The One that Got Away..Daughter had bad luck....now what?

[blackcows]

My kids hear it from me, I heard it from my dad, and he heard it from his dad....don't let them get away, if they know they can they will get away all of the time.  Well...my 9 year old had some bad luck today.  We have been working with calves for many weeks, every day and they are very tame and for the most part broke.  My 9 year old was leading her calf and probably not paying as much attention as she should and her calf spooked and got away. My kids arene't afraid to get knocked down so it really wasn't lack of effort just bad luck, it happened quick and she wasn't strong enough to fix it.  She knew I wasn't happy and caught her calf and it got away again, I am sure the combo of dad not being happy, calf being worked up, and daughter being upset wasn't good.  She got it caught the third time and got it back to the barn and tied up.  Looking for some opinions on where to go from here.  Is the story that our dads told us true?  Do we have more to worry about or is a fresh start tommorow going to be good.  I have many years of experience showing cattle and many years of experience raising kids but only a few years experience with the combo of kids and calves.

Mike

 

[3HFarms]

Im not a parent lol but first off I would suggest dont be mad - it was an accident, it happens and I dont think him getting away is going to ruin him just keep reinforcing him not getting away

 

[CJC]

I wouldn't say once is bad ; but if he gets away two or three times then it could be a problem.

 

[LN]

I agree, don't get mad about it, when my dad would get mad at me it only made matters worse.

I was in college and I had a heifer get away from me at home. Best thing to do is shake it off and keep trying. Better it happened at home than at a show.

 

[jlingle]

You mean it gets worse?  Great. 

I'm 35 years old and I've had both of my daughters calves get away from me a few times this year.  Crap, I didn't know it was that big a deal.  At the first show we went to with her steer, she was leading him to the ring the night before the show & he spooked a little bit.  While she was trying to pull against his halter and get him calmed down, she was burying her showstick into the ground & as he was pulling against the halter, the showstick was whacking him in the head... making the whole situation worse.  He never tried it again with her after that though.  He did wear me out one day at the barn & get away from me, but that was the end of it.  Her heifer has gotten away from me twice and away from my daughter once. 

Today they're both gentle as dogs.  I just think it happens sometimes.  Yeah I imagine with some calves it becomes a problem....... but I doubt that's always the case.  Hang in there.  The calf will probably forget about it.

 

[herefordfootball]

I agree with the above. Its not a big deal if the calf and you have a bad day. It happens. If it gets to be a consistent problem, then I tie 'em up behind the tractor for a while. It'll work out of them. Good Luck!!!

Chris

 

[REM]

Stuff happens! My son's heifer got away from him yesterday coming back from the wash rack. She did a lap around the building site the was lead back to the barn. That evening he worked her with the show stick no problem. We always try to end the the day on a positive , getting the kid's confidence back is what is important.

Tom.

 

[oakbar]

Hey, it happens!  In fact, it happened twice to me during our fair this year.  We have one heifer that was what I call "an exploder"--she would do everything right and once in a while something would set her off and she'd just explode.  Unfortunately, she was doing this more right before our fair and sure enough someone scared her during our weigh in and she darn near took my arm off.  It doesn't help that I have enough arthritis in my hands that I can't grip as well as I used to.
The way she'd been acting at home I halfway expected her to act up at the fair.  No problem now though--she's out in the pasture learning to be a momma.

I even lost our Vortec heifer(tame as a kitten) once this year.  I was leading her near a pile of tires behind the Cattle barn and she apparently thought they were going to eat her alive.  She's so tame that I was carrying a cup of coffee in the other hand and, needless to say,  by the time I realized she wasn't going to stop pulling away it was too late.  She tamed right down after we caught her though!

If your calf was startled by something, try to find out what it was and desensitize her to it.  Our problem heifer got scared in one part of our barn and we didn't realize it until she'd gotten away from us three times in the same spot.  It doesn't do any good to get mad--although I get mad at myself--none of us are strong enough to hold a calf that outweighs us by a bunch--especially if it has been frightened and they've managed to get some slack in the rope and momentum moving away from you.

Good luck!!

 

[Rustynail]

We had a problem with my 9 year olds steer running off with him.  He wouldn't try it with me, but he knew he could do it with my 63 lb. son.  I bought a clip in nose ring and he is a perfect gentleman now.  It has really built his confindence having total control.  He will probably use it in the show.  I would rather him have control than have a bad experience his first year.

 

[knabe]

it's much worse to lose your child than it is an animal.  encouragement.  lots of posts on here breaking calves.  use the search mechanism.

