Wednesday, November 11, 2009

YAK TRACKS: Yakking About "To Nose Ring, or Not to Nose Ring?"

From our YAKS YAHOO list:

Hello All:

Please help me with the decision as to whether to place a nose ring in my bull yak or not. He is very sweet, but he is a bull. However, I'm afraid of him getting the ring caught on something and injuring or ripping off his nose. He is 19 months old.

He has been raised as if he was a steer, and only realized this summer that he was a bull, and soon to be a father.

Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I did some quick research on this question and here's what I learned,

"If you are going to lead a bull on a halter, then it's a good idea to have him nose ringed. But the bull must be taught to lead and at the same time respect the ring in its nose. If you are not going to lead the bull, then it’s doubtful if it’s worth doing.

The pressure must never be placed totally on the ring, as you won’t hold a bull by the nose ring alone. He will just pull, and as the pain increases so will his fury, and you’ll achieve nothing. The bull’s nose can have 400-500kg of beef behind it and is a lot stronger than you are.

A led bull should always be restrained by a halter around his head, then the lead rope fed through the ring. So the ring is just for added control and not the total restraint. If the bull has horns (which are an added danger) the lead rope can go around those, then down through his nose ring."

-Amy