FEEDING AND EXERCISING THE HERD BULL 133 



thing is to keep them growing. A little fat will do no harm. We 

 are taught that there is no such thing as acquired characteristics 

 that can be transmitted, but we believe that environment and 

 feeding and care will have something to do with the offspring. 

 An underfed, undersized bull will not have as large, well-developed 

 daughters as a bull will have if he has been well grown and has 

 attained a desirable size and stretch for his breed. Therefore, let 

 us grow out our young bulls properly. The best treatment is 

 raising them on nurse cows. A good nurse cow will raise two good 

 calves if she is well fed and for valuable animals this method 

 cannot be beaten. The next best way to raise the calf is on skim 

 milk, hay and grain. 



202. Management as yearling.— The bull calves must be 

 separated from the heifers at six months of age because they will 

 annoy the heifers then and some young heifers are very preco- 

 cious and might breed soon after this age. Therefore, it is better 

 to be safe. 



From six months on the young bull may have silage and hay 

 and grain enough to keep him growing well. One hundred pounds 

 each of corn meal, wheat bran and ground oats, and fifty pounds 

 of oil meal make an excellent grain mixture for bulls. 



A young bull well grown can be used at ten months for a cow or 

 heifer or two, but it is better to delay using him if possible until 

 he is twelve months old. Then to get good growth he should be 

 used sparingly until he is two years old. We want size. Therefore, 

 let us do nothing to retard growth. 



203. Management of older bulls.— It is best to ring a bull 

 at one year old. He is dangerous to handle as soon as he gets any 

 size on him and it is better to be safe than sorry. Bulls that have 

 gotten their growth should be fed sparingly on silage. Feed them 

 good hay, preferably legume hay, and grain. Limit the silage to 

 fifteen to twenty pounds per day. The grain should be regulated 

 by the service. Bulls serving two or three cows a week need grain. 



Bulls can probably handle as high as two hundred cows per 

 year if properly fed and managed, if the cows are distributed. 

 The trouble is that in most herds the calves are all wanted at a 



