Broken Bull Unit

[oldboy]

Just because this was the year we needed 2 new bulls, spent the usual good money, bought privately, (same guy we always buy from) now it looks like one of them may have a broken penis. Have been raising cattle for 28 years, went through many, many bulls. This 2 year old was with about 25 heifer, small pasture. Yesterday we noticed his "unit" hanging out below his sheath, every thing looks swollen, sore, he kicks at his penis when he urinates. There is at least 3-4 inches of swollen flesh hanging below the hair. May sound stupid, but I can't seem to find any good sites to check out if this is what is wrong. No point calling the vet, can't pay the bill just for him telling us to ship him. Any comments or suggestions from some of you good old boys out there?????

[15444]

Never had a bull with a broken penis. (Broken penises are a weakness in the Angus breed). I raise pure herefords and have had a bull scratch himself up pretty good trying to breed a cow on the other side of a barbed wire fence. Our bull's foreskin got pretty swollen. He kicked at himself too when he took a leak. If broken penis, ship him. If he scratched himself up, you can ship him or treat him with Germ-Zone (for chickens really). Spray Germ-Zone up his shaft with a hand portable weed sprayer up his shaft day and night for approx. one 1/2 months....be good as new! Hope you have good natured bull like a hereford or you may get a swift kick.

[oldboy]

Sorry, not a hereford, just good Charolais bulls, thanks.

[wilagro]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck.
If there is no infection, have him slaughtered at a local abatoir. Should get about 800/1000 lb. of ground beef. Invite the neighbours in for a big barbecue.

[Muttley]

I beg to differ with the comment that broken penis's are a weakness in the Angus breed. I have run Angus bulls for many years and sold a lot to breeders all over western Canada. I don't believe that there is any more broken penis's in the Angus than any other breed.

One of the main reason's for this problem is with a bull ramming a cow or other bull, or from being to aggressive in his breeding.

[15444]

Muttley
I was told that by a friend of mine who has bought angus bulls from out west and was told that by the people he used to buy Angus bulls from. I would not doubt what he says for a second, he's seen it all. Every breed has its weaknesses. Herefords have it a lot worse. Herefords are genetically prone to uterine and vaginal prolapses, little milk, and rolling over on their backs (no joking, its true).

[cowman]

I've had little experience with this problem. I have seen Charlais bulls who are very rough breeders, just very agressive and maybe not waiting for the cow to stand. Some of these big bulls just flatten the cow they are so rough and big. When the cow goes down it must be tough on the bulls equipment!
I've often wondered if polled bulls have more problems because half the time everything is sort of hanging out, as compared to a horned bull?
While we're busy ripping the herefords, lets not forget cancer eye, poor udders, and poor feet. The great desire to try to compete with Charlais and Simmental in the 80's pretty well ruined the hereford breed as everything went out the window in the quest for height. The idea that a hereford can't milk is erroneous. As a breed they don't anymore but through selection they can. ABS has some bulls that will put the milk on them!
One thing we should say about the herefords is there is not another breed as quiet and gentle. They don't try to kill you everytime you mess with their calves! Try a Sim/angus cross if you want a mean momma! Also they don't kick the hell out of you every chance they get!

[paladin]

Oldboy - sorry to hear of your troubles...what else can go wrong this year! Sounds like he's broke to me. If they can retract there can be hope that they are salvagable and it's worth getting it checked out. I believe that broken penises on young bulls tend to be more common with heifers rather than old cows, and in all honesty I think mechanics has as much to do with it as genetics and it sure can happen in any breed (we've had it happen in both Simmental and Maine).

[15444]

Cowman

I forgot about the cancer eye, that's true as well. But the poor udders and feet aren't. The only way you can get poor feet and udders on a Hereford is if no pay no attention whatsoever to what the heck your breeding. One thing the hereford breeders did do was improve the feet and udders on the cows in the late 80's and 90's from what they old herefords had....even if there is no milk in them udders!

