Bull semen vs. hard winter

[marketeye]

I'm hearing that harsh winters can be hard on bulls. If you have a bull that you rely on for your whole herd, it might be a good idea to have its semen checked. I'm wondering if anybody has had problems with this in the past? This was a pretty tough winter for animals. What do you think?

Or, even if you're contemplating buying a bull for your herd, come June 1, will you have its semen checked? Or, is that not something you see as necessary?

Thanks,

Mike

[Husker-J]

Our experience has been that by June, things are back to normal, barring special circumstances, like injury or frostbite to unmentionable parts of the bull's anatomy.

We won't buy a bull that didn't pass his test, and barring injury, I can't remember one that had a bad count in early spring, that wasn't acceptable by June.

[Shaggy98]

Back in our 1000+ head of cattle days, we had about 20-30 bulls at any given time. I can't remember what year it was but I know it was in the 80's after a brutally cold winter. We collected samples from every bull ourselves, what an experience that was. Let's just say than goodness for HD squeeze chutes.