Quick way to break with not a lot of time

[DairyGoatSlave]

For one of my jc classes we are breaking and showing heifers. We just got them last week and due to my being sick i was olny able to work with mine once. We are suposed to do a showamanship show in three weeks. We are not suposeed to hit our animals...well iv allways been a bit rough with mine. Whats the easyest way to break them in a little amount of time?

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background info
Iv been showing and breaking hiefers for 11 years, however iv allways had more time to do it
I have about three times a week that i can go out to the diary unit to work with her(thats including weekends)
Shes one of the crazyist heifers iv had, she kicks at anyone that walks by her, when i walk up to her(slow or fast, dosent matter) she pulls on the halter and thrases about that im afrade shes gona snap her neck, the olny time shes okish is when i rub her ears

help

[tyusclan]

Get a donkey.

Tie a bowline around the shoulders of the donkey and the other end of the rope to the halter of the heifer. Turn them loose in the pasture, and in about 24 hours you can walk up to the heifer and lead her anywhere you want her to go.

[ksfarmer]

Originally Posted by tyusclan

Get a donkey.

Tie a bowline around the shoulders of the donkey and the other end of the rope to the halter of the heifer. Turn them loose in the pasture, and in about 24 hours you can walk up to the heifer and lead her anywhere you want her to go.

And don't ask the heifer about the bruises. The donkey won't tell. LOL

[Tad]

When I was at school we had to do the same thing. We lead them across a hay field or rode my hiefer, that was the only way she would move. We put them on the hot walker at the schools draft horse barn. Worked pretty good.

[gone-a-milkin]

Pretty much any way you can lead her off w/o either of you getting hurt. Tie her to the bumper of your car, a donkey (maybe a horse instead...), a tractor, the hot walker, etc.

Get her moving good, so she is not being dragged, but leading nicely. Then you will be able to do it manually. (or womanually )

These are really no substitute for time and building trust, but will get you through your showmanship class w/o too much embarrassment.

Good Luck!

[myersfarm]

would think you would need to check on heifer every once in a while to make sure all is going ok


I would not just tie her to donkey and leave for a day with keeping track of them

[Tad]

The best thing I remember about showmanship is the teacher had one student that he couldn't stand. A know-it-all pain in the rear. The student had a cow to lead and was throwing him all over the ring. The teacher leaned over to a couple of us watching with smiles on are face and said. " I wonder who gave that cow a PG shot a couple of days ago" and walked away.

[francismilker]

Hands down, the donkey is the key for ANY critter that needs some taming.

You probably don't have a donkey and you probably don't have time to get one either so the donkey won't help you this time. I've got a little burrow that's a little over waist tall to me that has haltar broke a 1000lb. steer in a couple of days. I tie a cinch behind his shoulders and run a breaching strap under his tailhead for the occasional mishap of the calve being able to back away from him. Then, I tie the calves haltar with about 3 feet of lead to the donkey. I turn them loose in a two acre pasture and watch the show!

It's amazing how the bullheaded calf that will set back in their hauches with you pulling your guts out will react after a day with just the slight lowering of the little burrow's ear. The calf of course at the start of this schooling bolts into a dead run. Once the donkey gets set down on his haunches and gets the calf stops the hooves begin to fly. The calf then tries backing away with no success until he gets tired of kicking.

The next thing that happens is the donkey tries to walk forward. The calf again, sits down on his haunches and the donkey lowers his ears. The calf still sets down so the hooves begin to fly until the donkey gets tired of kicking.

It's the kind of marine corp "hellweek" session packed into 24 hours that really works efficiently. After about a two hour fight, the calf gets really tired of fighting and begins to figure out the donkey is boss. If the donkey goes to the feed trough, the calf gets to go. If the donkey gets a drink, the calf gets a drink. It learns really fast that it had better be on it's best behaviour and do what the donkey wants to do.

Though this may be an efficient way to do it, I've come to learn that the best way to break a calf to lead is slowly and patiently. I've got a daughter that has a special gift of calmness and patience and can usually get the most rugges calf to lead for her very fast. We've also set a family policy in place that if time is crucial, we don't show the calf. PERIOD! Even if you get your animal as gentle as possible, there's always the potential of someone coming in the ring with a nutjob that was weined off mama and haltared for the first time last week. That's how people get hurt.

I know you asked for suggestions on how to break in a hurry. However, I'd suggest not showing the animal this go-round if you're having difficulty with it's behavior. If you're able to take the time and do it as a gentling effort, the calf will be better in the longrun.

