Wid cows

wally · #1 03/27/10, 04:27 AM

Last May a neighbor who lives 2 miles had 5 cows get out we were able to catch 3 of them the other 2 are very wild now. We have tried to catch them several times but they just keep busting thru fences and panels. One of these cows had a calf in january and we able to get the calf. I got this calf for babysitting them for the last 11 months. Last night they were in our front yard again and now the other cow has a calf. I guess the cows weight to be about 850 lbs and the calf 100 lbs. Short of a well placed 180 grain cow stopper. Any suggestion would be great.They run into heavy timber so roping wont work.

ramiller5675 · #2 03/27/10, 07:26 AM

How about putting some feed out to tame them down? Once they are used to the cubes, put the cubes in a set of pens and shut the gate behind them when they go in for the feed.

Anything can be tamed if it is hungry, and the slower you go the quicker the cattle will go (don't chase them all over hell and back if you expect to ever catch them).

tinknal · #3 03/27/10, 08:26 AM

A couple of good cowboys with cow dogs. Dogs chase cows out of the woods, cowboys rope the cows, cows go on truck, take a trip to town.

oneokie · #4 03/27/10, 10:37 AM

Tranquilizer dart.

desertshi · #5 03/27/10, 11:21 AM

I agree with tranquilizer darts if they can't be roped. You could set up a temperary (sp?) pen and put food in it. Get the cows to go in for the food, close the gate. Back up a trailer to the gate, load. Or if that isn't possible without them going through the fence, tranq dart them in the temp fence? Good luck!

ksfarmer · #6 03/27/10, 12:58 PM

All good suggestions, tinknal may have the best idea if you can find anybody in your area who likes to ride and rope. A catch pen and feed takes a lot of time and patience.

haypoint · #7 03/27/10, 07:24 PM

My farm is surounded by thousands of acres of hardwoods. I had a couple 600 pound calves run through the fence the first day I brought them here.
Every time I'd spot one, it would duck into some brush and disappear.
After a few weeks and no results, we built a round pen in a clearing, with a tall gate. Left the gate open and poured some corn in the pen and waited. When she started eating, I shut the gate, got the stock trailer moved to the gate and herded her into the trailer.

However, 6 months later, after a summer of daily contact, we needed to move these two from a small pasture into the trailer. Just entering the 3 acre pasture was enough to get them to bolt to the fenced corner, jump through two strands of electric fence, two strands of barbed wire and a 6 inch diameter cedar cross brace. It wasn't a big deal because they broke out of the small pasture and into the large pasture.

Eventually, they smelled the pig's food and broke into the barn. They were put into box stalls and haven't been outside since Labor Day.

I'm afraid I'm going to go against common selection choices and breed some tranquility back into these wild Angus.

Allen W · #8 03/27/10, 07:46 PM

Find some body to rope them and then drop them at the nearest sale barn. If you tranquilize them you will have to wait for the withdrawal time to be up.

bruce2288 · #9 03/27/10, 10:27 PM

HAYPOINT If you are going to breed these two wild ones to a percieved more docile breed or individual with the hope of raiseing calmer calves, good luck. Rank cows raise rank calves, what is not genetic predispostion is learned and a calf learns how to react from its mother. My opinion only and its probably worth what it cost.

myersfarm · #10 03/28/10, 08:34 AM

I would catch and sell 2 wild ones and hope I could put
$100 with it and buy 2 gentle ones

wally · #11 03/28/10, 06:01 PM

Thanks everyone for helping me out. I called the farmer today and told him the party is over they have tore up the front yard by grasing on it when it was muddy . He assured me he would fix the yard and repair the 60 Bushel deer feeder that they distroyed. He still thinks if he can catch both of them he will sell the older cow and retrain the younger one if he puts it in with his other cows?????? I dont know as this is my first attempt with cattle...He also told me I could have the new born calf when they are caught (100-125 lbs) and full angus..He is to have them gone by next weekend..Thanks again and I will let you know how the story ends

WstTxLady · #12 03/29/10, 06:11 PM

wild cows are instantly sold around here........best of luck......unless he'd agree on a BBQ lol

lasergrl · #13 03/30/10, 12:27 AM

Shoot em and make burger

wally · #14 04/03/10, 08:07 PM

Chapter 2
The big rodeo was this AM @ 10:00, The rodeo included 2 on horseback, 3 on forewheelers,1 on a dirt bike and 6 on foot. They got back to the house around 3:00 , one on horseback was thrown by his horse but will heal up. One cow and her calf were last seen about 1.5 miles south of my place haven taken out 4 fences on her way. The other cow managed to avoid the small army and was last seen on my back 40 acres which is heavy timber and deep draws. Wild cows 1..cowboys 0.

bruce2288 · #15 04/03/10, 08:11 PM

I love it. A bit of cubes on a regular basis does wonders. Too late now. I can't wait for the next chapter and glad they are not my cows. Life is too short to put up with problem critters.