[cowman]

I haven't owned a hereford bull since the early eighties so I'll take your word for it. There were a couple of hereford bulls that really put the milk on them about that time. Titan 7777(a horned bull) threw cows that really milked. He was rumored to have some Simmental in him but was totally registerable. You've probably heard of Perfection? A polled bull. Well we know he wasn't actually a Hereford ... his momma was a red holstein! Still I think he was sort of legal, at least in the States. Now his dauighters milked!
My Dad had a purebred hereford herd and they milked. Probably as good as anything we have today. But they were old style herefords...blocky and heavy. They were a real pleasure to work with.

[pandiana]

Had a yearling bull last year that I leased to my brother in law. First and last bull with 'penis problem'. By your description this bull also looked like it had a broken penis. Could not retract, very swollen and sore. The bull was very quiet and thanks to the care and patience of my brother in law who washed it down every day until he saw improvement. It gradually got better and bull went on to be a great breeder in a fall herd. This incidentally was also on heifers but injury occured after herds were mixed with another bull in group. This is very unfortunate as a portion of the breeding season was lost. With todays economics its a tough decision whether or not to cut your losses and sell the bull or to put in the time. If it is a good bull it could be worth the time.

[mooo]

Most likely your bull has an infection. We get a few every year, best thing we found is get him out of the cows, and have the vet clean him up and suture the end of the sheath, and infuse a sulfa solution into the sheath each day for a week. After this we leave them out of the cows for the rest of the breeding season. We have had this in both angus and herefords.

[15444]

cowman

I remember Titan 7777. I saw pictures of him and remembered all the good things I had heard about him. Never heard of Perfection. I raise both horned and polled, so I should a least know of him. That Titan bull had really strong milking daughters but a had a fellow breeder try him and the poor heifer never could get bred because she wouldn't quit growing! Couldn't develop reproductivly until she developed physically. I think that's probably the only problem with that Titan bull.

[TJM]

If you are a Hereford breeder 15444, you damn well are a poor promoter. Get out and look at todays Hereford cow. Udders with milk are the norm and those that don't, they have a special place in the fast food chain. There are two things that are bad for a breed. Popularity and greedy breeders. The first because breeders find that they can sell animals that are not superior and have genetic flaws; the later because everyone of us looks at the $ at the end of the day and if you can sell something for twice its value when compared to the stock yard, there are few who would do different.

The Hereford breed went through this for most of the last century. Then we tried to "rediscover" our selves and chase something that was not catchable. We are a maternal breed and must never loose sight of that. Our female is our strength. She can be crossed with any other breed in the world and produce a highly marketable calf. We made errors in the past and no doubt will again as a breed and as individual breeders. It just ticks me off when people remember the flaws of yesterday and breeders that make their living from selling this breed cut them down as well. You either need a larger gate on the culling pen or a larger trailer to haul all those 'breed downers' to town. Getting out and looking at some good Hereford herds wouldn't hurt either. I can show you many, both purebred and cross bred with out the flaws with which you refer to. This is a GREAT breed. Credit needs to be given, lord knows we have sure put up with the criticism. It was rightful at one time but lets all think positive.

[flatbroke]

I don't want to get embroiled in a breed debate, but I've used PB angus bulls for 15 years with no problems "down there". I did once, however, have a maine bull with broken equipment - he was a rather agressive breeder. To exaserbate the problem, he jumped a fence while chasing him home and ripped it up good! OUCH!!! Upon consultation with my vet, and some old timers, I treated him as follows... Lots of pennicillin, wash thoroughly 2 - 3 times a day, then coat with violet oil after each cleaning. Watch for any dead flesh and trim it away as much as possible. I have since heard of another case where maggots moved in and as gross as that sounds, they say to leave them there as they will do no harm, and actually prevent gangrene by removing dead tissue. Anyway, I kept this treatment up for about 2 weeks, and it gradually healed and retracted. I didn't intend to use him again, but before I shipped him he got loose and bred 3 cows with no problem! Not a job for a jumpy kicky bull or for those squeamish, but I did have good luck in that case... Hope this helps!