[gone-a-milkin]

Fransismilker, I am glad you came back to share the donkey story. I wonder how that method would work on teenagers...J/K, (kinda).

Sometimes calves learn real quick, just going behind the tractor for a little while.

Be safe!

[DairyGoatSlave]

myersfarm,
I cant check on her all the time as i dont have acess to her, she is on my colleges dairy unit that is available to us at cretin times. The kids that work there are in-charge of them. When I did my ffa and 4 H projects I took care of them myself, but sense shes not really my heifer i cant work with her like I want to.
Thanks so much everyone! I love the donkey or truck idea but we have PETA down our backs(CA, go figure) and im sure we would get problems from them, if she was at my house that hiefer would have a new buddy named jack Im going out there tomorrow, Ill keep yall updated on how it goes, but dont hold your breath lol!

[DairyGoatSlave]

We have progress!! I went out the dairy unit today. I was all alone so I got to show her how I do things We worked quite nicely together! I washed her and even scrubbed her hooves! She tried to kick me only once, I kicked her back and it seemed to solve that problem. We even did a few laps around the pen. She tried to take off a few times, but got socked in the nose for it and quit trying to run off

[indianheadranch]

Its not what you want, but is good info, i stole it from the net,

There are several ways in which you can halter break your calf. One is to begin by tying it to a post for a short period of time each day to accustom it to be restrained by a halter. Make certain that you secure the calf to a solid post and tie the lead high enough so that the calf will not get a leg over the rope. About 24 inches will allow the calf to stand or lie down as it desires.
As the calf is learning to respect the halter, you should begin brushing the calf. Be careful, as the calf will be scared and will possibly try to kick you. Brushing the animal while talking in a calm manner will do as much as anything to gentle the calf. (At first, it may be helpful to attach the brush to a stick or use a broom until the calf will let you close enough to brush him by hand.)

Fairs and stock shows require neck ties. All bulls must be tied up in the stall space with a neck rope (neck tie) and a halter. This is required to prevent an untied bull from breeding heifers that are tied up. Also, it will train your animal to stand straight in its tie-up area. So, you need to start working your bull early with the use of the neck tie.

By leaving the halter on the calf in the early stages of training and allowing it to step on the lead as it drags will help to train the calf so that when the lead rope is pulled, the calf should respond. When the rope is stepped on, the calf's head will be pulled around and pressure will be applied to its nose and chin until it stops fighting the halter. Also, this will help make your job easier as this practice will keep the nose and chin area tender enough to make handling easier in the early stage.

After your calf has learned to stand and not continually fight and pull on the halter, it will be time to train it to lead. Start out in a small pen and don't expect too much too soon. Begin by pulling the calf to one side and then the other. This pulls the calf off balance somewhat and it will naturally move around in the direction you are pulling. When the calf gives in to the halter, you should relax the strain somewhat to let it know that when it responds to your pulling, the pressure will go away. Care should be taken to never let the calf break away when being led as it will remember it and try to break loose again. Reward the calf when it responds well by brushing, petting or scratching.

After the calf has learned to lead, it is time to begin practicing show ring procedures. Begin starting, stopping, setting up its feet, and always remember to hold the calf's head up. Invite other people to drop by when you are working with your calf to help it get used to having strangers around. They should walk around the animal and touch it as will the judge and others once you arrive at a show.

Exercise and brushing should become a daily routine with you and your calf. This not only helps improve the calf's trained skills, but also helps to strengthen its feet and legs, imroves its muscle development, and increases its appetite.

[DairyGoatSlave]

Thanks very much

[harplade]

does verbal praise from its primary caretaker also work? I'm working with a young calf now and i'm always trying to praise her when she does well.

Am I just wasting breath or does that work with cows like it does with dogs?

[Cheryl aka JM]

I don't know if verbal praise works to tame a wild calf~ but based on the fact that my calves calm down when I talk to them if they are in a stressful situation (like when I wanted them to load in the trailer or when strangers want to pet them) I'd imagine a calm soothing voice they recognize as the source of food and comfort helps.

[DairyGoatSlave]

Yeah, praise does work, as long as you dont do the "squeaky" voice like you might with other animals. Like cheryl said, calm and soothing voice. I talk to my heifer so that when I do talk its not like "holy crap! what just came out of the human? its gona eeaaaattt mmmeeeeee" reaction