Welshmom · #16 04/04/10, 01:06 PM

I agree with the others as far as NOT wanting any calf from such a mama cow, even if you hand raise it, it will likely be prone to flightiness, etc. It's far easier to start off right with a calm cow and a tame calf. Don't do it the hard way on purpose! LOL

In case the neighbor starts thinking about darting the cow(s)...it ain't like they make it look on tv. First, it's very dangerous for both the cow and the people involved. You are going to be administering a very potent dose of drug by first GUESSING at the cow's weight. Guess a few hundred lbs. over, and your cow is now loaded with drugs, but not sleepy enough to fall down. They can become very unpredictable and aggressive. If you guess under, you can very well overdose and kill the cow. Now it's a dead, inedible cow.
The best of drugs take a long, long time to take effect. Like, around 15 minutes. You've seen them move. How far and how many other fences or houses or ravines could she traverse in 15 minutes? Are you in an area where no matter what, you can not lose sight of her until she drops? Once down, drugged animals are very unpredictable and dangerous. You don't want her to disappear and then someone who has no knowledge of the situation to come across her and walk right up to her.

Also, there is the matter of hitting her right with the shot, and not missing. I once watched a trained professional take aim at a mad, TIED heifer, and the second he fired, she wheeled her head around and the dart hit her right between the eyes. Nothing but bone, and it had no effect on her! Luckily it did not go in her eye. Oh, and once she did go down? It took 11 men (and myself) to lift her into the stock trailer. So you need to know that once the cow is down, you won't have much time to get to her with the trailer and a means of getting all that IN the trailer. A winch is a good idea.

If it were me, I'd try the building a big stockyard area, or using one that's already set up, and trying to calm/lure them over a long period of time. If that's not an option, it sounds like it's getting to be time to consider shooting them. The liability involved here if one of these cows runs out onto the highway and kills someone in a vehicle is immense. These cattle have very little value as far as breeding stock or steaks goes at this point. If you shoot them, the zoo or other folks who own exotics may be willing to take the carcasses. Not if you drug them.

I wish you good luck.

deineria · #17 04/06/10, 12:28 AM

LOL. . . That is all I can say!~

wally · #18 04/06/10, 04:19 AM

Chapter 3
There Baaaaccckkk. Aleast 2/3rd are..When I went out to call my cows last night , I give them a small amount of sweet feed to train them to come to the rattle of grain in a bucket. My cows came right to me. About 100 yards in the brome field there stood the cow and her calf that was 1.5 miles from our farm after the rodeo last weekend. When she heard my voice she left the field at once and walked back into the timber just so she could watch me. The farmer who owns these wild cows is working out of town this week so I can not talk with him to see what his plans are.

ErinP · #19 04/06/10, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wally

Chapter 2
The big rodeo was this AM @ 10:00, The rodeo included 2 on horseback, 3 on forewheelers,1 on a dirt bike and 6 on foot. They got back to the house around 3:00 , one on horseback was thrown by his horse but will heal up. One cow and her calf were last seen about 1.5 miles south of my place haven taken out 4 fences on her way. The other cow managed to avoid the small army and was last seen on my back 40 acres which is heavy timber and deep draws. Wild cows 1..cowboys 0.

What about the dogs?

If you have brush/timber that you're trying to keep them out of, you really need a dog or two.

So far as all of this chaos, we've worked on a dozen ranches over the years and run thousands of head of cattle.
Occasionally we've had cattle that'll do all of the above, but a few good cowboys (good being the key word!! Hire professionals, not the guys who like to "do a little roping on the weekends"!) and their cow dogs can get them in.
It might take a few tries, but we've never had any that couldn't be caught. We have, however, had a few that we needed to have a couple of buddies come help with.

(We also had a bull that was on the fight that got away with two good ropes on him. Once he was caught, he spent five days in the trailer, waiting for sale day. LOL )

shiandpete.1 · #20 04/08/10, 06:50 PM

I am officially addicted to this thread!