My first family cow…

[dominiquer60]

We use a rope around the neck to get them off the trailer and then some how get their head in a stanchion in the barn. The little ones get a bailing twine collar and a short length of chain attached to the calf manger. You could try a collar, it will be harder to have control over her but if you are just going to tie her up it would be less irritating to her than a halter. Cattle just take time, before you know it you will be scratching her withers, cattle are good at teaching patience.

[Robin]

Jen, if you want more info on Highlanders contact Leo Causland at http://www.onefuzzycow.com
He is a friend of mine, use to live in Goshen,NY became a rancher in Colorado. Has show cattle plus some for the freezer. Good luck. Robin

[OldKat]

@jenjudkins 21753 wrote:

Well, I’m not set up to ‘run’ cattle through shoots and such, so I kind of have to halter break her.

So what’s the best way to get a halter on a calf of this age? Just wrestle with her? Erika, you want to stop over on your way to LIF and show me how its done?:D

Jen,

Not knowing how you are set up kind of limits my response, but I use to put a rope (a lariat rope that is) around the calfs neck and pull it up snug. Dally off (take one or more wraps) around a post or other solid object that does not have sharp edges. The calf will usually try to run and act silly. Every time it gets closer to the post you are dallied to, take up the slack until she is right up close. This is usually a two person job BTW. When you have her snubbed up close get one person to hold the tail of the rope so she doesn’t get to pull away, while the other slips the halter on her.

I like a rope halter with a chain choker under the chin, but they are really hard to find now. A good second choice is a halter made of flat nylon, but get the one with the chain that goes under the chin if possible. Snap a long lead rope with a knot in the end of it onto it and let her drag it around for a few days. Just stepping on that lead rope helps her to get the idea to yield to the lead.

After a day or two of dragging the lead you can catch the knot that you tied into the end of the lead with a garden rake or some other tool (keeps you from getting kicked while you pick up the rope) and ease it around a STOUT post, fence rail etc and snub her up close. Leave her tied up for half a day or so, obviously in a protected place, and then untie her and hold the end of the rope as she goes to her feed / water. Do this for several days and soon you will be able to work you way up the lead until you are almost at her head as she goes to her water.

From there it is a matter of walking with them around their pen or other enclosed area while you work your way up the lead. For some calves it works to just let them go where they wish and you just sort of follow out to the side, holding onto the lead. As they get more and more use to you (and the feed that you are bringing everyday) you can start working your way up the lead. This works for MOST calves, not all. Try it and see what results you get. The tractor, pickup bumper, etc are other options, but I like to try this way first.

NOTE: Leave the halter on her while you are doing all of this. No point taking it off and putting it on everyday at this point.

Good luck, it is not as difficult as it sounds.

[Vicki]

Congrats, Jen, on getting your first heifer. My guess is that she is stressed and a little panicked if she has just been separated from her herd and in new surroundings. If she is not an agressive animal (which you would want to ship or eat as soon as possible), the kind of thing you did cleaning the barn is real good. My opinion is that you do not need or want to stir up her fear/flight/fight instincts with sudden overpowering means, but gain her trust by using food and her curiosity. You should be calling the shots, deciding where and when she can go places and get food and water, which you can do as you did with gates and barn doors, and eventually with halters and leads.

Move around her calmly to find her flight zone, and with patience you can narrow it and eventually eliminate it. Tease her with food treats to come closer, to take from your hand. After you get a halter on her, tie her.
You don’t know the temperament of her herd, or if she was handled severely during capture and transport, which could affect the time it takes. But if she’s a nice animal with some brains, she could come around quickly.

[jen judkins]

Thanks, Vicki, I think we ARE making progress in just a few days, so I’m reasonably optimistic that I am on the right track.

Oldkat, this is perfect! Just what I was looking for…thank you.

I spoke with Oxen Teamster and neighbor, Brian Patten, last night and he is gonna give me some help. I haven’t told him yet that I want to train her to drive a cart, lol. One step at a time…

[near horse]

@jenjudkins 21743 wrote:

Rod, Have an appointment on the books for dehorning. It will be a matter of whether I have been able to get a hand and halter on this heifer to get that deed done…..but I wholeheartedly agree….given her propensity to lead with her horns.

