calm cattle

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guest25":37fte0yi said:
Piedmontese are exceptionally docile animals.

But for what its worth any idiot can ruin the most docile animals of any breed.

There are some high strung breeds beefmasters being one. there is a Dr. in Jackson Tn. that has a very large herd. Went there a couple of times to get the semen tank filled you could pull on the premises the heads would go up then they would all be in the other end of the pasture before you could bat an eye.

Was that at Cottage Farms?
 
la4angus":10lx2i1l said:
All my life Herefords have had the reputation as being very docile.The older cowmen from when I was a kid would say the same thing.

Yep- I believe you're right la-- but I can remember some of the herefords on those big ranchs I worked for as a kid would throw that belief right out the door...Those old cows were only handled twice a year- branding and weaning time - rest of the time pretty much on their own... They could be a mile away and see a cowboy on horseback coming and they'd throw up their heads and take off... Several times I saw one that would get missed at weaning time, and come in the next year at branding with a calf and yearling trailing beside them...A lot of them then had horns and if you had to rope one to doctor her- you found out fast she knew what those horns were for....

Pretty well shows that a lot of the disposition comes from how they are handled....
 
guest25":208ttqzv said:
Piedmontese are exceptionally docile animals.

But for what its worth any idiot can ruin the most docile animals of any breed.

There are some high strung breeds beefmasters being one. there is a Dr. in Jackson Tn. that has a very large herd. Went there a couple of times to get the semen tank filled you could pull on the premises the heads would go up then they would all be in the other end of the pasture before you could bat an eye.
brahman influance cattle are great at smelling rats. better thay run from you.. than at you. thats where you will incounter broken bones
 
randiliana":1gcw2dbz said:
Aaron":1gcw2dbz said:
Shorthorn x Hereford are the ones you want to stay away from. Great mothers, but killers when they have their calves.

Have to disagree with this statement. None of ours have ever been like that.

That's really surprising. We crossed Herefords with Simmentals, Charolais and Holsteins for many years. Had the odd crazy in them, but the Shorthorns would be the worst. Only know of a couple who still put Shorthorns in their herd around here. Main concerns are dockage and fiesty cows at calving. I think if you worked mainly on horseback, a Hereford x Shorthorn cow on a Charolais bull would be ideal.
 
In general I would also say herefords and I too have have haltertrained bulls in less than a week. my biggest problem is old show heifers that become so tame and just plain lazy with age that they are extremely hard to get to the working facilities when they are dry. If they have a calf its better as you just chase the calf and they will follow.

Saying that I have bought 8 commercial hereford heifers 5 years ago that were really wild and 3 of them being impossibley wild. The three worst ones never really became tame, although possible to handle safely except calving time. Needless to say they are no more grazing the land.
 
Aaron":2z11fwbe said:
That's really surprising. We crossed Herefords with Simmentals, Charolais and Holsteins for many years. Had the odd crazy in them, but the Shorthorns would be the worst. Only know of a couple who still put Shorthorns in their herd around here. Main concerns are dockage and fiesty cows at calving. I think if you worked mainly on horseback, a Hereford x Shorthorn cow on a Charolais bull would be ideal.

Well, we don't tolerate a bad attitude from anyone. That is a one way ticket to the sale barn. The hereford x shorthorn's that we own have been as calm, or calmer than anything else we have had. To tell the truth about the only breed that we have had major problems with at calving are the Black Angus cows. Heck, the kids 4H steer is hereford x shorthorn, he is about the calmest animal that we have around.
 
KNERSIE":1acnuixy said:
In general I would also say herefords and I too have have haltertrained bulls in less than a week. my biggest problem is old show heifers that become so tame and just plain lazy with age that they are extremely hard to get to the working facilities when they are dry. If they have a calf its better as you just chase the calf and they will follow.

Saying that I have bought 8 commercial hereford heifers 5 years ago that were really wild and 3 of them being impossibley wild. The three worst ones never really became tame, although possible to handle safely except calving time. Needless to say they are no more grazing the land.

What I have found is that a wild Hereford is about the wildest animal that you can have. They are usually really quiet, but when they are wild they are nearly insane.
 
We've been really happy with our Maines, bulls and heifers. Of course feeding definitely helps!
 
MoGal":2enioqac said:
There are tame ones in all breeds. I think the key to finding gentle cattle is know what type of management they came from. Some run when a person walks into the pasture, but yet a 4 wheeler or a tractor shows up they follow it like a dog.

In Nov. we bought a black brangus heifer 1+, in 2nd stage (I figure she's gonna be about 17 months when she calves and that's probably why they sold her but $400 was a good buy).
The first few weeks when you walked into the pasture she went the other way, now she's at least not running, she just has her head up, and I figure in a few more months she won't even throw her head up..... I had 2 brangus bulls (sold one this week) that I bought at 8 and 10 months old, and they will follow a bucket anywhere. But I wouldn't recommend brangus to a beginner, I 'm just saying that depending upon how they are handled and managed makes the difference and that is for any breed.

Red poll are just as gentle as herefords and in my opinion you can't beat a red poll in disposition
.


