Trouble Shooting A Buller Problem
By Dave Rueber, Beef Enterprise Consultant
The buller syndrome has been an enigma in the cattle feeding industry. There
is no single answer to the problem and therefore it can be very disconcerting to
the individual feeder involved. However, the buller syndrome may be a
manifestation of some underlying problem in the feedyard, that has gone
unnoticed for a period of time.
The following aspects of the feedyard may need to be analyzed to determine
the cause for an extraordinary increase in buller activity.
1. Check Rations and Bunk Management
 | The following may be attributing to moldy feed contamination.
 | Has a new silage pit been opened recently? |
| Did a new shipment of ingredients recently arrive? |
| Does the ration now include greenchop or some other fresh feed
ingredient that would have a high level of phytoestrogens |
|
| Was there a recent ration change in terms of ingredient percentages? |
| Was there a liver abscess increase?
| May be caused by very low roughage levels and/or low to non-existent
feedgrade antibiotic use |
|
| An increase in acidosis/bloat deaths or treatments
| An ionophore may be recommended to alleviate acidosis/bloat problems
in high concentrate rations |
|
| Are protein levels adequate? |
| Were there any changes in feeding routine?
| Did the time of day or priorities for feeding change? |
| Did the route of feed trucks in the yard change? |
|
| How good is the bunk management?
| Has the number of slicks in the morning increased? |
| Has the number of slicks in the day increased? |
| Is there any old moldy feed in the bottom of the bunk that needs to be
removed? |
|
2. Check Hospital Records
| Has there been an increase in pen pulls?
| Water bellies |
| Pneumonia and other respiratory |
| An increase may be due to bulling activity and dust problems that
could also decrease performance of the yard |
|
| An increase in coccidiosis treatments?
| Can be seen in cool wet summers |
|
| Check the implants in buller and/or sick cattle. The following will all
attribute to different hormone levels in the animals in comparison to its
pen mates. These different hormone levels have been implicated in increasing
bulling activity.
| Have the implants been placed properly? |
| Are the implants missing? |
| Are the implants crushed? |
| Are the implants bunched? |
| Are the implants abscessed? |
|
3. Miscellaneous
| Some research has been shown that there is an increase in buller activity
in steers when pens of heifers are adjacent. |
| Evaluate your implant program.
| It has been hypothesized that any variation in hormone level within a
pen will increase bulling activity. This hormone variation can come from
a variety of sources, but the implant program is one that is the most
obvious and therefore with diligence and attention to detail can be
remedied. |
| The implanter needs to be aware of good sanitary technique to decrease
incidence of abscesses |
| Determine if implant is given in the proper location of the ear |
| Determine if implant is accurately placed |
| Are there crushed, missing, bunched, placed in the cartilage implants |
| What are the previous implants given? |
| How many days since last implantation? |
| Is there some "stacking" of implants occurring? |
|
| Stress
| Decrease stressful activity whenever and wherever prudent |
| Transportation activities |
| Processing stress |
| Ration changes |
| Pen changes, size and density |
| Mixing cattle |
|
SUMMARY
Bulling is costly due to:
- Physical injury
- Decreased gain
- Reduced carcass value
- Occasional death
- Property damage
- Record keeping
- Public relations
- Increase susceptibility to disease
- Management and labor problems
Bulling is associated with:
1. Stress Factors
| Transportation |
| Changing and stormy weather |
| Ration changes |
| Pen change |
| Pen density and size |
| Strange cattle |
| Physiological status of the animal and/or pen |
| Social order |
2. Seasonal effects
| An increase in bulling activity can usually be seen in summer and fall
months (June – October) |
3. Estrogenic compounds
| Fresh or greenchop, especially alfalfa |
| Moldy feeds |
| Improper use and faulty placement of anabolic agents |
