I don't have a cow...

ihedrick · #1 09/04/05, 08:03 PM

but have found someone who is willing to trade for one of my freezer hogs. I want to get it young enough to halter train it, but they are saying it will take seven months for it to be weaned. but at that age it would be hard to train I think. Can it be weaned before that and be bottle fed or is that a big hassle? The calves are Herefords.

Eunice · #2 09/04/05, 09:43 PM

My opinion is that a seven month old cow raised Hereford will never be really tame. I know that some 4-H and FFA members raise steers that are cow raised to that age, but I haven't seen too many of them that I would call tame.

quailkeeper · #3 09/05/05, 12:54 AM

Is this just a steer or a heifer that you intend to keep? If its a steer I wouldn't worry about taming it down. Now if its a heifer it might be worth it to you. My heifers I intend to train to milk are bottle fed from about a week old. If you try with a older calf they can be very difficult to bottle feed since they desire their mother's milk more. I have a friend who weans them at 5 months to halter train. Calves be weaned as early as 2 months. My bottle calves were weaned at 2.5 months old. Just feed them calf manna so they will continue to gain weight.

ihedrick · #4 09/06/05, 08:17 PM

So I am guessing that I can get this calf early and end up reducing the cost of it since it won't weigh as much, but I will have to feed calf feed. I'm excited about the thought of finally getting a calf. I was actually thinking of trying for two and then I can keep one for breeding and milk (when the time comes) and the other for freezer next spring.

tatanka · #5 09/07/05, 07:07 PM

We have been halter breaking and showing cattle, beef and dairy, now for ten years and we NEVER start breaking them until they are weaned. You start the day they are weaned and they break fairly quickly. They are in a transition so they learn to trust you easier because the cow is no longer there and they are still looking for that mothering they are used to having. You can pick any cow we have, walk up to her in the pasture, put a halter on her and lead her around. Once they are broken and tamed they don't forget it.

Marla

uncle Will in In. · #6 09/08/05, 09:48 AM

The farmer may not want to let the calf go as long as it's mother is giving plenty of milk for it. He will still have to feed the cow for a year before he gets another calf from her. On pasture the calf will nurse and get big at almost no added expense to the farmer. To sell it small would be a large loss to him. A seven month old herford is worth nearly as much as four butcher hogs.