Tonight…sensing some of the extreme fear and agitation had worn off, I decided to play around with some spacial boundaries. I felt a 12 x 12 stall was too small a space to be safe with Dolly. So I closed off the barn aisle on both ends and simply open the door to her stall allowing her access to the barn aisle should she choose it. Then I went about my normal barn activities….mucking stalls, feeding horses, watering, sweeping, etc. I noticed her getting curious about the open door and thought….this is good. She was careful about maintaining space between us when I came near though. Finally I decided I needed to clean her stall (not really necessary, but as an exercise, proved useful). I entered as non-chalantly as I could…pitch fork in hand, moving circularly so as to be non confrontational. She left the stall as soon as I cleared the doorway, as I expected and found herself in uncomfortable but safe (from me) territory in the aisleway. I cleaned her stall, refreshed her water and diddled about for awhile while she watched from the uncomfortable end of the barn. As soon as I left her stall and approached her, she siddled around me to get back to her safe place in the stall (interesting how fast that happened).I’m not sure yet, what I accomplished, but it felt like progress. There was at least, no charging or climbing of the walls:). It will be interesting to see if she can adjust to me being in the stall with her without her having to leave…which I think is my goal…at least in the short term.

Any input welcome and appreciated!

Hi Jen,

Always up to something aren’t you?

Another somewhat positive is the lack of her throwing a “cow kick” your way as she passed by. Those seem to be really common (and potentially ouchy) responses by nervous cattle. The 300 to 600 lbers are the dangerous ones because they’re bid enough to injure but small enough to still have some athleticism in them. IMHO – when a cow is going to run over you come hell or highwater, she’s got her head held up high as opposed to down with her nose to the ground. The nose down ones can be turned back by being big; the others mean “get out of the way”.

I agree with others that food is the best first step. It’s amazing what barriers you can break down when a hungry animal associates you with food (not AS FOOD). Use the 2 P’s – patience and persistence and you’ll do well but recognize that like horses and people, some are just a** holes regardless of your best efforts. Be safe!!

I guess it’s good that you’re dehorning well after fly season – we always had to treat the horn area for flies a couple of times and that required squeezing/restraining the cattle. We treated with screw worm spray and that kept things pretty clean. Unfortunately, I imagine the dehorning might set your “acceptance training ” back a bit. Good luck.

Cheers!

Geoff

[jen judkins]

As an update, Dolly appears to be settling in well. She touched my hand with her nose last night and remained in her stall while I cleaned up and fed her….very big steps in a few short days.

Now, of course, I am wondering if I really should dehorn her? Is it necessary? I’ve got people on both side of the aisle on the subject. I don’t think I’ve met a farmer who raised highlanders that dehorned. That said, my teamster neighbor feels all heifers who might be bred should be dehorned for safety reasons (for the calf as well as handlers), but I’m not convinced one way or the other.

My main concern is how she will use her horns a.)with the horses and b.) my nieces and nephews, who can be alittle silly around the barnyard.

Consider this a poll….dehorn or not???

[john plowden]

Keep the horns – John

[Tim Harrigan]

Keep the horns. It is not a safety issue for the calf. They know exactly what they are doing with their horns. If she happens to harm the calf that is another issue and not related to horns. Keep a close eye on her when others are around, particularly kids. She might be inclined to shake her head a bit to define her space, but kids should be respectful of cattle anyway and taught how to behave and approach them. Again, if she is inclined to want to rough someone up she would do it whether or not she has horns. And you will find that out soon enough. The horses can take care of themselves and they will set her straight in short order.

[Vicki]

Well, the Pattens have several generations of working cattle experience on both sides of the family, from what I’ve been told. Can’t have much better go-to people than that! Wish they were HALF that close to me!

[Vicki]

Keep the horns. Especially on her heritage breed. My two horned cows: a short Dexter and a Milking Devon x Hereford, are more tractable to handle and to hand milk even than my polled herefords.

[Theloggerswife]

Do I get to vote??? KEEP THE HORNS! :D:D

You know all my reasons….

[CharlyBonifaz]

leave the horns 😉

[Tim Harrigan]

Jen, I should not overstate the predictability or lack of risk with cattle, weird stuff does happen. Based on my experience with cattle I would not de-horn the heifer based on the concerns that you listed.

[Rod]

Depends on the cow, the situation and her stable mates. I know someone who got broken ribs from a tame milk cow that went after a fly at the wrong time. Most of my present Dexters have horns but one is going to lose hers because of her behavior. I had a horned Dexter give a hernia to one of my calves by getting it in the corner and jamming it with the horns. I have also observed that when you take the horns off the personality of the cow changes significantly for the better. I have had rough cows turn into tame and gentle simply by taking them off. A cow with horns can be rougher on fences. Mine use the horns to knock down the plastic paddock separator posts on the electric fence. They use their horns to run young stock off from the feeders and to harass cows that are locked in the head locks. I guess if you only have one cow that you like to look at and are careful leave them on. If you plan to get other cows or would like to simply want to simplify you management I would take them off.

[Author]

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