Managing and Developing Young Beef Bulls

There are as many ways to feed and develop young beef bulls as there are seedstock producers. There are many and varied reasons that bulls are managed and fed the way they are. Whether bulls are developed on the ranch, in a commercial facility, or at a central bull test, they are usually fed to gain 2.8 to 4.0 pounds daily from weaning to one year of age.

One of the most common complaints from beef producers is the run-down condition of young bulls after their first breeding season. Most young bulls will lose condition and weight during their first breeding season. However, minimizing the loss of body weight and condition will extend the bull's usefulness and productivity especially during their initial breeding season.

Developing young beef bulls to be "just right"

Can bulls be over-conditioned and/or under-conditioned before the first breeding season? The answer is probably yes. One might think an over-conditioned young bulls are better than under-conditioned bulls because if they are over-conditioned and they are expected to lose condition during the breeding season, at least they will still be in good condition at the end of the breeding season. Over-conditioned bulls entering the breeding season may be less active during the breeding season, especially if the breeding season occurs during the heat of summer. The same could be said for under-conditioned bulls in that their activity may be limited.

It is like the porridge being to hot, to cold, or just right. The idea is develop and manage young bulls so that they are just right for the breeding season. In other words, they are in their working clothes and toned up ready to perform their duty. In most cases, feeding and managing bulls to be in body condition score 6 (1=emaciated; 9=obese) at the start of their first breeding season is adequate. Body condition score 6 equates to body fat of about 20% to 23%. This body condition is the same as the target body condition of heifers at their first calving.

Managing average daily gain in beef bulls

As average daily gain increases, the amount of feeds high in energy, usually feeds high in starch, in the diet increases. As bulls are fed to a higher ADG, the likelihood of increasing body fat also increases. As bulls are pushed to higher ADG, care must be taken to insure and control digestive upsets that can impact the liver in the form of liver abscesses, feet in the form of founder, and rumen integrity. Not managing the feeding program to eliminate digestive upsets has the potential to reduce the longevity of young bulls.

We have used distillers grains and corn gluten feed in our bull development diets. Distillers grains and corn gluten feed have been used as both a protein and energy source. In the process of producing ethanol and fructose (corn syrup), the starch in corn is removed. The remaining byproduct is greater in protein, energy, and phosphorus compared to corn. Removing some starch in the diet and replacing it with essentially a high-fiber energy source reduces the incidence of digestive upsets. In addition, if some corn byproducts are used, it is likely that phosphorus can be removed from the supplement. In most cases calcium will be needed in the supplement. In growing bull diets, it would be critical that the calcium to phosphorus ratio not be below 1.6:1. As always, feeds that are used in the diet need to be priced competitively into the diet.

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