She is a wild girl...

tracylee · #1 12/01/14, 08:59 AM

We bought a young heifer that is due to calf in April and boy is she wild! We can't get close to her at any time. Does anyone have any ideas to tame her enough that we can milk her when the time comes?

CraterCove · #2 12/01/14, 09:26 AM

As a new person to cattle I'd be tempted to trade her off for something more tame. That's a lot of work to do before she calves.

With goats I have had much luck getting does to bond with me who have been standoffish by being present at the birth and getting the birth goop on me and letting her lick it off. Get some of that oxytocin reaction connected to me.

M5farm · #3 12/01/14, 10:13 AM

she need to associate you with food. make the pen small enough to reduce her flight zone. some cows will never let you pet them but know what their job is. when she sees that allowing you in the pen means she gets to eat she will come around. feed her twice a day as close to what you project your milking times to be. don't give her too much feed gradually work up. once caught tie her up. give her time to adjust.

farmmaid · #4 12/01/14, 10:16 AM

Put her in a small area, so she can not "win" when she runs away. Put down a small pan of grain and LEAVE her alone. Do that for a week, do not attempt to reach out to her. The second week move the pan closer to her and stand back against the wall and watch, do Not attempt to touch her. Third week, same but stand a little closer while she eats. Forth week stand @4 ft. from the pan when she eats. Do not try to touch her during this time while cleaning stall.
Now...while she is eating try to walk along side her, back of her circling her....do not touch! In a few days circle her again trying to touch her back, then rear then shoulder. lastly, come from the side and try to slide a long rope over her neck (not over her head). Tie the other end to a post/wall. Come up to her again with grain while shortening the rope until the rope is tied about 2 feet long.
Slowly touch her all over, feed and water her there, repeat the touching over days.
This all takes a lot of time, do not skip any steps. If she was not bred so close I would do things a little different.
Scratches on the head, not face....udder touching next..
BE gentle..................

Awnry Abe · #5 12/01/14, 10:18 AM

What M5 said. Plus, April is an eternity to get her trained. I've been able to get beef cows that have never stepped foot into a barn to follow a bucket into the feed bunk and close the stanchion in one afternoon. With a daily dose of food, you can have her coming at the right time, even when she calves.

Hexe · #6 12/01/14, 10:24 AM

I've never tamed them to be milked, but I've tamed them to be halterbroke, etc.

I found that by confining them to a box stall, without any other cattle around they'll calm down and make up to you. Be prepared though that this usually takes me several months. I'm the one feeding and doing chores and pretty soon I'm not that much of a threat anymore, esp. when I'm stingy with food and then feed them something every time I show up.
Once they are calmer (this can take weeks since I don't want to push it), I will put a halter with a short, attached rope on the animal. I'll leave the rope on the halter, because then they halter-break themselves when they step on the rope (not much chance of getting the rope tangled in a stall). They'll learn to give and not fight it, pretty soon I can lead them around the stall and will tie them for feeding and release when I'm done with chores. Then I'll lead them out of the stall and right back in. Then I tie them and start handling them, etc. etc.

Basically I just add another step once I've accomplished my previous goal.

The more time you can take to make this happen, the better it will turn out.

Good luck.

kycrawler · #7 12/01/14, 07:20 PM

Feed is your friend . My cows will follow me anywhere they come running when my truck pulls in . I feed them grain and we feed day old bread daily they will all eat hot dog buns out of your hands . The down side is I can't herd them anywhere they are so used to me

collegeboundgal · #8 12/04/14, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kycrawler

Feed is your friend . My cows will follow me anywhere they come running when my truck pulls in . I feed them grain and we feed day old bread daily they will all eat hot dog buns out of your hands . The down side is I can't herd them anywhere they are so used to me

Like you, we don't "herd" our cattle, we lead. Aka: bribery... Lol!

tab · #9 12/07/14, 03:23 PM

IF and when she lets you touch her, a brush can be magic. Amazing how a hawky cow decides that eating AND getting brushed can be like death by chocolate to a stressed woman! Go easy, there is nothing that is absolutely fail safe with such a big animal.

DJ in WA · #10 12/07/14, 09:58 PM

Question is whether she is wild by nature (genetics), or wild because she's never seen a human, or a combination. If you bought her where she's around people but still wild, might be her nature. Sure, can make some progress, but might never be what you want for milking.

Possible they sold her because of her nature. People don't generally sell their favorites.

I like to buy them where you can walk among them and pick out ones less flighty. Not foolproof, but helps.

I would stay away from her front end. Cattle are more touchy there. Mine like a good scratch on the rear in front of the tailhead, but don't like me messing with head or shoulders. Not to mention they can be aggressive with their head. Scratching head is not a good habit unless they're dog gentle.