 

[CAB]

  Not giving a child permission to let go is bad advice IMO. It will get a kid hurt and also it makes them feel like they have let you down. It makes the whole experience no fun for everyone involved. If the calf has figured out that it can get away from one kid, put a bigger kid on the rope and lead it counter clockwise around a fenced pen so that if it wants to put it's head down & away, you can run it into the fence. The tractor may also be a good reinforcement tool for the calf. If it can't get over taking off for the one leader, cut down the calves op pertunities with that leader. JMO. Good Luck. Brent

 

[tlcattle]

in all honesty don't get all that worked up about it. since she's pretty much broke and she did spook it wasn't like she did it delibratly. take it slow with her over the next few days. and be proud your daughter didn't let go.

 

[Jill]

Have to agree with Rustynail on the snap on nose lead.  Once they figure out they can just walk away they get pretty good at testing the child, spooking once usually isn't that big of a deal, but if it becomes a bad habit I'd sure give the nose ring a try

 

[justintime]

I will never forget as long as I live, a terrible incident I saw at a fair many years ago. A young girl was getting ready to show her 1400 lb Simmental steer, and as they were waiting to go into the ring her father said" if he decides to take off, make sure you hand on to him". He was fairly quiet but every once in awhile, he would try to take off. As they were just entering the ring, someone laid on a horn in a car near the show ring, and startled the steer. The girl had put a wrap of the halter on her hand, and when the steer bolted she fell down under him. The steer stepped on her chest and she screamed which made the steer go completely ballistic. He drug her across the ring, and stepped on her chest numerous times and by the time we got him stopped, the girl was unconscious and hardly breathing. She could have easily been killed that day, but after a few days in the hospital she was released with several broken and cracked ribs, as well as some severe bruises. There are many things worse than an animal getting away from someone.

In the past few years, we have had some parents bring animals, that have learned that they can get away from a kid, and ask us to put them on one of our donkeys. I have only had one heifer that did not respond good after two or three lessons with Elizabeth. The heifer that did not get corrected was almost possessed. She had way too much attitude and even had a real miserable look in her eyes.

 

[Jill]

We teach the kids to never wrap the halter around the hand, just like a roper you can loose fingers doing that.  We do stress not to let go, but if you hit the ground, let go of the rope.
A donkey is a great option if you have access to one, the nose ring does more for the confidence of the child than anything, it gives them an edge they don't have without it.

 

[aj]

Aren't Herfords and Shorthorns alot better disposition than blacks...in general?

 

[oakbar]

Hey JIT,

I had a heifer with a bad attitude like the one you've described---I just named her after my mother-in-law and turned her out to pasture.  Ha, Ha!!   

Sure sounds like Elizabeth saves you a lot of stepped on toes, strained joints, etc.--wish we had one just like her!!  The only donkey we had was no good for training calves---he'd rather chew them up or kick the heck out of them than make 'em follow.  My neighbor used to have a pretty good one but since he's passed on to donkey heaven we  haven't had a good one in the immediate area.

Come to think of it--I could have named that donkey after my mother-in-law, too!!

Oakbar

 

[herefordfootball]

Aren't Herfords and Shorthorns alot better disposition than blacks...in general?

Yeah I think so, in my experience anyways. But as of last night we were giving shots to calves and my hereford heifer got away from my brother, so I guess if they want to go they are gonna go no  matter what breed they are. We can usually break a hereford calf faster than a black calf though.

Chris

 

[frostback]

In general is way to general statement to make. There are good and bad disposition genetics in every breed. Saying to just buy young kids Herfs or Shorts, there will still be questions like this. I think it has a lot to do with how the calf was broke and what has happened during this time. Was there small kids around the calf when it was young? Was there small kids around when the calf got broke? Has a kid ever feed the calf before the halter was handed to him? You get the idea.(not saying this about the calf in question) but in general. Just like some cows dont mind dogs but some do that have not seen them some. My shorthorns are easy to break to lead and wash and blow but I have a hard time shaving their heads and some are somewhat head sensitive and I have to use a wrapped chain show halter on them because they dont like the noise. Some would say that is a danger but it is manageable. My kids have shown my shorts with no problems.
I think the most important time that you say dont let go is in the first few times you start leading them around,( which should be done by a bigger person) not when they are almost broke. When you can walk up and get a halter on in a ally and not have to put them behind a gate or such its not as big as a deal.

 

[herefordfootball]

You've got some good points frostback. When we start off, I do three days of hand leading the calf(which is really just to get them use to the halter) we usually dont walk much, then if they are doing decent and dont mind having the halter on 'em we tie them up behind a trailer that's pulled by our JD Gator. We do this everyday(or what ur sched. permits) for about a week and a half, then we start hand leading and washing. Mind we start working them when they are about a month old, so depending on how big ur calf is the gator might or might not work. Might have to upgrade to a tractor.

Chris