Breaking Brahmans Bad Habits

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TxCoUnTrYbOy

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ok im having a small problem with my bull, but nothing serious yet. when i try to walk him back into his pen, he always tries to run to the food (i have his food ready when i bring him back after working with him). i always hang on to him, but i end up running with him so i dont go down, holding on to the halter until i let his head down to eat. how can i break that habit? i know i cant give him a good slap on the nose, since hes a brahman, but what can i do?
 
don't feed him until after you get him back in the pen or tie him up for a while in the pen instead of letting him go eat right away.
 
Why not try leading him back to his trough before you put feed in it? Tie him up and then put feed in it.

And one of these days you are going to come to realize that you have to keep the upper hand with this bull, no matter what breed he is.
 
thanks a bunch, im gonna try those.

cherokee - you mean ill have to slap him some day? that is the only thing that would scare me. the guy i got him from said they have slapped one only one time, never again. also a couple years ago one of my buddies raised a brahman steer and they didnt know about them and hit it. after that one time he couldnt go within 10 feet of that animal or it would attack. ended up going to early slaughter. that is the reason it scares me to hit him.
 
I know what you mean, you have to do it judiciously. First you have to start with an animal that trust you, where 99% of the time you are as friendly as can be. But it will not take him long to learn that when he oversteps his bounds you are displeased. I wouldn't be swatting him for wanting to run to a feed pan already full of feed. But if you are petting him and he gives you a head butt I don't see anything wrong with giving him a light tap on the nose, then walking away.

Just pay attention to how cattle treat each other out in the pasture. Doesn't bother them a bit to give another one a good head butt if they are aggravated.

The response should be in proportion to the transgression. The only animal who will hold a grudge is a nut case anyway. Better to find out sonner than later.

All of the above is my opinion only. Maybe BullLady will chime in.
 
lol.. I'd be happy to "chime in".

Cherokee pretty much touched on the salient points. Don't let your bull get away with anything.. everytime he does, it will be that much harder to break him of it in the future.

Don't feed him right after you work with him. Are you working him at the same time every day? When I'm halter breaking, I try to do it at different times of the day.. before feeding, after, etc. Then he won't anticipate being fed, and won't rush to the bunk.

Next time you work him, tie him up after you work him, and don't lead him to the bunk. Let him off the rope before he gets to the bunk. I would let mine loose when the were standing quietly on the rope.. that was a "reward".

Good luck!
 
TheBullLady":2tdye2ph said:
Next time you work him, tie him up after you work him, and don't lead him to the bunk. Let him off the rope before he gets to the bunk. I would let mine loose when the were standing quietly on the rope.. that was a "reward".

Good luck!

i agree. one thing i've always believed when halter-breaking is when you let the animal loose, don't let it walk away from you. if it's acting up, don't let it loose until it calms down. when it stands quietly, take the halter off & you walk away from it.
 
Does he have a nose ring? if not put one in. it helps on most bulls.
 
I have to disagree with the nose ring idea. If you're planning to show, you'll have to either have a nose ring or use one of the removeable clamp type rings, but I don't think it's a good idea to use to nose ring unless it's an emergency. Especially not when you're working with the calf.
 
Bulllady

if this calf is draging him now, what will he do to him in 6 mos. ring him and take control of him...
 
WORANCH":158f1zpu said:
Bulllady

if this calf is draging him now, what will he do to him in 6 mos. ring him and take control of him...
I agree. It's Time to Quit Babying the BABY!!!!1
 
Well its apparent that the calf is the alpha male in this barnyard. You had better get control or you never will put a ring on him.
 
today i put a rope on his ring, just incase he started fighting me, and he didnt do anything wrong. i put the rope on it so he would get used having that rope hanging from his nose. the slightest bit of tension got him to stop fighting. i dont beleive its a good idea to train him by pulling the nose ring, so i wont pull much unless hes pulling. seems like he knows that i am in control when that rope is on his nose.
 
TxCoUnTrYbOy":2zr5zv9e said:
today i put a rope on his ring, just incase he started fighting me, and he didnt do anything wrong. i put the rope on it so he would get used having that rope hanging from his nose. the slightest bit of tension got him to stop fighting. i dont beleive its a good idea to train him by pulling the nose ring, so i wont pull much unless hes pulling. seems like he knows that i am in control when that rope is on his nose.

leave some slack in the lead rope on the ring, do your pulling with the halter rope..
 
thats what i do. i dont want to train him using the nose ring. if he starts fighting a lot it only takes a very small tug on the lead rope. other than that i use the halter and the halter only.
 
If you can't handle the calf on the halter, using the nose ring is not going to help you do anything, other than piss him off eventually. A friend of mine did the exact same thing y'all are talking about.. "I can't control him so I hurt him with the nose ring and he listens" and got very seriously injured when the bull had had enough of that and pinned her to a pipe fence.

What I'm trying to suggest is that you teach the bull different habits.. not by hurting him with the ring. I understand the need to "take control" and not let him get away with anything, but what are you teaching him? Brahmans are VERY susceptible to pain and don't understand the punishment a lot of times. If the only time you can control him is with the nose ring, how will you ever get him to listen on the halter?

My philosophy has been if I'm not getting the results I want one way, to try something else. Do not let the calf get away with butting or running off with you.. but use something else to encourage him to behave. If he loves to be brushed or handled, reward him with that when he behaves. Just remember every time you do something with him, you're teaching him a certain behavior.

Just my OPINION of course
 
i guess i didnt explain what im doing good. im not pulling him with the nose ring. i keep the rope on the nose ring, but use the halter. he is normally very well behaved, and walks really good considering ive only had him a couple weeks. i guess he just gets excited when hes going to eat so he tries to run, even with a little slack in the nose ring, when he starts running like that the rope tightens up and puts tension on his nose.
 
i had the exact same problem with my heifer do exactly what someone else said before feed at different times and work with him at different times of the day i fed my heifer at around the same time but usually mixed everything around do that and within a day or so he will do what you want him to do at least that is what i did with mine when she did that to me
good luck
 

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