An abattoir survey of bull genitalia

This paper describes a survey of 504 bull genitalia collected after slaughter at 3 Western Australian abattoirs over 18 months. Details of the gross pathology, histopathology, and microbiology of the genitalia, and physical dimensions of the testicles are presented. The major breeds represented were Hereford (30%), Shorthorn (16%), Friesian (14.3%), and Aberdeen Angus (13.9%). The mean age of 263 bulls (52.6%) was 4.4 years. The mean length and breadth of 469 paired testicles was 10.8 cm and 6.9 cm respectively. Pathological conditions of the testicles were present in 61/469 (13%) bulls and in the epididymides of 37/469 (7.9%) bulls. Campylobacter fetus was isolated from 20 (4%) bulls, Tritrichomonas foetus was isolated from 6 (1.2%) bulls, and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus was isolated from 14/158 (8.9%) bulls. Histories were supplied by stock owners for 307 (60.9%) bulls and these did not relate well to the findings of the survey. The findings of this survey were compared, in particular, to similar studies carried out in Australia.