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Tricky Breeding Exam Brings Me Back to Basics
Dr. Clifford ShipleyMay 15, 2007
I've been humbled (again).
After 25 years, I thought I could collect semen from just about any bull. It's been a long time since I couldn't get one collected, but it happened again.
It's that time of year when you need to get your bull(s) checked before they go out with the cows so you have idea of whether you'll have calves next spring. Yearling bulls, old bulls, questionable bulls, bulls with previous problems--all need to be checked to see if they are fertile before turnout with the cows.
A thorough breeding soundness exam will help to tell if the bull is capable of settling cows, but won't tell you if he can actually get cows pregnant. We spend a lot of time measuring testicles, looking at sperm, palpating internal accessory glands, and trying to determine whether this bull will or will not get us that magical calf crop next spring (with no dystocias and no dummy calves). Our colleagues in Australia and New Zealand spend less time measuring things (except testicles) and do libido testing.
So, back to my humbling experience. After measuring, squeezing this and poking at that, I was unable to obtain a semen sample from a great-looking young bull. Faced with either trailermycin or new home liniment therapy, I told the owner to turn the bull out with a heifer or cow in heat, watch him for mating behavior, and then watch the heifer or cow to see if she comes back in heat or pregnancy check her at 27 days or so with ultrasound or 30 + days per rectum (depending on the skill of the palpator) to see if she is pregnant.
If she is pregnant, the bull can obviously settle cows and is a "breeder."
I don't or won't have a lot of numbers to put on his Breeding Soundness Exam sheet, but then cows can't read anyway!
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