Page 11 - MWC 03-11-2021

Did your bulls weather The Midwest Cattleman · March 11, 2021 · P11

the storm? to this year’s increased risk of Identify ‘Dud’ Bulls with a Breeding

delay so that necessary adjust-
By Kelsey Nordyke, K-State Extension injury, producers should not be Soundness Exam By Rhonda Brooks
ments can be made if needed.
The polar vortex had major im- Bulls can recover from frost- Bulls should be thoroughly that many prospective breeding
plications for livestock producers, bite, but the process takes 61 days. evaluated before each breeding bulls are infertile, subfertile or
but the after-effects should not Bulls that don’t pass a breeding season, so only those bulls that unable to mount and breed suc-
be ignored, particularly when it soundness exam can be retested if are able to get a high percentage cessfully, and examination prior
comes to bull management in the they received some injury. Testing of exposed cows pregnant in a to the breeding season reduces
cowherd. While the number of early gives producers adequate short period of time are turned the risk of breeding failure due
bulls in the operation is generally time to purchase a replacement if out into the breeding pasture to bull problems,” Larson ex-
not large, they have a major role animals don’t pass. If a breeding this spring, advises Bob Larson, plains.
when it comes to the production soundness exam has not been a DVM, PhD, Beef Cattle Insti- Bulls that don’t get the job
of the herd for the year. practice in your operation, it cer- tute, Kansas State University. done during breeding season cost
During the winter, bulls are not tainly should be this year. “The need for a thorough beef producers a lot of money in-
typically kept with the herd, so breeding soundness examina-
they don’t receive the same ben- K-State tion (BSE) is based on the fact continued on page 16
efits as they would from the herd
environment. They tend to be
more solitary instead of huddling
up, so they don’t receive the same
benefits of sharing body heat like
cows do. Bulls typically survive
cold weather when given proper
nutrition, dry, warm bedding and
an escape from the wind; but they
are at risk for reduced fertility
due to frigid temperatures.
Cold weather and wind chill
put bulls at risk for infertility
going into the breeding season.
Tissue damage to the scrotum
from frostbite causes scabbing,
blisters and swelling. Where there
is dead skin, heat from inflamma-
tion damages sperm production
and storage capacity of the bull’s
reproductive tract and bulls could
experience decreased fertility
or even infertility for a couple of
months.
It’s important for cattlemen to
visually inspect their bulls follow-
ing extreme cold weather. Deter-
mine whether tissue damage is
present, looking for scabbing and
blisters. Next, schedule a breed-
ing soundness exam with your
local veterinarian. The breed-
ing soundness exam is a uniform
method of assessing a bull’s likeli-
hood of establishing pregnancy in
an appropriate number of open,
healthy and cycling cows and
heifers in a defined breeding sea-
son. A breeding soundness exam
involves four components: general
physical exam, scrotal circumfer-
ence, sperm motility and sperm
morphology. This should be per-
formed regardless of weather con-
ditions and should be performed
4-6 weeks prior to turn-out. Due