While spring breeding season is wrapping up, and bulls are pulled from pastures it’s not time to ignore the key to your breeding program.
Kansas State University veterinarians Brad White and Todd Gunderson, and beef cattle nutritionist Phillip Lancaster say rest and proper nutrition are essential for helping bulls recover and prepare for the next breeding season.
During a recent “BCI Cattle Chat” podcast, the experts discussed the importance of a comprehensive approach to bull management.
“A bull may lose anywhere from 100 lb. to 200 lb. of bodyweight during a breeding season,” Gunderson says. “He’s going to need at least a couple of months to recover body condition and complete spermatogenesis (a process of sperm cell development).”
The experts recommended an approach to bull management that considers:
- Reproductive health assessment
Gunderson says simply moving a bull from one breeding pasture to another without proper preparation could compromise his performance.
A key recommendation was conducting a breeding soundness exam before the next breeding season. While a previous exam might have shown positive results, the bull’s reproductive health can change significantly during a breeding season. Sperm structure and motility can develop defects that might impact fertility. Therefore, Gunderson suggested reevaluating the bull’s reproductive health to ensure optimal breeding potential. - Nutritional supplementation
The nutritional strategy varies depending on the forage environment. White highlights the importance of proactive management. Producers must anticipate nutritional needs and supplement accordingly considering the specific forage resources available. - Body condition monitoring
Simply monitoring body condition score is insufficient, as it represents a lagging indicator.
“We typically want bulls in a body condition score of 6 when turning them out for breeding,” Lancaster adds. “If he’s losing 100 lb. to 200 lb., he’ll likely drop to a body condition score of 5, (so) producers need to plan supplement strategies based on their forage resources.” - Forage resource evaluation
The experts emphasize bulls require strategic nutritional support, whether on warm- or cool-season grasses, to ensure optimal fertility and performance in subsequent breeding seasons.
They add each operation looks different based on forage resources and other regional conditions, but it’s important to care for bulls even when they are not covering cows.
The discussion underscored several critical management principles:
- Biological recovery time is essential for bull fertility
- Reproductive health should be professionally assessed periodically
- Nutritional strategies must be tailored to specific environmental conditions
- Proactive management prevents potential breeding performance issues
To learn more about bull management practices, preweaning calf management and preparing for fall processing, listen to the full episode of “Cattle Chat” online.
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