bull calf behavior

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RICHARD ADAMS

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i have a bull calf (prox 3 months) that will run up behind me while i walk in the pasture. when i turn around it hits the brakes. is this normal playful behavior or something else? storey's doesn't address
 
i agree w/skip. at that age, calves are really curious & playful. he's probaby just checking you out.
 
I had one do that, then he started rubbing up against us and we thought it was fun to interact with him. That is until he grew-up, a 200 lb calf rubbing up against you with his head was one thing but when he reached about 800 pounds we realized we had made a horrible :oops: mistake.
 
I would put a stop to the behavior asap. Had a couple playful ones a few years back, they also put on breaks when I heard then and turned, one day one got me from behind, i didn't hear her. My suggestion would be to shout even run towards him, give him a little scare, seems besides watching my back thats how i handled it. Don't let him think he is in charge.
 
I have always carried a sorting stick when moving the cows. If a bull calf was doing this with me, I would whack him on the nose with a sorting stick when he showed this behavior. My cows and bulls respect a sorting stick. I don't beat them with one, but they do know when they see me with a sorting stick it is time to be moved, and they start looking for an open gate or the trailer. I can walk right up to my cows if I don't have the sorting stick in my hand. I have found the bull calves usually need the whack on the nose lesson in order to behave around humans as they grow older. Because of lessons learned as young animals, I can walk into the bull corral and load them into a trailer . . . as long as I have a sorting stick in my hand.

Don't put up with this behavior from your calf. He is testing you. He wants to know if you are a playtoy. He's old enough for a lesson.
 
Linda":bq8le9a3 said:
I have always carried a sorting stick when moving the cows. If a bull calf was doing this with me, I would whack him on the nose with a sorting stick when he showed this behavior. My cows and bulls respect a sorting stick. I don't beat them with one, but they do know when they see me with a sorting stick it is time to be moved, and they start looking for an open gate or the trailer. I can walk right up to my cows if I don't have the sorting stick in my hand. I have found the bull calves usually need the whack on the nose lesson in order to behave around humans as they grow older. Because of lessons learned as young animals, I can walk into the bull corral and load them into a trailer . . . as long as I have a sorting stick in my hand.

Don't put up with this behavior from your calf. He is testing you. He wants to know if you are a playtoy. He's old enough for a lesson.

Linda; Good Point.
 
Linda":ktd5dnk0 said:
I have always carried a sorting stick when moving the cows. If a bull calf was doing this with me, I would whack him on the nose with a sorting stick when he showed this behavior. My cows and bulls respect a sorting stick. I don't beat them with one, but they do know when they see me with a sorting stick it is time to be moved, and they start looking for an open gate or the trailer. I can walk right up to my cows if I don't have the sorting stick in my hand. I have found the bull calves usually need the whack on the nose lesson in order to behave around humans as they grow older. Because of lessons learned as young animals, I can walk into the bull corral and load them into a trailer . . . as long as I have a sorting stick in my hand.

Don't put up with this behavior from your calf. He is testing you. He wants to know if you are a playtoy. He's old enough for a lesson.

Totally agree
There is nothing like a fine peice of hickory, axe handle works great for attention getter. There is only one alpa male at my place . Get his attention or put him the freezer.
 
Campground - First Make Sure You Can Fit In. :lol:

Campground Cattle":2gez0mip said:
Linda":2gez0mip said:
I have always carried a sorting stick when moving the cows. If a bull calf was doing this with me, I would whack him on the nose with a sorting stick when he showed this behavior. My cows and bulls respect a sorting stick. I don't beat them with one, but they do know when they see me with a sorting stick it is time to be moved, and they start looking for an open gate or the trailer. I can walk right up to my cows if I don't have the sorting stick in my hand. I have found the bull calves usually need the whack on the nose lesson in order to behave around humans as they grow older. Because of lessons learned as young animals, I can walk into the bull corral and load them into a trailer . . . as long as I have a sorting stick in my hand.

Don't put up with this behavior from your calf. He is testing you. He wants to know if you are a playtoy. He's old enough for a lesson.

Totally agree
There is nothing like a fine peice of hickory, axe handle works great for attention getter. There is only one alpa male at my place . Get his attention or put him the freezer.
 
How long does it take to wean a calf? Then can you return the calf back w/ its cow?
 
If your not going to use him for a bull, cut him.

Shouldn't everyone do that to their bulls if they are not going to "use" them??? That is why there are too many inferior cattle out there. "Save the best, CUT the rest." That is the motto we have lived by for the last 15 years. One year, I cut all of my registered bull calves. I was not happy with a few of them, and just said to heck with it, and fixed them all. I regreted it about 6 months later when one was weighing 1300 lbs. at 1 year old, but his back was not as straight as I like.
If the calf is good enough, the stick idea would be the best to try and get him over it. If it does not work, send him down the road.
You have to be picky, but do it as to what your customers want, not what you "think" they want. You will make more money and stay in the business a lot longer if you do.
 
Everyone is posting to castrate him.... it will probably help

I have experience this behavior from castrated animals (steers) as well as females... you have to show him you are the alpha or "in charge".
 
No surprise here. I have a slightly different take on this situation. As youngsters, everything is a toy. Our calves will run up and kick there heels, jump around blat and generally have a good time. If you just stand still, they eventually realize you aren't much fun and will quit doing it. But a lot depends on how clse they get before the stop. If they try to get in my back pocket a good yell genrally turns them away. Actaully it alwasy has so far, the operative term being "so far". Heifers that were really rambunctious as young calves have mellowed into calm cows. I'm more concerned about the ones that run away from you as soon as they see you. They need to be taught their distance, but not to the point that they are reluctant to have you walk among them. In our situation, we need the kind of cattle that are easy going around people and even a little curious. And a lot of that calf play is exactly that, curiosity.

dun

RICHARD ADAMS":1lo0falh said:
i have a bull calf (prox 3 months) that will run up behind me while i walk in the pasture. when i turn around it hits the brakes. is this normal playful behavior or something else? storey's doesn't address
 
I agree with you dun, i/we just shout or walk towards--chase if need be to discourage this behavior... We also want to be able to handle the cattle (i.e., medically attend to, pen up, sort, load, ...etc..) so having wild animals is not desired. To harsh of treatment can scare them off.
 

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