Everyone Please Help

[AtoZ]

Our best heifer will not lead and we are at a loss and will not be able to show her without your help. We have tied her to a rack wagon with another one and she will plant her front feet and drag until she lays down. We did this for 2 hours. When you pull on her halter she will not move at all anytime. We tied her to one that will lead and she still did not lead. Oh, I forgot to tell you that she is a Hereford and will probably be our last one. Please post any idea you might have. We also tried shocking her but, that made her worse, now she kicks!

 

[cattleluvr18]

this is typical hereford. but dont give up on the breed!!!!! they are the calmest but stubbornest breed and probably animal. some just dont break no matter what breed. my herf had to have a swift boot to the face to get her to finally lead. go ahead and try it. it worked for me. and for the kicking, well...i know that somebody else has a method for that. i've never had that problem...yet. but sinse you tied her and pulled her around by a wagon, it kinda sounds like you may never get her.

 

[CPL]

AtoZ,

Is this your Prime Beef calf?

How old is she? What's she weigh?

First I'd like to say its not "typical ol Hereford". Every breed has its bad apples. There is a possiblity that she is just too old to REALLY train- although it can happen. Go back to the basics, don't jump to conclusions. Leave the halter on her for a couple days. Lead her to food and water- if she doesnt lead- she doesnt drink. Get one of your parents to go on a walk with you and twist her tail and push her a bit- a couple steps is an improvement. As for kicking, try to work her out of it by using the show stick on her hind legs.

Remember- Halters are unatural, so there's going to be a bit of confusion first. Keep a calm mind, if you're mad you are setting yourself up for 100% failure.

If she is the Prime Beef calf, you might try calling Moffett Farms and seeing if they have had any other Prime Beef calves have the same temperment. Disposition is inherited.

 

[Moocow11]

. and for the kicking, well...i know that somebody else has a method for that. .

That would be me. if you would like to know PM me and i will tell you

 

[Moocow11]

i have another way to fix the leading problem but you will only want to do this as the last resourt. and it involves dragging on cement. like i said last resourt

 

[TxSimbrahShower]

With her haltered, you might try at feeding time walking with a coffee can of feed behind you and let her follow with you holding the lead, plus have someone walk behind her. Another, have you tried tying her and leading her to feed and water.
Never pull a calf with any kind of machinery or across concrete. Broken legs and other injuries that leave the animal completely useless.

As far as the kicking, tie her up and roll a ball back and forth under her and around her back legs. This should help.

 

[Moocow11]

Never pull a calf with any kind of machinery or across concrete. Broken legs and other injuries that leave the animal completely useless..

I very much disagree. Someday you will get a calf that wont lead and you wont know what do. and after you have tried every thing it still wont lead. you will end up using a tractor to pull the calf. at one time we were breakin about 50 show calves. and a lot were very stubborn. and a few (5 to be exact) would not lead no matter what. and we eventaly went to my grandmas house. who had a huge brand new cement drive way. and we drug those calves until their feet almost bled and then they walked like a show calf. no broken legs nothing. we ended up keeping those for our own. and we had 11 grand champions and 6 res. and then 4 ,3rd places and a couple others, at 11 shows. so think what you want but I know my ways work

 

[Angus Cattle Girl]

Wow. Kudos to you. It sounds harsh to me but would try the technique myself, if I had one that would not lead.

The way I taught mine to lead was I let them drag their halters for a while, about a week. Then I would try leading them, having someone behind them just in case. For every step they took, I would reward them with slack in their rope. Works for me...

-Angus Girl

 

[Moocow11]

yea so do i to get them to lead.

 

[cattleluvr18]

CPL:

some just dont break no matter what breed.

but herfs are still stubborn. i also do the Angus Cattle Girl way.

 

[CPL]

but herfs are still stubborn.

So's my cousins Angus cow that almost got hit by a train last year.

"All generalizations are false, including this one." - Mark Twain

 

[AtoZ]

Thanks for the advice. We are going to make her the last one in the barn at night and lead her to feed and water. Yes she is our Prime Beef that is why we are going to start over with her and take out time hopefully she will get there. The good news is that she did not kick tonight when we blow them out and we had her last leading out and she went to the feed trough but that was it.

 

[AAOK]

Cattle are Not smart animals, but ARE creatures of habit. Slow, calm, easy movement, plus reward will ALWAYS produce the BEST results.

Put a rope halter on her, and tie her down, with enough slack so that she can get up and down. Leave her tied for 24 hours without food or water.

Set a bucket of water, and a pail of feed about 10 feet away. Get her up, pet, scratch, and brush her, all the while talking to her. Then, untie her, and slowly (one inch at a time, if necessary) lead her to the food and water.

