The whole process surrounding our search for a bull has been very interesting and informational. I have learned quite a bit about what to look for and the signs and measurements that you can use to help choose your bull. I have really taken the old adage that the bull is half your herd to heart and I tried to find something that was more than just male. To that end I have had a lot of help from people in the Dexter community and folks that just plain know cattle.One guy that I was pointed to quite often was Gerald Fry. He has a website called, Bovine Engineering, that has a lot of information about grassfed beef, selecting genetics, choosing a bull, and so much more. One article that John Potter recently pointed me to is this one titled, "A Well Balanced Bull and the Benefits of Masculinity". It is just a short article, but it is full of great information on selecting a bull.
Mr. Fry describes a well balanced bull with this sentence, "The objective for a well-balanced and functional bull is to get 85% of his cow's settled on first service and do that job on grass and or hay and maintain his body weight." This is something that I couldn't really judge as we picked out our bull, but it is something that I'm going to pay attention to in our future breeding. Mr. Fry also places a lot of emphasis on selecting a bull that is masculine. As I have mentioned in the past this is one thing that has been difficult as we looked for Dexter bulls.
According to the article a good bull will show its masculinity in its head, neck and shoulders. Look at things like the amount of muscle, the thickness of the skin, coarseness of the head hair, position of the legs, and more. A well balanced bull as described in the article will be a benefit to any beef herd.
I look forward to continuing to learn about selecting a herd bull so we can begin improving our herd through our breeding. Do you have any other links or thoughts on selecting bulls? Let me know if you do!