:nod: :nod: :nod:
 
Temple Grandin puts Herefords at the top of the "calm" list. She says you can take Hereford steers off the open range that had very little contact with humans and they'll settle down quicker in the feedlot than show heifers of some breeds. She says Angus are "average" for disposition.
 
Frankie":3utp9zif said:
Temple Grandin puts Herefords at the top of the "calm" list. She says you can take Hereford steers off the open range that had very little contact with humans and they'll settle down quicker in the feedlot than show heifers of some breeds. .
:lol2: She'll lie to you about other stuff too frankie. I've seen lots of smurfs that will eat your lunch. Not as bad as blacks, but close. The gentlest set of cattle around here is a set of Limousines.
 
ollie'":1lf02ceq said:
Frankie":1lf02ceq said:
Temple Grandin puts Herefords at the top of the "calm" list. She says you can take Hereford steers off the open range that had very little contact with humans and they'll settle down quicker in the feedlot than show heifers of some breeds. .
:lol2: She'll lie to you about other stuff too frankie. I've seen lots of smurfs that will eat your lunch. Not as bad as blacks, but close. The gentlest set of cattle around here is a set of Limousines.

I hope you're joking. Temple Grandin is one of the most amazing people around. I heard her speak at the U of Illinois ( where she got her PhD) a few years ago and was absolutely mesmerized. I'm sure she has no reason to lie about anything.
 
VanC":2h5n9euz said:
ollie'":2h5n9euz said:
Frankie":2h5n9euz said:
Temple Grandin puts Herefords at the top of the "calm" list. She says you can take Hereford steers off the open range that had very little contact with humans and they'll settle down quicker in the feedlot than show heifers of some breeds. .
:lol2: She'll lie to you about other stuff too frankie. I've seen lots of smurfs that will eat your lunch. Not as bad as blacks, but close. The gentlest set of cattle around here is a set of Limousines.

I hope you're joking. Temple Grandin is one of the most amazing people around. I heard her speak at the U of Illinois ( where she got her PhD) a few years ago and was absolutely mesmerized. I'm sure she has no reason to lie about anything.
I don't think she lies. I also don't believe all her "wisdom"
 
by nature what breed of cattle are suppose to be the most calm?
I think any breed of cattle can be calm is they are properly socialized and if you pay attention to disposition in your breeding program. We raise Texas Longhorns and from the old westerns, most people think they have a ratty disposition. Our bloodlines have been worked on for 50 years to have docile dispositions.

Back in the 80's we raised Salers for a few years. We purchased semen from a well known and respected imported bull. All the calves from that bull were absolutely crazy. You couldn't halter break them and they would run over you in a heart beat. After asking around a little to other breeders, everybody had the same experience with that bull. We learned that disposition can be genetic.

Every bull that we use here is assigned a "chute score." Here is an article at the University of Nebraska explaining how that works. 1=Docile, 2=Slightly Restless, 3=Restless, 4=Nervious, 5=Flighty or wild, and 6=Agressive.

If that bull's chute score is 4 or higher, he becomes a steer and has a new career as a "Feedlot Steer" or a "roper."

As a result of doing that for 50 years, we rarely have one that scores above a 3 unless we AI to an outside bloodline.

I believe that cattle with a higher IQ are more docile than cattle with low IQ's.

Here is an article that my father wrote back in 2020 about "Cattle Intelligence Testing." https://www.texaslonghorn.com/pr/index.cfm?story=enews-213_Cattle_IQ_20200605&year=2020
 
I think any breed of cattle can be calm is they are properly socialized and if you pay attention to disposition in your breeding program. We raise Texas Longhorns and from the old westerns, most people think they have a ratty disposition. Our bloodlines have been worked on for 50 years to have docile dispositions.

Back in the 80's we raised Salers for a few years. We purchased semen from a well known and respected imported bull. All the calves from that bull were absolutely crazy. You couldn't halter break them and they would run over you in a heart beat. After asking around a little to other breeders, everybody had the same experience with that bull. We learned that disposition can be genetic.

Every bull that we use here is assigned a "chute score." Here is an article at the University of Nebraska explaining how that works. 1=Docile, 2=Slightly Restless, 3=Restless, 4=Nervious, 5=Flighty or wild, and 6=Agressive.

If that bull's chute score is 4 or higher, he becomes a steer and has a new career as a "Feedlot Steer" or a "roper."

As a result of doing that for 50 years, we rarely have one that scores above a 3 unless we AI to an outside bloodline.

I believe that cattle with a higher IQ are more docile than cattle with low IQ's.

Here is an article that my father wrote back in 2020 about "Cattle Intelligence Testing." https://www.texaslonghorn.com/pr/index.cfm?story=enews-213_Cattle_IQ_20200605&year=2020
Forgot to post the link to the University of Nebraska article. Don't see a way to edit my post. Here it is:
 
We have one hereford that sees the truck at the gate and heads the other way... once she gets caught, she will find a new address...
There are good and bad in every breed... have some spoiled pets in angus and red polls.... and a couple of "in your back pocket, what have you got for me for a treat" Charolais cattle too...
 

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