Calf ready to get out of corral?

tenacres · #1 08/31/05, 04:38 PM

We have a 6 month old beef calf (got her last Sat - weighs 440) that was taken from her mom the day we got her. We brought her home and put her in a corral to wean her. She has been in there for 4 days now. She didnt cry much the first day/night. I think she was quite scared by everything. The second day she cried some but not bad. Yesterday was about the same. Today she hasnt cried much. A little, early this morning when I was out doing my chores but hardly any this afternoon. We've spent alot of time talking to her and doing things where she can see us. She seems quite interested in us. We've got her to eat hay out of our hands and she's even licked us. That's the background on her.

Now my question is: When can she be let out of the corral and put on pasture? She is our only calf and we dont have any cows. The only other animal we have that is about her size is a pony. He will be in the pasture with her, once she is able to come out of the corral. We've checked all the fencing and gates and are reasonably sure she couldnt get out. What do you all think???

Christina R. · #2 08/31/05, 09:15 PM

I don't know much at all, but I see no one has had a chance to answer your post, so I'll give you some of my thoughts. First of all how big is your pasture? My gut impression is the calf will connect you with food and will come around to you. If you are wanting to halter train it, you are going to want to be able to get your hands on it to work on that, so you aren't going to want to chase it around a huge pasture, but I don't think you want to keep it in a small corral for long either. I'm sure someone who really knows what they are talking about will give you better input.

Horace Baker · #3 08/31/05, 09:40 PM

I find that 3 days is an average time for calves to calm down after being separated from their mother. It might help if you could introduce the calf with the pony before letting her out of the corral if they're going to be pasture mates.

twstanley · #4 09/01/05, 09:46 AM

I think you can let the calf out now, keep an eye on it as it meets the pony and make sure the pony isn't going to try and run it to death as some horses will do that with cattle.

If the corral is adjacent the pasture, I am sure the calf and pony have already introduced themselves thru the fence, so that should be taken care of.