Weaning with bully heifer

[reeler]

Fenceline weaning usually works well for me.I've got 3 pregnant heifers in with 7 calves. Yesterday was 3rd day, & 1 heifer is a being a bully-shoving the calves around. Usually keep heifers with calves, but not sure with the aggressive behavior. Would appreciate feedback on this, thanks.

 

[dun]

Could be any number of things. The heifer may just be a bully and is showing dominance. She could be getting close enough to calving that her horones are messing with her mind. Could be she's just playing (in her mind) with them. She could be food agressive and sees the calves as a challenge. Could be a combination of them all or none of those. That's part of what makes this business interesting, trying to figure out what is going on. If you have some older cows, especially a dominant one, you may want to put her with them for a while till the older cow beats the crap out of her. That sometimes will calm down the bullys, sometimes it makes it worse. I kind of hate to admit it, but I've been known to ship a heifer out that just won;t settle in to playing nice with the herd. Jeanne from Simmi Valley used to sue a term that I like. COD, Cull On Disposition. Disposition isn;t just behavior with the people working them, it also applies to fitting into the herd. That's my interpretation, everyone else may vary

 

[TCRanch]

Agree with Dun. I'm assuming this behavior is new/out of character? Regardless, I would keep a close eye on her when she calves. I've seen aggressive mamas knock over or literally toss their calves. Unacceptable; buh-bye!

 

[reeler]

:bang:

Could be any number of things. The heifer may just be a bully and is showing dominance. She could be getting close enough to calving that her horones are messing with her mind. Could be she's just playing (in her mind) with them. She could be food agressive and sees the calves as a challenge. Could be a combination of them all or none of those. That's part of what makes this business interesting, trying to figure out what is going on. If you have some older cows, especially a dominant one, you may want to put her with them for a while till the older cow beats the crap out of her. That sometimes will calm down the bullys, sometimes it makes it worse. I kind of hate to admit it, but I've been known to ship a heifer out that just won;t settle in to playing nice with the herd. Jeanne from Simmi Valley used to sue a term that I like. COD, Cull On Disposition. Disposition isn;t just behavior with the people working them, it also applies to fitting into the herd. That's my interpretation, everyone else may vary

Thank you Dun, I value your wise advice. The bully is now out of the weaning pasture, & in with the cows. I ended up taking the other 2 heifers out too. I'm actually somewhat leary of the bully myself, & considered COD. But- I've spent a lot of time working with her, & she will follow me, & the others then follow her. I don't trust her though. The calves seem lost without the heifers. Weaning is stressful for everyone.

 

[reeler]

Agree with Dun. I'm assuming this behavior is new/out of character? Regardless, I would keep a close eye on her when she calves. I've seen aggressive mamas knock over or literally toss their calves. Unacceptable; buh-bye!

Thanks TC for that warning. I'm still a newbie, & have not encountered a mean mama yet. I will definitely be alert to this possibility, especially with this bully. I've thought of her as a "boss cow" up until now.

 

[Nesikep]

It's hard to comment without seeing it happen.. I have some cows that just have a hate-on for each other.. if they're at a similar level on the pecking order, any little thing and they'll fight over it.. if one's lower on the totem pole, the bossy one will take a run at her on sight, but play perfectly nice with others (and me).

what has worked for me on similar-aged animals is to separate the bully out on her own for a while, out of sight of her peers.. the peers will get a new pecking order going, and when you reintroduce her, they'll gang up on her and maybe knock her down a peg or two, especially if she thinks she can fight an older one first, and gets beat up (and tired).

 

[angus9259]

Jeanne from Simmi Valley used to sue a term that I like.

Whatever happened to her?

 

[dun]

Jeanne from Simmi Valley used to sue a term that I like.

Whatever happened to her?

Last I heard she had just gotten too busy with her farm to have the spare time for CT

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Jeanne from Simmi Valley used to sue a term that I like.

Whatever happened to her?

Last I heard she had just gotten too busy with her farm to have the spare time for CT

Blasphemy! We're open 24 hours a day.

 

[farmerjan]

Could be that a calf or more was trying to suck her and she just got flat out P***off. I wouldn't have pulled the other 2 heifers if they weren't a problem. And the bully being in with the cows would have gotten put in her place by the older mature cows. We definitely COD. My very verbal feelings on it to my son are: she's an idiot and I can't run fast enough if she decides to hurt me so she goes.... or I go. :2cents: :2cents:

 

[reeler]

It's hard to comment without seeing it happen.. I have some cows that just have a hate-on for each other.. if they're at a similar level on the pecking order, any little thing and they'll fight over it.. if one's lower on the totem pole, the bossy one will take a run at her on sight, but play perfectly nice with others (and me).

what has worked for me on similar-aged animals is to separate the bully out on her own for a while, out of sight of her peers.. the peers will get a new pecking order going, and when you reintroduce her, they'll gang up on her and maybe knock her down a peg or two, especially if she thinks she can fight an older one first, and gets beat up (and tired).

Thanks for your help. I have a small herd, & still have a lot to learn. The bully only has 2 peers, & she has them conquered. She's back with the older cows now, & they put her in her place real quick-as you said.

 

[reeler]

Could be that a calf or more was trying to suck her and she just got flat out P***off. I wouldn't have pulled the other 2 heifers if they weren't a problem. And the bully being in with the cows would have gotten put in her place by the older mature cows. We definitely COD. My very verbal feelings on it to my son are: she's an idiot and I can't run fast enough if she decides to hurt me so she goes.... or I go. :2cents: :2cents:

Thanks for pointing out that you wouldn't have pulled the other 2 heifers- that's where I messed up!

 

[Cucumber35]

That was my thought was maybe the calves were trying to suck the heifers and they were getting sick of it. Might not be a good idea to keep them together for that reason anyway.

 

[boondocks]

That was my thought was maybe the calves were trying to suck the heifers and they were getting sick of it. Might not be a good idea to keep them together for that reason anyway.

That's what I (as a not-quite but almost-newbie) wondered too. I thought it was not a good idea to put weanlings in with anything that will give birth anytime in the next 2 months or so....Don't want them stealing colostrum.