Breaking a steer

So I have been breaking steers now for about 17 years. Sometimes they will break sometimes you need to put them on the truck. I have a Grizzly steer that I have been pretty excited about in the barn right now. He has been in there since Sunday night. When I go out to look at him he runs the fence line. He has actually made a path in the ground. I brought in a mini horse to buddy up to him (no other calves available) and he has not even tried. He isn't mean, he just runs back and forth without breaking stride. I can stand in the corner and he will run up to me and not even see me, he's just running the fenceline. I rubbed him with the showstick today and he just ran back and forth not even noticing me. To the point of breathing with his mouth open and coughing. Any ideas? It's hot here and I don't want to cause pneumonia so I will be turning him out tomorrow or Saturday if I can't come up with a solution. He's just a really neat looking calf and I'm hoping someone else has dealt with this successfully before. He doesn't have a halter on and he doesn't appear to be eating his hay. When I go out there he immediately goes to running the fence. Any other calf would have gotten the boot, but he's pretty neat to look at. His breeding is Grizzly (sire) G13structure x dr who (dam), if that explains anything. I had hoped the structure would tone down the who but it's not looking like it

he sounds a little nutty. call a vet

everybreedcounts said:

he sounds a little nutty. call a vet

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I banded him myself, at a week old, so that's not it.  What about feed additives, similar to ace, or something like that.  When you ace a calf and break him are they broke or do they remember anything after the ace wears off? He's just the weirdest calf, just wants to run the fence and doesn't look at anything other than the fence. There is nothing on the other side either, it's a big open hay barn with a hay loft in it (lower ceiling). He can see a small vacant field, a road and a woodpile. So nothing to be running after, he's just tring to escape by running back and forth.

I'll see what I can do, the barn is pretty dark and the most recent one I have is from April. He ate some hay tonight so a little progress......

I would put a tarp up around the pen or any sides that are open to where he cant see out of the pen and see if that helps.................

Is he by himself? If he is put something that is calm and tame in with him. It will let him buddy up and relax. He will realize that you bring feed and that your generally alright.

I like the tarp idea, I was considering plywood so he can't see the outside. I'm going to pick up some grain today just to see if that will help. I don't have a friend for him that is tame so I put in the mini horse and she just kicks the crap out of him everytime he runs to her so that was an epic fail. I was going to put a goat in with him but boer goats are worth gold (ramidan), so that won't happen. I kicked him out into the big pen today with expectations that he would bust through it and he is just walking the perimiter so maybe..............I'll get a photo. He hasn't eaten much since sunday so he's sucked up but you can still tell that he's a good one.

i would try a donkey. donkies fight back instead of just taking the hits. we have a mini donkey right now, and she can beat the crap out of our two horses anyday.. shes only about a year old, she stands up to about the middle of my thigh, and she doesnt eat much.

Hey Sam,
Quit the artsy, fartsy, gentle, take your time approach.  Rope him, put a halter on him and tie him up.  If he calms down great if not go to plan B!
Just kidding - well kinda.  If anyone can break him it's you!  Hang in there because he is a really nice steer.

His name is "the little bastard", lol. I went out tonight and tried my usual approach, sat on the hay bale to see what he would do. Up and down the fence he went. Watching me with his head up the entire time. I don't think my usual tactics are going to work on this one, I'm thinking more old school methods, haltering him, and just tying him up rather than the nice let him come to you approach. I'm really wanting a donkey though.  The backhoe may be beneficial to this one too. You should see him though, he has come around since april and is just big topped and big boned. Really purty, if he wasn't he would have been kicked out monday. He's going to hunt next year, if we can get some brakes on him.

I kinda like the idea rope, tie him up and let him fight. We have done it a time or two and its better to do it now before he is 1000 lbs and can drag you lol.

Well you're not going to break him sitting on the hay. Get a lasso/noose set up and deal with it.

Zach if this was Twitter I would retweet that reply.

Jokes aside, I know there are gentler methods that many believe in. We however use the tie 'em hard and fast method and let them fight it. You will know in a few days, maybe hours whether you are going to be able to break him. Put him in a chute, get a halter on him. If you can't hold him, get a rope long enough to get him dallied to the post you are going to tie him to if possible.

Be gentle to him. I don't know ???

Hey, not to steal Sam's post but I was just thinking about donkeys the other day.  A friend has a couple mini donkeys he will give away to me.  I know they are kinda small, but do you think they could still manage a weanling steer or heifer?

Catch him, give him some ace, tie him up and put a feed pan and/or some hay in front of him. Lead him to water twice a day. The ace will calm him down and make him realize no one is hurting him and he wont pull so hard. It just lets them use their brain a little instead of instantly getting jumpy and wild. You might have him tied a week leading him to water 2x a day before he really calms down, but its a pretty gentle way comparatively to break calves. keep trying and good luck!

We worked up cows today and I just decided to kick him out. He's not mellowing out at all, I'm more concerned about what would happen if I get him broke and a kid takes him home.  I had some really good calves in the corral today that I should have brought in instead of him. Lesson learned. This is the in dew time and the mercedes benz or angus bull steer ryan. I couldn't find the other two in the crowd.

oakie said:

everybreedcounts said:

he sounds a little nutty. call a vet

Click to expand...

I banded him myself, at a week old, so that's not it.  What about feed additives, similar to ace, or something like that.  When you ace a calf and break him are they broke or do they remember anything after the ace wears off? He's just the weirdest calf, just wants to run the fence and doesn't look at anything other than the fence. There is nothing on the other side either, it's a big open hay barn with a hay loft in it (lower ceiling). He can see a small vacant field, a road and a woodpile. So nothing to be running after, he's just tring to escape by running back and forth.

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haha what i meant by a little nutty was that he sounds crazy. call a vet to see if theres anything wrong with him. maybe he is blind in one or both eyes and since he can feel the fence he stays along it

I think he has a loose connection in his brain somewhere, he can see me pretty well in the field, lol. Here he is. He hasn't been on the dam for about 7 days and hadn't eaten much for four prior to this photo. The neighbor has a strong kid that might take him. The annoying thing is that I just about touched him in the field. I think I named this one appropriately