING he owned by that bull. Said it wasn't worth the chance of someone getting hurt, later down the line. Blood breeds true, and temper is in the blood. So he shipped the bull, all his female offspring, along with everything those females had produced. Everything by that bull went. This rancher was older, had come up thru times with bad handling cattle, wanted everything he owned to be workable on foot when needed. A real cowman, he KNEW his animals and their histories. Was not interested in going back to "the good old days" when cows would charge a person on foot, bulls regularly chased horseback riders. Took two riders with good horses to go out in the herds to do herd health, fix injuries. He likes the modern cattle a lot!

Dairy bulls have always had a worse reputation for danger than beef breeds, which is WHY AI breeding was hailed as such a benefit to modern farmers, ranchers!! No one NEEDED to own a dairy bull anymore! Lot of good people hurt with dairy bulls in past times, but they were required to keep the milking cows going.

Not any more! AI is the way to go with a small herd of cows, safer for everyone. No danger of "accidents" with bull loose, kids ignoring you to play in the field, sudden unexpected reaction of bull to any different thing around him.

Do you know anything of this calf's breeding background? Is he any special lines or quality blood that will be a benefit to you? Unknown bloodlines is working backwards in your cattle program, not improving anything.

With the AI, you will have ALL the information at your fingertips, milk production, butterfat numbers, calf sizes, strong features of bulls that will improve your cows' weak points. Calves should be better than the cows in a good breeding program. You want to be improving the animals you produce.

Using the calf without that information is a guessing game. Yeah, you get a calf, just could be a real poorly built one, large to give the cow problems delivering it or other issues. And you have to deal with owning the bull year around as well. Not every animal should be reproducing just because he is a bull.

Castrate the calf, remove the danger factor, and just enjoy him as a friendly pet steer until his time ends.

 

[jhm47]

No matter what, don't forget to dehorn him. Steer or bull---they can injure or worse without even meaning to.

 

[OtterCreekRanch]

As someone who has shown a lot of bulls who had to be made gentle at the young age and worked with on a daily basis to be calm, gentle, and halter broke, I can tell you that once they reach maturity they are not going to be a pet. I have had many bulls in the past that were my babies while showing them (up until 2-3 years old), but as soon as they had started being used for breeding they became very unpredictable. Even while still being shown a 2 year old bull can be very difficult to handle. These bulls we worked with so much also became some of the hardest to deal with bulls once they were turned out to pasture because they knew humans brought them their feed, and they had absolutely no fear of people what so ever. Even if the bull is not aggressive, they can easily hurt (or kill) you without even meaning to. The last bull I raised up and shown was a sweet boy, but he wanted to play and to bulls, playing is a shoving contest. It got to where we could not go out into the pasture with him, not because he was aggressive, but because he was so friendly and was BIG. He ended up having to be sold because we just could not trust him with even my husband and I, much less kids.

If you want to keep your calf as a pet, castrating him is really your best option (only option really, if you want to be somewhat safe). If you got him and he was sickly, he probably is not a good herd sire prospect anyway. If you are only going to be keeping a few head, AIing is really the way to go. I will always show bulls, but we probably won't ever keep another bull as a herd sire again. They are a headache to deal with.