haul tied or lose?

[cornershack]

have been having this discussion with a friend, (who hauls steers to market frequently but seldom hauls show animals of anykind) the last time he hauled daughters heifer she ended up with swelling on her chin. about where the halter rides. I feel he drives a little too aggressive into corners etc. oh yes it was mid jan no flying bitting critters to cause an alergic reation. yes she was tied with an older heifer that came out of up scathed. his dad and he think the critters should be hauled lose, what is your experience?

 

[DPShowCattle]

imo it depends how far you are traveling if it is on for an hour or 2 i haul them tied up if its a long haul i alter them for example say you have an 8 hour haul i would tie them up for 2-3 hours then stop untie them walk them then leave them free roam the trailer for the next 2-3 hours and just repeat

 

[cornershack]

thanks, our county show is 15 min the state fair is 40 mins, everything else is hour plus not planning on going 8 hrs. he just needs to slow TH down, or get smother on the corners.  my husband has never had an issue. he doesn't driv elike granny but smoth around the corners go a long way towards making the cattle happy when they get off.

 

[joelintay]

We always haul calves untied. You never know when another driver will make you swerve or stop much quicker than you normally would. if the calves are loose than can handle this muuch better than when tied. 3 years ago we had a Hfr. that had show experience, loose her footing when tied in trailer while loading other hfr. Had to cut lead because she hab knot bound. If this had happened going down the road we may not have known, and been able to free her in time.

 

[shortyjock89]

We usually tie them down (inside tie rail-great investment) in the trailer if we're going farther than an hour.  If we're going more than 5 or 6 hours, and the calves are of similar size, we don't mind them being loose.

 

[PaFFA Proud]

When I haul..it really depends on the animal and where I am going and also road conditions. If its just one animal i tend to let them loose either way.

 

[LittleHeifer]

I think it depends on the animal. We usually haul tied up. but some animals we have had to haul loose. If they are used to being tied up for a while it shouldn't bug them. We also have a tie that never knots if done right. I tie the way we tie them at fair that way we can get them loose easily if anything happens. If it is a long haul 2+ hours do the tie untie procedure that DPShowCattle mentioned. Also it depends on the driver and how the cattle react to being tied up and also the conditions.
little Heifer (angel)

 

[thebulllady]

If we're going to a show, I haul them loose.  I figure they'll be tied long enough at the show!  If it's to the vet or hoof trimmer, etc., I generally tie them, especially if they're green.  I've never had one hurt itself tied in the trailer, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.!

 

[Showin a Shorty]

It depends on the length of the trip with us. I will have to say though we bought a back up camera and installed the camera part in the trailer and the monitor in the cab. This makes it so much nicer on my peace of mind, anytime that I think somthing might be wrong I do a quick head count. This has also helped us save time because evertime I think somthing might have happened I don't need to make my boyfriend pull over!

 

[pds]

I would vote untied everytime we had someone pull in at county fair with a heifer hanging from her halter and that pretty much made up my mind we never tied another one while on the road again

 

[AAOK]

I'll estimate in our 10 years of Showing, we hauled about 120,000 miles.  If we were driving 5 hours or less, the calves were tied up.  On the long hauls, I tied them down wit enough slack to get up and down to stretch.  We never had a problem, even once driving 23 hours straight.  I wouldn't even consider leaving Show Calves untied in a trailer.  The most amazing fact for us was in all that travel, we never had a flat on the truck or trailer.

 

[cornershack]

thats caledl just plain lucky, and good pre trip prep. maintainence. hope putting it in writing didn't jinx it. and thanks for all the replys pretty much makes up my mind. 

 

[ruhtram]

Just use your best judgement of the certain situation…Usually my show calves were broke well so I would let them run loose. I would only tie up if the calf wasn't fully broke or for a really short trip to fair.

 

[DLD]

...  If we were driving 5 hours or less, the calves were tied up.  On the long hauls, I tied them down wit enough slack to get up and down to stretch.  We never had a problem, even once driving 23 hours straight.  I wouldn't even consider leaving Show Calves untied in a trailer...

Ditto, what Dan said. Except maybe that I'm not completely against turning loose 1 or 2 similar sized animals that know and get along with each other in a well bedded compartment on a really long haul, though I don't really think it's necessary as long as they can lay down. 

I'm thinking that if someone felt like they caused one's chin to swell from hauling them tied up,  they most likely had them tied way too short.  Even if you're tieing them to stand up in the trailer, they need enough slack to allow for some movement, and enough that their head's not stretched up constantly.

I'll estimate in our 10 years of Showing, we hauled about 120,000 miles... The most amazing fact for us was in all that travel, we never had a flat on the truck or trailer.

No doubt a little luck, but mostly good tires and lots of preventive maintenance.  Still a great record, no matter what.

 

[SSIMMENTALS]

We tie them down low with enough slack in the lead that they can easilly lie down but not so much that they get tangled or shift over too much. We bed them down pretty heavy with shavings and usually they will lay down after a little while. By the second or third long trip they have it figured out and lay down shortly after loading up. We don't leave them loose because we usually have heavy breds, yearlings, and calves ridign together and don't need any bullies. However, if we are haulig a pair, the calf gets its own small section made where it can be loose and safe from getting smushed.

 

[cornershack]

DLD she was tied with enough slack that she should have been ok. have hauled quite a few. not as many as some of you guys on here, but never had this issue before.  The last time this guy hauled my elder daughters heifer with an angus steer and another heifer to the fair the first came off the trailer turned him upstide down put tracks on his chest and basicly gave him pay back. so it is probable not the tiers issue as much as the driver. or in this case PPO. PI$$ POOR OPPORATER!

 

[DLD]

Yeah, I didn't really consider that possibility. I've been hauling cattle pretty much as long as I've been driving, and my Dad and older brother always emphasized how necessary it is drive as smoothly as possible - I haul cattle prob'ly 4 or 5 days a week on the average now, and I still think driving smoothly is one of the biggest factors to hauling cattle safely and with as little stress as possible.  I know some folks can't seem to do that if they try - I've seen some real messes from people who don't seem to know (or care) how to haul cattle the right way.