Tie her down after finishing, and repeat this at every feeding until she is leading the way you want. Keep moving the Feed and Water further away. This time is also great to work with the showstick, and setup.

Be patient, and be kind. You will reap what you sow. There is NEVER a proper time to abuse an animal, or anything else for that matter.

 

[Colorado2008]

we drug those calves until their feet almost bled

This is where I totally disagree with what you have said. I have a friend that has a heifer they couldn't get to walk. They drug her behind their truck (they don't have a tractor). They drug her so long that her knees were bloody and her feet were worn down and bloody as well...she still doesn't walk. I don't think that resorting to dragging the animal is going to get the message to them.

Atoz, take it slow. Use AAOK's advice, it's about the soundest out there that will work 90% of the time. There are just some cattle out there that will never walk great. About the only other thing I can think that you can do is get a Big Jim's Breaking Halter from Sullivans. Yes, it is harsh. You pull from the top and it puts pressure on the chin and behind the ears. It is designed so when you pull and they step forward, the pressure is immediatly relieved from those areas. This halter would be my absolute last resort...and I strongly discourage dragging them.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[L Weir]

My daughter has a hereford heifer that does will not move sometimes. My husband or have to walk behind her to get moving.

 

[farmwife]

KUDOS CPL. If they don't lead to water/food, they don't eat/drink. This works! As for the dragging with a tractor, truck, or whatever. This really is quite dangerous for the calf. Sure I have done it many times myself, and many of you may do a million more times, but it just takes pulling the stifle muscle in that one to break you of it. I have ruined 2 heifers this way -- the first and last!! I know ag is all about experiential learning, so don't take my word for it; keep on dragging them and ruin 2 for yourself.

 

[SHOWMOM]

My son has been showing cattle going on 7 years, and after the first heifer, he has broken all cattle by himself. He's had one heifer that he could not get broke to lead, and yes my husband did finally tie her to a tractor and tried to make her lead, he did not take her out of the fenced off area we let our calves out into though there was no road or concrete. That is a little rough. Not ragging anyone everybody is entitled to their own thing. Ok. that heifer of ours never did lead and after 45 minutes of tilling up the patch with her, we turned her butt OUT!!!!!! He had worked with her for 6 months and I said enough. Since then he has never had a heifer or bull or steer he has not been able to work with. He starts with just sitting in the pen with them, getting them used to him, then he starts with brushing, petting, etc. It depends on the calf, he has put one in the chute, put a lead on it and walked it to the trailer, so give it time, be patient, and just keep working with her. Oh yeah, my son says it's a "heifer" thing.

 

[Snider_Angus]

I have the same proble kinda. My angus steer lays down when you start to pull on him and he wont get up unless you take the halter off. ?????

 

[TheBullLady]

I also would not resort to pulling behind a tractor OR on concrete, unless you can afford to lose the heifer if something happens to her. I've also had calves that would not lead, and they got turned out. It's never been so important to me to get them into a show ring.

However, I have to agree with the folks that are suggesting patience! It's hard I know, but go back to basics with this heifer. Does she like to be groomed? If so, that makes it easier to get her to come to you. She has to eventually learn that if she wants feed and attention, you're the ticket.


When she balks, try pulling her off to the side, instead of straight forward. Many times this will unbalance them, and they'll be forced to take a step. One step at a time. I've had them take the one step, and then just continue moving forward.

Good luck!

 

[Keren]

Just another note on the tractor dragging side of things:

I break in the majority of my animals using a slow and steady method, and it seems like most people on this board use a similar method.

However, the decision whether or not you will pull an animal gains a new perspective when you move from breaking in a handful of cattle a year, which you show, to breaking in 50 + animals every year, which are not your own and which you are paid to break in.

I sometimes do not get a choice what I break in - many of the animals I get sent are ones that can't be broken by a patient method. The owners have tried. And I can't afford to just send these animals back to the paddock - their owners are paying good money for their animals to make it to the show ring.

There are other instances where I have had to break in large numbers of animals over a short period - one year we did 40 angus 15 - 20 m.o angus heifers in three months - when you are working with numbers like these, it is inevitable that you will encounter some that require extreme treatment.

In a good year I will not have to drag any animals. In a bad year I may do 3 or 4. It has never failed as a method of breaking in for me, but it is not the sole method of breaking in, and it requires a lot of other work. And we never drag on concrete/hard surfaces, always on grass, and we have designed a special attachment for the back of the tractor to prevent any injuries and allow the animal to be turned loose quickly in case of emergency. We don't drag them till their feet are injured. We will have them on the tractor for 15 minutes at the most, then they are rested. We might take them out twice a day for a couple of days if they really need it.