Well I gave him a day off yesterday and I guess that was the wrong thing to do. Put him in the fitting chute and worked on him there for a while and he was a perfect gentleman, spent about 1/2 hour tied in the chute, got him out and tried to walk him and thats where the trouble started, he got nasty. He would rip the rope from my hands and put his head down and try and shove me into the wall. He didn't want to turn again, just put his head down and back into a corner. Trying to lead him straight he wouldn't move. Don't know what happened between Thursday night and tonight, but he went from making real progress to being a real jerk. I was wondering if our old dairy cow could be my problem, I noticed them out in their lot head butting each other earlier today, could that be what is causing him to act aggressive? He was great Thursday night, I was able to lead him straight, and he was making actual progress on making turns. I am thinking of actually putting him on the tractor tomorrow, maybe seperating the dairy cow and locking him back up for a few days, seems since I started letting him out with the dairy cow he has started to act like a jerk. I also had been leaving the halter on him all the time and letting him step on it and I took that off Thursday when I was done working him, he let me put it back on him no problem today, but was a jerk about being led. Any ideas? I am back to square one.
Steer got nasty tonight, back to square 1 :(
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Show Heifer
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Do not put him on the tractor. All that is going to teach him is that a tractor can pull him, but you can't!
Just be patient. Go back to what was working before. You were making progress, so don't go blow it by proving to him that you can't handle him.
Just be patient. Go back to what was working before. You were making progress, so don't go blow it by proving to him that you can't handle him.
rkmn
Well-known member
I agree. Please use the tractor only as a last resort. Just continue with your routine and you will eventually get him where he needs to be.
linnettejane
Well-known member
def put the rope halter back on and let him drag it, and take him away from the other cow, she just seems to be teaching him bad habits
if he's ripped the rope out of your hands, and got free, he's probably gonna try it every time now...i showed chi steers during my 4h years from my uncle's farm (that's were i learned most of my patience from), he always used to tell me "NEVER let them put their heads down"....only 2 things can happen, and neither is good! they will either try to get away, or come after you....i never had one come after me, they were always trying to get away, and once they got all their weight behind them when their heads were down, unless you were 6'6" and 300 lbs...you were probably not going to be able to hold on to them...he was right...i couldnt...so thats usally when i let him take over the breaking...
have you tied him up for more than a half hour? try tying him up for say 3-4 hours, not in the chute, but in the stall, and check on him every 15-20 minutes, as he settles down, you can check him every 30 minutes...anyway, then after 3-4 hours of being tied, try to lead him...surely by then he will have worked out most of his "fight" with the board he's been tied too...they need to get used to being tied for long hours anyway...thats how they will be when you go to a show...
something to think about......if he's so bad that you have to put him on a tractor, do you really want your kid around him?
if he's ripped the rope out of your hands, and got free, he's probably gonna try it every time now...i showed chi steers during my 4h years from my uncle's farm (that's were i learned most of my patience from), he always used to tell me "NEVER let them put their heads down"....only 2 things can happen, and neither is good! they will either try to get away, or come after you....i never had one come after me, they were always trying to get away, and once they got all their weight behind them when their heads were down, unless you were 6'6" and 300 lbs...you were probably not going to be able to hold on to them...he was right...i couldnt...so thats usally when i let him take over the breaking...
have you tied him up for more than a half hour? try tying him up for say 3-4 hours, not in the chute, but in the stall, and check on him every 15-20 minutes, as he settles down, you can check him every 30 minutes...anyway, then after 3-4 hours of being tied, try to lead him...surely by then he will have worked out most of his "fight" with the board he's been tied too...they need to get used to being tied for long hours anyway...thats how they will be when you go to a show...
something to think about......if he's so bad that you have to put him on a tractor, do you really want your kid around him?
Jenny
Well-known member
I just had to get in here with my views of a couple of things,
first all the letting the calves drag halters is ok, I think, when breaking little ones, ones that are still on the cow, ones that you can hold onto no matter how hard they pull. Because what dragging halters teaches them is if they step on it and they have to stop, if they pull hard enough, they will get themselves free. That will certainly not help you with a calf that already has that figured out.
Your calf needs a major attitude adjustment and needs to respect you. I have been able to teach many calves this even after they have learned bad habits like putting their head down and taking off, head butting the person that is leading them, not wanting to lead.
I use a nose lead. You can get the ones that snap in and out. You do not pull on the lead until the calf does something wrong, like trying even just a little to get his head down, then you pull firmly on it. They forget all about what they had in mind to do. As soon as they put their head back up, then you let the pressure off of it. They will learn that when they do certain bad things, then the pressure appears from the nose lead but when they are behaved, then there is no pressure from it.
Hope this helps.
first all the letting the calves drag halters is ok, I think, when breaking little ones, ones that are still on the cow, ones that you can hold onto no matter how hard they pull. Because what dragging halters teaches them is if they step on it and they have to stop, if they pull hard enough, they will get themselves free. That will certainly not help you with a calf that already has that figured out.
Your calf needs a major attitude adjustment and needs to respect you. I have been able to teach many calves this even after they have learned bad habits like putting their head down and taking off, head butting the person that is leading them, not wanting to lead.
I use a nose lead. You can get the ones that snap in and out. You do not pull on the lead until the calf does something wrong, like trying even just a little to get his head down, then you pull firmly on it. They forget all about what they had in mind to do. As soon as they put their head back up, then you let the pressure off of it. They will learn that when they do certain bad things, then the pressure appears from the nose lead but when they are behaved, then there is no pressure from it.
Hope this helps.
knabe
Well-known member
head up. even twist it up but the release timing is important.
upthecreek
Well-known member
There is a way to use a tractor to help with a steer that runs away. If you tie the steer to the highest part of the tractor you can to keep is head up and use the tractor as an anchor only. DO NOT pull the steer with the tractor. Someone needs to have a hold of the halter and lead him. This way if you have tied him high he is not able to get his head down and also if he does get away from the person on the halter he can't get away from the tractor. I have used this method with great success, but please make sure you NEVER pull the steer withthe tractor.
farmin female
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Calves are like horses, if they get their head down, you're a goner. Also, don't underestimate the value of a halter with a chain under the chin. Let them drag one of those for awhile and make that chin sore and they will pay more attention to you.
Good day yesterday. Built a tie Bar in his stall and he stood tied for about 4 hours (ended up rushing son to hospital or wouldn't have been that long). Then got a brainiac idea to put a teacher rod in the shed. I tied a piece of old steel gas line to the rafter in the shed and left it hang about 10" from the rafter, attached a u clamp around the pole so it would slide, looped his lead for his halter through a snap with a quick release knot, snapped that snap to the u clamp and tried leading him back and forth. He would try and get his head down and fight and all he would do was pull on the pipe and I didn't have to fight with him, did this for about hour. I was able to lead him into the stall without a problem last night. He got out of his stall last night sometime and in with the other cows, but was able to catch him and lead him back into the stall this morning with little problem, it was great. I plan on tying him up like that every day until he leads like a champ. He is still a little skittish about things, I turned a radio on loud in his stall last night and he likes to hide in a corner alot, don't know whats up with that, but he is eating o.k. and drinking o.k. so we will see how things go. Thanks for all the advise. I will keep you up on how it goes.
I have used a vehicle with a couple of steers. Trick is that you MUST have two halters on him. One tied to the vehicle and the other for the person that must walk with him and hold on to it. Very slow process but sometimes they will finally give up. I would start with the nose lead first. I wouldn't mess with the clamp on rings. Put a real one in his nose. Once in his nose, don't pull on it for about two weeks. After two weeks, use it.
