Bulls and steers

A bull calf can be left a bull, or castrated and made a steer. The choice is on his page while he is still a calf. Once he is grown, the choice is gone. It does not reverse.

Keep him a bull when

You want calves, BIKs, or a bull other players will buy.

• He can breed cows in his corral, and he can breed on a tract.
• You can extract BIKs from him. Each BIK costs 10 TOUGH.
• Other players can buy him in the Sale Yard.
• On grass he eats 1.25 AUM when his health is sound. Under 70 health that rises to 1.5.
• His health falls faster than a cow's. He is the expensive animal to feed.
• The commodity market pays him 80 percent of the steer price for the same weight.

Three grown bulls in one corral with a cow will fight. If you are keeping bulls, split them. Read Corrals.

Make him a steer when

You want a meat animal that is simpler to keep.

• He cannot breed, and he cannot make a BIK.
• He does not count toward a bull fight.
• His health falls a little slower than a cow's, and clearly slower than a bull's.
• On grass he eats 1 AUM, the same as a cow, unless his health is under 70.
• The commodity market pays the full steer price. Cows are paid less, and bulls are paid less.
• A Dustborn steer has the largest growth bonus of any origin.

There is no cap on steers inside a corral beyond the 17-head limit. A pen of steers is the straight path to a commodity check. A pen with one or two bulls is the path to a bigger herd.