Getting the calf gentle

[PaFFA Proud]

Well I got my steer home yesterday...well lets just say he is pretty loco right now. Whenever i go to look at him he lowers his head and paws at the ground and snorts. When i put feed in his dish or fill a water bucket he charges at it. Is this normal and how long will it take for him to calm down? I wanna start halter breaking him so i can get to grooming him and walking. He is a big boy at 650 lbs!

 

[katie_k]

trust me the more time you spend just sitting by the pen with your back to him then once he gets used to it face him then after he is used to that you can sit in the pen with him.  get him used to you. feed him out of your hand when he lets you.  make him form a bond that will make breaking all the easier.  slow and steady

 

[Bradenh]

just leave him alone for four or 5 days and let him get used to the new place. also it sounds like he is by himself in the pen. he will take a looonngg time to calm down if thats the case. make sure to get him a friend wether it be a dog, goat or whatever. and just wait a while before you mess with him and it will be more constructive

 

[kobo_ranch]

Hope you didn't pay too much for that bugger... IDK but every steer that I've every worked with that tried to charge never got very gentle, and had to get rid of him.  We have a couple steers this years that are a little nuts but have never tried to charge us.  Good luck and like the others have mentioned get him a calm buddy in the pen and see if he doesn't calm down.  Oh yea...
be careful!

 

[Show Heifer]

Get another CALM calf for him.... a similiar sized bottle calf works good.
But, if he is charging you, pawing the ground, and snorting then cut your losses and sell him and get another. NO IT IS NOT NORMAL.  It is dangerous.

Did you buy him KNOWING he had a bad attitude? If so, why? I wish you luck, but again, IT IS NOT NORMAL for a calf to charge you, paw at you or snort at you.

 

[Earthmover]

Oh girl somebody saw you comin, get rid of him asap. I can guarentee you he will never see the ring, been ther done that.

 

[Bradenh]

dont get rid of the calf. i had an american calf last year that was the most horrible animal on gods earth. you cant just give up on a calf after one day???? are yall nuts? maby after 6 months but i still would never give up on a calf. he can be broke no matter what just take time with him

 

[Bradenh]

honestly yall if somebody took you off of your mamas titty and threw u in a pen. would you be pissed off? if you say no then your a liar. he said he just got the calf yesterday

 

[PaFFA Proud]

He is slowley calming down; no he wasent like this when I looked at him. He walked up snifffed me and went back to the herd. I think he was really up set because he was dehorned, feet done, dewormed, reclamped this testicles to make sure it was done, and just away from the herd the day I picked him up. He has my horse beside him which he watches and tries to lick her over the stall in a few weeks we will be getting a dairy steer. I have just been going out to the barn singing to him holding his halter lead(with gloves ) and using my other hand scratching him with the show stick. He loves me scratching him and really calms down. I think I will try tying him maybe next week, do yall think this will be a good idea? He isnt charging anymore, just goes back to the wall in his stall looking at me at first.

 

[Bradenh]

sounds good! glad to see he is coming along

 

[joey219]

Two years ago our son had a pure bred black angus steer.  He had a very similiar disposition, in fact he actually ran over me over at one point.  We would have to almost toss his feed pan into the stall and dive out.  We were very concerned about  our safety as well as the safety of others in the show ring.    But as time went on he got better and better behaved.  It took time and a lot of patience.  By the time fair came around he was extremely gentle and a did a great job for my son.  Don't give up!!  <party>