A first for me......Re. halter breaking.

[branguscowgirl]

My yearling Brangus heifer. She was shown cow calf at only a couple months old and never really got halter broke very well. My mistake for not keeping up with her through out the year.

She ties great, but when she is being lead she will pull away from me if I cannot dally in a hurry!So after being beaten and bruised, (me not her) for the millionth time..............
She will follow the tractor for awhile!

This heifer is at least a 1,000 lbs. It's all my fault for waiting so long to get her solid in the halter. But we are making good progress. I go ahead and hold the lead rope now so she thinks that it is me doing the leading, with the tractor as my back up muscle.

 

[M-5]

put a lift pole on the tractor. When she balks a lift to her head will put her back in gear

 

[Bigfoot]

I don't know if they even still make them, but I bet a Big Jim Breaking Halter would have her following you in a few minutes.

 

[branguscowgirl]

put a lift pole on the tractor. When she balks a lift to her head will put her back in gear

I am not sure how to do that.....Can you draw me a picture. :mrgreen:

 

[chippie]

she certainly is a pretty heifer.

Is this what you mean Bigfoot?

https://www.sullivansupply.com/cart/tx/p-394-breaking-halter.aspx

 

[Bigfoot]

she certainly is a pretty heifer.

Is this what you mean Bigfoot?

https://www.sullivansupply.com/cart/tx/p-394-breaking-halter.aspx

Yes, those things actually work. Turn it upside down, and it'll get a horse tipping at the poll.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Thank you Chippie. I think she is a pretty nice heifer also. She is AI sired by Black Hawk, (which at the time I bred did not know that he had produced some bad disposition bulls.) She is out of my Donor cow, who consistently produces excellent dispositions. This heifer is really sweet, just a bit stubborn, not uncommon for Brangus. ;-) Just hoping that she takes more after mama rather than daddy, at this point.

BF I have seen those, I think I may of even had something like it in the tack box years ago. This is the first time that I think that I needed it. I may have to invest in one to have on hand. Good idea.
Thank you!

Last night she did pretty well. We'll see how tonight goes.

 

[BC]

That is one good looking Brangus heifer. Try leading her to her feed and water. She will soon associate leading with a reward.

 

[TN Cattle Man]

That's a very nice heifer Della!

 

[branguscowgirl]

Thank you BC and Brian!
I just body shaved her. Boy do I love showing slick cattle! No fuss.
She is on grass and grass hay fed through winter. The only grain that she has had is the little bit that I have used for training. Catching her, gentling her, and as BC said, "leading her to it."
My old Rosie cow (who is 14 this year) weaned her at 748. ( I love that cow :heart: )
I don't know how the judge will like her though, because she is a larger framed heifer and they are picking them smaller. But she should make a nice mama cow. Getting ready to breed her soon.

 

[Rafter S]

I agree. She's a good-looking heifer.

 

[Nesikep]

She is nice

Hamilton halters makes a "control" halter for cows.. I found heifers like yours and mine will need the "cow" sized halter, it works pretty good, and I can leave it on them when I turn them out.. they have just a chain under the chin, and you can hook to the chain for best effect, or to a D ring that doesn't employ the chain.. It's worked well for me, though there just is nothing like getting them started early.

This year I had to bring my yearling bull up from a field, so I put the halter on him.. he wasn't too fond of that, but with it I was able to lead him though a field of nice grass without a rodeo.. he did want to stop and take a bite every step for the first while, but once the novelty wore off he followed perfectly

 

[branguscowgirl]

Thank you Rafter and Nesi!
Nesi your yearling bull has a great disposition. I have to say for my Brangus, bulls have always been easier than heifers.

The Hamilton chain halter is exactly what she has on. I had to find one with an additional adjustable throat latch because she has excessive skin under her jaw. All my halters that fit well around her nose without rubbing off were too tight on her flabby neck. :lol:
That is the only thing that she got from Black Hawk that I didn't care for, excessive skin. I had to pull open all the folds in her neck to shave her. Kinda like a fat women shaving her arm pits! :lol: :hide:

She is doing better every day!

 

[Nesikep]

One thing I find that works really well is to have a place with good grass, but no water, and another place with water, perhaps some bovine company, but no food... You bring her to the green grass and she'll be very happy, but get thirsty and lonely.. so then you go and bring her back to the others, ant to get a drink.. so she's happy again... After a while they figure out where you're taking them must be better than where they are, and will happily come along. Of course it helps if they're of a size where you can still call the shots!

 

[branguscowgirl]

Ya Nesi that's the problem, size! When I take her "where she likes to go" she would take off and I could not hold her. (Hands are all burnt up.) Bad deal once they get away from you. I can't let that happen again. I have to keep her near a fence to dally real quick! Works a whole lot better when they are small and you are working with more than one. She just kinda fell through the cracks this year.

I am pretty confident that she'll be better by fair time. Plus at the fair, I am the only thing familiar to her, so they are usually better in a strange place. Fingers crossed anyway!
I will let you all know how it goes.

 

[Nesikep]

The picture of her behind the tractor reminds me of weaning time one year when a not-so-nice cow jumped the fence to get back with her calf.. I wasn't going to have any of that, so I ran her down the chute, put a halter on her, and dragged her (nearly literally) behind the tractor to a field a ways off.. she wasn't halterbroke, not tame, and actually is one of the meanest mommas at calving time.. the whole tractor was covered in slobber by the time I got her there... haven't needed to put a halter on her since, and hopefully never will!


The hamilton Control halter I have does have an adjustable neck