Bulls that do not develop properly

[DaveB]

I have a 17 month old bull and have been concerned that his testicles have not dropped. Took him to the vet and found out that they have developed but did not drop properly, they are lying on each side of his sheath. He is a good looking bull with great confirmation and we have planned to show him but with his under development it is out of the question to how him as a bull. We basically have two choices, butcher him or castrate him and show him as a steer in the spring shows prior to butchering him. Has anyone seen this problem before? Any suggestions as how to best handle the situation? Is this something that can be corrected by surgery?
Thanks for your help.

 

[skeeter swatter]

I agree, cut him or eat him.
There is no way that he should remain a bull.

 

[Nesikep]

To me it sounds like he may not be fertile, and will have all the downsides of being a bull (aggression!) I agree with Skeeter.. I'm sure surgery is *possible*, though I don't see any point in it

For the future, I've found that most bull calves are born with the testes down, or at least within a couple days of birth they will drop.

Welcome to CattleToday

 

[branguscowgirl]

:welcome:
Agree. Not good for anything but to eat.

 

[Taurus]

Don't need to cut him, just get him fatten up for butcher. Not worth your time to show him as a steer since he's 17 months old already and the surgery for retained testicle removal is usually expensive. Just don't let him near any females as the bulls with retained testicles are not 100% sterile, just sub-fertile and you don't need the offspring with this gene defect.

 

[3waycross]

Taurus is correct. If you cut him it will set him back a bunch. Either sell him as he is or finish him out and butcher him. He should be pretty close now.

 

[hillsdown]

Taurus is correct ,it is sometimes genetic . That is why you shouldn't use a bull with one testicle even if he passes a BSE test and is capable of breeding .