need some advice on calf handling

lonelyfarmgirl · #1 10/20/09, 01:23 PM

I have earmarked a calf in the herd that I would like to break, train, whatever. make handle-able. A beef heifer, if it matters. we pulled her from the herd at 11 weeks old. she is now 16 weeks, and in a small enclosure away from the herd. she is super tame, for having been dam raised. she doesn't kick, and I can pinch, poke, squeeze and pull just about anyplace on her body, including lifting her feet and tail, and pinching her teats, and she simply stands there. I can sit on her as well. (never put weight on her of course, too young).

the problem is this. when I take ahold of her halter, she simply leans back with everything she has. what do I do to get her to 'halter break'? or 'lead break'?
I really want to let her out of her pen for some exersize, but not if shes going to run away, or not come with me.
advice please? This is the first time Ive attempted to train anything too big for me to man handle.

MullersLaneFarm · #2 10/20/09, 01:31 PM

apple slices are your friend.

with a lead rope on her halter, let her sniff & taste the apple.

hold it in front of her (think carrot on a stick) and when she takes a few steps, give it to her.

each offering of apple, make her take a few more steps farther to get rewarded. don't allow her to push you around.

Judith · #3 10/20/09, 02:21 PM

Another thing you can do is move to her side. Instead of pulling her forward, pull her head to the side and move that way. She will be off balance and will move a few steps to right herself. She will be able to out pull you in a pulling contest. Just keep doing that until she follows you easily. I am a lazy butt in this department. I tie whomever needs breaking to the side of the 4 wheeler and go for a leisurely putt. The have no choice but to follow

Mrs. Homesteader · #4 10/20/09, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MullersLaneFarm

apple slices are your friend.

with a lead rope on her halter, let her sniff & taste the apple.

hold it in front of her (think carrot on a stick) and when she takes a few steps, give it to her.

each offering of apple, make her take a few more steps farther to get rewarded. don't allow her to push you around.

So are peanuts.

When my calves get out, I just hold out my hand with a peanut and they come running.

randiliana · #5 10/20/09, 06:31 PM

First off, have you had her tied up? That is the first step, they learn to give to the pressure of the rope, because the post doesn't give in. Tie her up every day for a little while. NEVER let her go unless she is standing on a loose rope, and be sure to stay and watch, just in case she gets into trouble. Let her fight the rope that way, and she will learn.

lonelyfarmgirl · #6 10/21/09, 05:31 PM

I guess tying is what I will have to do. when we moved her from the herd to the pen by herslef, we had to walk her across the yard and around the house. of course she didnt want to go. we did more pushing than pulling. pulling, ineffective, of course. at some point during the trek, she simply tipped over, like a fainting goat. we thought we had accidentally choked her off of something, but that was not the case at all. she tipped over on purpose, in silent protest.

springvalley · #7 10/21/09, 05:56 PM

we halter train by going to the water tank ,something they need or want they will do just about anything.Thanks marc

freedomfrom4 · #8 10/22/09, 04:36 PM

I had one that would fall over. Everytime we would go for a walk and he didn't want to go over he would fall. At the fair this year a girl had a biiig angus fall over in the show ring. It took 20 minutes to get the cow up and when they did get the animal up it was bleeding from its nose

Some I think just do that. I've only done bottle calves and we tie everyone and then move them to feed. Everyone that I sale people comment about how easy my calves are to lead and how gentle and well behaved they are.

Valmai · #9 11/06/09, 05:59 AM

If/when you do tie her up, make sure there is enough length in the rope for her to lay down.

randiliana · #10 11/06/09, 07:40 AM

No, you don't need to have enough rope for her to lay down. You are not leaving her tied for hours on end, at least not for the first while. For teaching her, you need to leave her tied so she learns to give to pressure, and step forward when pressure is applied. While doing this, you only need to leave her tied for as long as it takes for her to learn to step forward and stand on a loose rope. And, whatever you do, do not EVER untie her while she is pulling. Only untie her if she is standing on a loose rope. At this point, you don't want to leave her tied for a terribly long time (couple of hours or so is good enough) and you should be where you can keep an eye on her during the time she is tied, so if she gets in trouble (falls over, tangled up) you can get her free before she gets hurt. Don't tie her and leave for 2 hours and then come back. Tie her while you are doing chores, so you have something to do, and can still keep and eye on her.

lonelyfarmgirl · #11 11/21/09, 09:46 PM

next suggestion? when I tie her, she simply sighs and lays down, regardless of the length of the rope.

Cheribelle · #12 11/22/09, 01:40 AM

Well, I don't know if you have one, but I have heard of people tying a calf to a donkey. The donkey will teach it to follow. I will be having this same task very soon, so I am very interested in this thread!

Cliff · #13 11/22/09, 08:50 AM

Tie her short and a little high and let her do what she will. She'll get tired of hanging there by her head

Have you let her loose while she was doing this? If so you might have inadvertently reinforced the behavior.
Have you tried turning her in a tight circle? It puts them off balance and forces them to take a step or fall.

randiliana · #14 11/22/09, 09:07 AM

I'd go with what Cliff said.....

ostrichlady · #15 11/22/09, 01:42 PM

follow what randiliana and cliff said, this is how we do it

Horns Bach · #16 11/27/09, 05:46 PM

You can also try just leaving the halter and rope on the calf and she'll step on it and train herself. Of course only with some supervision to make sure she's OK.

lonelyfarmgirl · #17 12/02/09, 09:52 AM

I never tied her long. It was always short.
she got to the point where I could do anything to her. So I started walking her out of her pen with a halter. There wasnt much walking though. she would try to dash away, or stand her ground. so I did the circle thing, both ways. It helped a little bit.
So I put her in a bit of a larger pen, since she grew out of the one she was in, now I cant catch her. and the couple times I have she jerked away. She has gotten too big to hold now when she struggles.

She refuses treats of any kind. I have thought about putting her on a longer tie so I can catch her. I thought maybe since I could catch her if she was rope attached, it would teach her she cant get away from me. On a short tie, she wont buck the rope, but I thought on a longer one, she would want to retreat and it would make her want to buck it, thus starting the lesson, but several people just said long ropes dont work. so what now?

randiliana · #18 12/02/09, 06:15 PM

Try this forum out. It's all about showing cattle, so there are lots of people who know what they are talking about and can likely help you out.

http://www.steerplanet.com/bb/index.php?board=1.0