Need Help

bricned · #1 07/19/08, 02:11 PM

I just purchased a 19 mo. old 3/4 jersey and 1/4 brown swiss heifer. She is
supposed to have been bred for just a few days. She is gentle but she has
never been handled. She will let you close to her but you can't touch her. I
would like to make a milk cow out of her if I can. Any recommendations
would be appreciated. Also she is currently in a pipe corral. What would be
the chance of her staying in a large pasture by her self since I have no other
cattle?

agmantoo · #2 07/19/08, 03:53 PM

Get a bag of sweet feed. Give her some of the tasty feed first on the ground near you. Slowly, over a few days, make her come closer and closer in order to get the feed. soon whe will be eating from a container in your hand. Then as she eats the feed start running your hands over her. Do that more and more until she doesn't object. As time passes and your efforts progress move down to her udder and run your hands over that and the teats. She will gentle just fine. Never shout or hit her regardless of what she does. She will come to trust you and you her. Enjoy

dezeeuwgoats · #3 07/19/08, 11:00 PM

agmantoo;

I'm going to ask a question too, since I have a similiar situation - not exactly - but have been wondering how to tame down our 'wild child'. I hope bricned doesn't mind!

She is a 15 month old heifer, holstein/jersey cross. She is friendly and we have had her awhile. She, however, gets very excited when fed/handled - like a rambunctious dog, which my hubby refers to her as. She is bouncy, and well - it scares me! We haven't handled her excessively, or treated her like a 'pet' as far as I know.

I don't know how to 'discipline' a cow. You mention not shouting or hitting no matter what. Would that apply here as well? Not that I want to do those things, but how to get her to gentle down a bit?

thanks;
Niki

agmantoo · #4 07/20/08, 10:02 AM

dezeeuwgoats, I am not all that qualified related to the problem you have. Cattle knock each other about to determine the pecking order and you do not stand a chance of doing that with the weight difference. She is of the opinion that she is the higher ranking position. To sort this out, I think my approach would be to get a small switch and use it on her nose when she tried to overrun yourself. This would not hurt her and she needs to realize you are the higher ranking individual. As she ages she will loose some of the energy but she will remain pushy unless this is corrected and it needs corrected now. AT 15 months old she should be weighing 700 to 800 lbs so realized to get her attention you may have to be a bit aggressive with the switch. Only use the switch as she aggress , cease immediately as she retreats. It may take some time for her to realize what you are doing and to connect the two. I have an arms length arrangement with my herd. We respect each other but on rare occasions the herd will revert to where the strongest try to rise to the top. Recently the entire herd was is a remote paddock and could not determine how to exit to get water. When I realized they could not access the water and corrected the situation they tried to overrun the automatic waterer. I thought they were going to tear it loose from the concrete so I got a flexible but strong switch from a nearby tree and stood at the waterer and controlled which cow would drink and which ones would wait. They can be managed but they need to know where the control is located. Always remain consistent with any animals. If I want my herd to come to me I call. If I want them to go away I whistle. Over time they have come to know what I mean by each action. Good luck.

AR Transplant · #5 07/21/08, 10:18 AM

what amantoo said
I would add you got your work cut out for you but it will be worth it.

just takes time and sometimes you think they will never get it but they do.