crampy in bulls?

[librarian]

My Galloway bull went to work at another farm. He was very sound and active. He was put out with 30 heifers and 10 18 month old steers for 18 days, then ,one morning, he could barely walk.
He improved somewhat, but the vet says it looks like crampy? He walks like an old man, they say.
What is crampy?
I think the big steers just rammed him about a million times from behind as he was breeding the heifers and injured him. I am not too happy about this breeding / finishing pasture idea the guy had.
Or, can a rough pasture low carb bull founder when put into lush grass?
Is he probably done for? He was a good bull, I will ransom him back if he might come around.

 

[HAB]

I think you are correct that the steers injured him.

Running that many old steers with cycling cows and one bull is, well, stupid.  In my opinion.

Harley

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Sounds like he needs a vacay and some good mineral.

 

[RyanChandler]

Steers of that age should have zero interest in what your bull is over there doing. 

Heifers aren't always the most cooperative (imagine that) so your bull moving around like it's Sunday afternoon instead of Friday night is to be expected. 

Load him up w/ some dex, and put some weight back on him.. Poor guy needs some R & R

 

 

[librarian]

I heard he got all but 3 of them.

 

[librarian]

I just wanted to differ with XBAR on the subject of steers mobbing a bull.
I think they would.
These steers were Irish Blacks and Murray Grey crosses.  Irish Blacks are some kind of Friesian Angus combination that sounds big. Murray Greys are not small. At 18 months they might have weighed 1500 lbs? More?
Ivan, the Galloway, weighs about 1800 lbs.

A Galloway bull can breed a lot of cows. 30 heifers should not have been a big chore for this bull if he was not constantly having to toss these big steers off his back.  People might not understand how sound Galloways, as a rule, are on their legs and how much work they can handle.

 

[librarian]

I just burned a whole day and a tank of gas going to check on Ivan who was supposed to be "better".
He didn't have crampy or anything like it
The agile, patient, robust and savvy animal I put on the trailer 2 months ago was blind in one eye and could barely walk. I had to advocate for sending him to the butcher.
This is something I am starting to see as a pattern in a segment of grass fed beef producers.
They want just the right animals, spend good money on them and then direct 99% of their attention on managing grass and 1% on understanding natural history and animal behavior.
Bad day at Black Rock

 

[GoWyo]

What was the cause of blindness?  Untreated pinkeye or something else?  Is he crippled due to the steers?

 

[librarian]

Looked like he had had pink eye pretty bad.
Be also had him in the barn with another bull "to keep him company"
Guess I'll never know how he got crippled since no one was paying attention.
He was breeding my heifers the day before he left and was in fine shape. I always keep my hand right on my Shorthorn bull, but Ivan was kind of shared with different people who were interested in Galloways but couldn't find a bull.
He left his mark around here, for sure.

 

[RyanChandler]

Covering 30 females in 18 days is a feat for any bull.  If that is the standard you're accustomed to, then it should be pointed out that you've been exposed to some extremely vigorous specimens.

 

[librarian]

Maybe you should rephrase that?
Librarians are extremely discrete.

 

[librarian]

Good News!
Ivan proved to be more extremely vigorous than I ever hoped.
He slowly recovered from his injuries, went out for the breeding season again this summer, came thru fine and was sold back to a friend of mine in NY. He is now in a crossbreeding program with a group of Blue Blooded Wye Angus heifers. My friend bought him because one of Ivan's sons bred his double bred Emulation 31, Bear of Wye cow while I had her. He liked the calf so much he traded one of his Wye bulls for Ivan. Yay Ivan!
I guess the man who bought him from me felt kind of bad when I was crying over Ivan getting ruined and decided to give him a chance. He's 6 years old now...looks a little lean but full of life.
This picture makes his back legs look straight, but they are not-that's what saved him.
The man who had Ivan isn't giving up on Galloway-he bought some Moto Moto breeding stock.