Behavior Training

[Anonymous]

In a nutshell:

"Make me (cattle) an offer I can't refuse!"

...I've never seen an animal that won't try to comply if you offer a special treat...



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[Anonymous]

I would like to know what types of treats you use for cattle. Have you ever used candy?

> In a nutshell:

> "Make me (cattle) an offer I
> can't refuse!"

> ...I've never seen an animal that
> won't try to comply if you offer a
> special treat...



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[Anonymous]

We use 20% range cubes or a handfull of alfalfa hay as a training snack. These are bovine treats. Candy is a people treat.

One or two cubes to reinforce a behavior "increment" by hand-feeding along with a pet or rub goes a long way....

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[Anonymous]

I've used dairy 14 grain in a bowl, pieces of pumpkin, and believe it or not baking soda in a bowl. We leave baking soda out for free choice for our goats, and our lil heifer is always trying to get to it. Hence, I thought I'd use it as a reinforcer.

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[Anonymous]

Thank you and Christina for your responses.

The reason I asked about candy is that I saw a segment on Animal Planet about dairy farms in either Australia or New Zealand (sorry, I can't remember which), where the normal feed is supplemented with seconds from candy manufacturers. Milk production is claimed to have increased significantly. The favorite among the cows was 'gummy worms'. (KitKat bars were also mentioned.)

I am still in the planning stages for getting cattle (5 or 6 to start). But I want to make sure that any special treats I give won't kill the cow .

And the cows I get WILL get a lot of rubbing/scratching in addition to treats.

> We use 20% range cubes or a
> handfull of alfalfa hay as a
> training snack. These are bovine
> treats. Candy is a people treat.

> One or two cubes to reinforce a
> behavior "increment" by
> hand-feeding along with a pet or
> rub goes a long way....



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[Anonymous]

Regarding candy.... You mentioned Australia & New Zealand! Where are you located?

From my experience, bovines seem to be highly attracted to any type of "sweet" feed, alfalfa, range cubes, and/or any item that contains molasses.

When I read about people planning to use or already using "nitch" feed items, such as chicken litter, jalapeno peppers, plastic, candy (please excuse), and other items...well personally don't think it is a very good idea. As I have noted in other posts, anything that is presently or has been re-processed into pellets, cubes, etc., which contains "forage" items, is more of a "safe" and "natural" diet for bovines. I have no idea of the medical implications of feeding non-bovine products to cattle--to me, the possible risks of a G-I or other problem as well as a Vet bill far outweigh the advantages. Just my humble opinion.

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[Anonymous]

A 100 years ago, or so it seems, we had a neighbor with a day old bread store. The only "grain" he ever fed was bread, for treats he fed pastries. Never had a problems, but his animals (charolais) were all huge. But that was back in the days of bigger is better. His bull scaled at over 3000 lbs, most of his cows were over 2000. HUGE.

dun

> Regarding candy.... You mentioned
> Australia & New Zealand! Where
> are you located?

> From my experience, bovines seem
> to be highly attracted to any type
> of "sweet" feed,
> alfalfa, range cubes, and/or any
> item that contains molasses.

> When I read about people planning
> to use or already using
> "nitch" feed items, such
> as chicken litter, jalapeno
> peppers, plastic, candy (please
> excuse), and other items...well
> personally don't think it is a
> very good idea. As I have noted in
> other posts, anything that is
> presently or has been re-processed
> into pellets, cubes, etc., which
> contains "forage" items,
> is more of a "safe" and
> "natural" diet for
> bovines. I have no idea of the
> medical implications of feeding
> non-bovine products to cattle--to
> me, the possible risks of a G-I or
> other problem as well as a Vet
> bill far outweigh the advantages.
> Just my humble opinion.



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[Anonymous]

> Thank you and Christina for your
> responses.

> The reason I asked about candy is
> that I saw a segment on Animal
> Planet about dairy farms in either
> Australia or New Zealand (sorry, I
> can't remember which), where the
> normal feed is supplemented with
> seconds from candy manufacturers.
> Milk production is claimed to have
> increased significantly. The
> favorite among the cows was 'gummy
> worms'. (KitKat bars were also
> mentioned.)

> I am still in the planning stages
> for getting cattle (5 or 6 to
> start). But I want to make sure
> that any special treats I give
> won't kill the cow .

> And the cows I get WILL get a lot
> of rubbing/scratching in addition
> to treats.

I'm definitely not as experienced as most who post, but I have found that most of my girls will almost turn flips just for some cubes. They seem to find that rewarding enough.

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[Anonymous]

I'm in Oklahoma, but watch way too much TV. And I certainly respect your opinion, humble or not.

FWIW - I did a Google search for Cows & Candy and found these two items:

Progressive Farmer - Cow Candy:

<A HREF="http://www.progressivefarmer.com/farmer/magazine/article/0,14730,419976,00.html" TARGET="_blank">http://www.progressivefarmer.com/farmer/magazine/article/0,14730,419976,00.html</A>

Radio interview from Australia - Candy for cattle:

<A HREF="http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s30595.htm" TARGET="_blank">http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s30595.htm</A>

The Progressive Farmer item about using molasses to encourage foraging in underutilized areas sounded very interesting.

> Regarding candy.... You mentioned
> Australia & New Zealand! Where
> are you located?

> From my experience, bovines seem
> to be highly attracted to any type
> of "sweet" feed,
> alfalfa, range cubes, and/or any
> item that contains molasses.

> When I read about people planning
> to use or already using
> "nitch" feed items, such
> as chicken litter, jalapeno
> peppers, plastic, candy (please
> excuse), and other items...well
> personally don't think it is a
> very good idea. As I have noted in
> other posts, anything that is
> presently or has been re-processed
> into pellets, cubes, etc., which
> contains "forage" items,
> is more of a "safe" and
> "natural" diet for
> bovines. I have no idea of the
> medical implications of feeding
> non-bovine products to cattle--to
> me, the possible risks of a G-I or
> other problem as well as a Vet
> bill far outweigh the advantages.
> Just my humble opinion.



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