Time For Bully To Go

Bully is our our 20 month old registered Jersey bull.  He's Daisy's boy and here is a photo of him from back in September.   He is much skinnier now, because of the lack of grass and the fact that he's been eating 100% hay, but he is much taller now. We wanted to keep him around because he is registered and has A2/A2 genetics. Our goal was to use him to breed all of our cows to get offspring with his good genetics and also save some money on 'stud' fees.

Bully (September 2014)

Those plans changed.  Over the past month, and getting worse as time goes on, Bully has become more and more aggressive.  Jersey cows are so docile, but Jersey bulls are mean and crazy.  I read somewhere that Jersey bulls kill more people than any other breed.  Especially when one of the cows is in heat, Bully charges around like he's crazy.  I guess he sees us as competition for 'his ladies.'  He's been coming up to us and bumping us with his head. He has on short, thick horn and he's used it to destroy numerous things in the pasture.  He has also chased us several times, causing us to quickly jump over the fence to save our skin.  Tricia keeps big sticks by the gate to hit him with if he threatens her.  I don't like worrying about my family being attacked by a bull in our pasture.

The rod of instruction

The bottom line is this.  I learned that we aren't set up on our little farm to keep a bull.  We would need a special pen with heavy duty fencing.  We don't have the room or set up for this.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) Bully has to go.  We decided to go ahead and bring him to the Kinder Livestock Auction and sell him.  My Dad came and helped me get him loaded in the trailer.  It was no easy task as he's not halter broken.  He knew something was up, that we had plans afoot.  Wielding a bucket of feed, we lured him close to the cattle trailer, clipped a lead rope around him and pulled it around the trailer to pull him slowly in.  We slid the bucket of feed into the trailer and I got behind him and pushed while Dad pulled on the rope. Pretty soon he was in the trailer.  Whew!

We told him goodbye.  Sort of sad to see him go, but mainly happy.  

Daisy and Rosie came to the fence to tell him goodbye as well.

Dad and Mom drove off with Bully en route to Kinder to take him to the sale.  Cattle prices are real good right now, but we won't know for a few days how much he weighed and how much money he brought.  Sadly, the fact that he's a registered bull won't factor in to the price he brings.

 

This evening as I walked out to milk Rosie, there was peace in the barnyard.  You didn't have to walk with a stick or watch your back for crazy bull running at you and I didn't have to worry about Benjamin as he walked in the pasture to complete his chores of collecting eggs each day.  From now on if we keep a bull calf, we'll castrate him, and raise him for a short while until he's big enough to eat.