To the best of their ability Pathfinder have produced a fit, healthy sire and to get the most of your bull I would make the following suggestions:
When the bull/s arrives at your home, let them settle in by leaving them in the yards overnight and observe how they are reacting to their new home. Give them fresh water and good quality hay. If you have purchased only one bull, find a mate or two for him straight away. The mate should either be a single, similar sized and aged bull, or a few steers none of which are heavier than the bull. If you have bought multiple bulls from a number of different management groups, it is often better to put all those new bulls of a similar weight and age together at once. Introducing new bulls into a mob one at a time can lead to the new bull being given a very hard time indeed by his contemporaries... Your bull is still growing so for the first summer at least will need substantially higher quantity and quality of supplementary feed than do mature age bulls - another reason to run newly purchased sale bulls separately to older bulls.
Bulls are much more susceptible to worms than cows and need around double the drenches particularly in the first year of purchase where they may benefit from up to 3 or 4 drenches. Pathfinder drenched the sale bulls with Bomectin in January, and their next drench is not due until around 5- 6 weeks post the autumn break. In the first year after purchase, they should be drenched every 2- 3 months during winter and spring. In the second and subsequent years after purchase (cows all 3 years plus) a single midsummer drench and one or two winter drenches is all that is needed on most properties.
Pathfinder has vaccinated your bull with 7 in 1, Pestivirus and Vibrio, 3-day Botulism and tick fever. To maintain this protection they will need vaccinating with 7 in 1 & Pestivirus annually, with Vibrio just prior to joining. In the seven weeks prior to joining and during joining inspect your bulls 3 x per week. It is very important to get prompt, meticulous treatment of any infection such as foot abscess, as ANY delay in treatment at this point can have serious effect on semen quality.
During joining, you must remove the bull from the cows and treat at the very first sign of lameness or penis injury (e.g. sheath swelling, discharge or penis hanging out). You need to inspect the full length of the sheath as burst blood vessels can occur just in front of the scrotum. With any delay in removal and treatment , the chance of recovery plummets. Swap bulls mid-joining especially if singularly mated. Record dates of swap and mob details etc. If observing a bull mounting, but not serving, you’ll need to remove him from the cows for about four hours.
Observe closely when the bull has been returned to cows. If the bull is sound and the cow is still on heat he will serve straight away. Inspect bulls three times weekly during joining.
For further advice please do not hesitate to call Nick as he knows your bull well.
