Nutrition
Proper nutrition in your bucking bull is one of the most important components of a successful competitive program. We are finding out that bucking bull feed with at least a 15% protein content works really well, along with plenty forage, such as grass in spring, summer, and fall and quality hay in the winter. Some bucking bull breeders, along with ourselves, are feeding our young bucking bulls starting out at a weaning age of 6 months old, with a high protein feed. We start our weanlings out on a feed that is 16% protein. It is also a complete feed which means it has the required amount and type of minerals as well as a vitamin pack mixed in. Because of the higher level of protein, it is very important that your animals have access to free choice hay during the winter, when green grass is not available.
Our experience has been that the 16% protein feed builds more muscle in our young stock which promotes more athleticism and downright “come and get ya attitude”, if you know what I mean. You’ll, for sure, want to be sure your arena fences are in excess of 6 feet tall. This feed is a little more expensive than a regular 14% beef calf ration. I’d say that the feed we use costs us about $2.50 per 50 lb. bag more than a 14% feed. We also use an added supplement to their feed when we start hauling and conditioning these futurity bucking bulls and we monitor the weight gain very closely. If the calf is putting on too much weight, we simply back his feed off a bit. It is my understanding that the older PBR bucking bulls do really well on an 18% protein feed. But again, if you’re looking for a competitive edge, I really would encourage you to consider a bucking bull feed program such as this. Next to bull breeding, I’d say that nutrition is the next most important variable in successfully raising bucking bulls.
