When is a bull dangerous?

KEMPTVILLE — Farms that keep a bull running loose are flirting with death and disease, say the managers of most of Canada’s high end bulls.

A six-month-old-bull has been know to run at workers from behind," says Ron Stewart, production and facility manager at Eastern Breeders Inc. And sometimes there will be no signs he is going to turn against you.

The eight men around the discussion table at Eastern Breeders Inc. (EBI) agreed that a one-year-old bull can kill an adult and put children working or playing in the barn at peril.

What’s more, "bulls in barns spread disease," says Marcel Chouinard, a former sire analyst with CIAQ, the Quebec artificial insemination unit.

Bulls for reproduction should be kept at an AI unit where the animals are disease free and can be controlled, he says.

There are on average two fatalities each year in Ontario caused by bulls.

But can you trust a young bull calf. Never, says Westgen, B.C. barn manager Andy Ness. Here's his theory:

"You can never totally trust any bull, but when they are young we actually work around them cautiously until one day they persist in trying to friendly butt you or the shovel as you are cleaning their pen.

"You may tap him on the nose and he will back off and this will go on for days but then one day he just keeps coming at you and you can see he has lost all timid issues and wants to be boss.

"Now is the time to treat him as mature — sometimes at 13 or 14 months,sometimes 16 months , but a good bullman is always paying attention."