Halter breaking your calf's

[MZTXKITTY]

Halter Breaking Your Calf's

I am new to owning cattle let alone a bottle-fed Brahma mix bull calf. He is currently 8 weeks old and I can do just about anything I want with him as long as he doesn't see the halter or a lead rope.

Ya all may be wondering why I got myself into this and it's a bit of a story so please bear with me for entertainment or curiosity either way it's pretty funny to me at least. I grew up with dairy goats, chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits and horses, oh yeah and the occasional pig for bacon. My first horse taught me to ride. Yes, he was quite skilled as he was a well-trained gentleman who had no problem letting the beginner rider know exactly when he was tired of putting up with the idiot on his back that had no clue as to what they were doing.

Moving on I have spent the last 15 years raising different breeds of mastiffs. my last mastiff was an English Mastiff, Goliath who weighed 207 lbs. at 4 years of age. Which sadly I just lost this last November to his stomach rolling which is common in this breed. My 7-year-old has grown up with this dog and took the lost very hard. She has no fear of large animals of any kind. Who also wanted a horse this month for her birthday. We also just moved back to the country 11 months ago. Our neighbors are cows. Bucking stock from what I have learned from their owner whom I have become friends with. He has a very large brahma bull in the heard that is in the pastures on the side and back of our pasture and front yard. Well me being the person I am (I love cows I think they are cute) could not stop myself from making friends with the cows. Much to my surprise it was this very large bull and a cranky cow that have become my buddies. Coming to the fence when I call them by their new given names for their daily ration of cow crack (as I didn't know what to call them) Yes, cow crack, you should see the look on the feed store employee's face when ya ask for cow crack. Yes, I did go in and ask for a bag of cow crack, she just looked at me …. I then asked her don't ya all feed your cows cow crack my neighbor's cows love the stuff. I think my daughter in law wanted to die.

So, I bought a bottle calf, brahma mix. Five weeks old when I got him. Skinny little thing. Brought him home and he is growing like crazy. Can bathe him, brush him, wash his face rub his legs down pick up his feet clean his ears you name it. That is till he sees the halter or a lead rope. So, my question after this long-winded story I truly hoped you enjoyed any advice on getting this boy to agree to the halter and walking. We have done it the hard way a few times. I was just hoping maybe I was going about it the wrong way and ya all had a better way of doing it.

Thank you all

 

[SBMF 2015]

Just include the halter in his every day activity. Halter before bottle. Halter while you brush him, ect. Just remember you are bigger than him for now. Just be more determined than him.
I'd get him castrated pretty soon to. He doesn't know he's a bull yet, and it will be better to keep him that way.

 

[MZTXKITTY]

We are going to breed him. His girlfriend is being delivered tomorrow morning. Got him a angus girlfriend that is 5 weeks old figured if I can do one might as well do two and get it over with. It also will make it easier with four little girls who all want to feed bottles and give baths and brush . Surprisingly they are good about raking and shoving poop.
I got him by about 30 lbs. for now . He was doing better yesterday, but still needs a lot of work to be were I want him to be.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Someone else posted the question- another bottle calf question...??
Search it and you will get several more opinions than mine.
Bottle calves do not make good herd bulls. He probably will have zero respect for your personal space. That makes him dangerous. He's a baby now, but when he's 1,000lbs and wants to use you to scratch his head it can hurt. Not that he will be mean about it, just that he doesn't understand that he can't do that.
Once he figures out that he's a bull he will act totally different.
It's great that you have a companion for him. If you decide to keep her for a cow make sure you have a vet out to give her a breeding soundness exam. Most bottle calves don't quite grow to their genetic potential. You need to make sure she will be able to have a calf before you breed her.
Your baby bull is probably genetically to big to breed your heifer to.
So here is what I would do; have fun raising two bottle babies, castrate that bull calf, turn your Angus heifer into a cow (bottle calves do make quite cows). When he gets older or you need to buy feed for winter sell your bull calf and use the money for feed and to A.I. Your heifer to something more appropriate for a first calf heifer.
Just remember they are cattle, not dogs or horses. They are not pets. The last thing you want is for someone to get hurt.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Please don't try to make a bottle calf bull your herd bull. We had a small-breed (Aberdeen) bull that was fairly docile, until he figured out hormones. Then he started aiming for knees. You have 4 children who need a safe project-steer him, halter train him and the heifer, and AI the heifer if you want her bred.

 

[greggy]

You could keep him, but not unless he is scared of you, like others say, you do not want him bossing you all around later, pet rams are no good for same reason, at least they are only 200-250lbs, but the head and hitting you in legs could cripple, a bull, well, it could kill.

Females are bad enough, you want them to be quiet to handle, but know to move away from you, and that can be hard if your the primary source of food.

Anyway, the other problem is, unless you know the full genetics, it is too risky and time wasting to take on as a breeder IMO.

 

[MZTXKITTY]

Thank you everyone. This is very good advice that I had not thought of.

Update on the little heifer, she is doing much better after getting some meds in her. She had a raspatory infection. She is now up and running and pushing the bull around. The other day she started head butting him, he played for all of 2 min. and was done and just lied down on the spot.

As for Snickers the bull he is keeping his weight on now and his manners have improved. I have started using paper towel rolls to pop him with and it seems to be leaving and impression for the time being. Although as you said when the hormones kick in thing will change. I have had a few folks stop by and comment on how beautiful he is and the turnaround from when I first brought him home. I have been working on teaching him hand commands as well using treats as motivation for good behavior.

I do have concerns for when he is older as I have had experience with horses and can tell you my beautiful stud colt was so sweet till one day, he was an ass.

 

[Nesikep]

You could keep him, but not unless he is scared of you, like others say, you do not want him bossing you all around later, pet rams are no good for same reason, at least they are only 200-250lbs, but the head and hitting you in legs could cripple, a bull, well, it could kill.

Females are bad enough, you want them to be quiet to handle, but know to move away from you, and that can be hard if your the primary source of food.

Anyway, the other problem is, unless you know the full genetics, it is too risky and time wasting to take on as a breeder IMO.

I don't think they need to be scared of you at all... I think it's just as dangerous if they're scared.. but they do need to respect... There's also a big difference between tame and docile... You can make an animal tame, but I don't think there's a lot to be done to make an aggressive animal docile.
My bulls are big sucks for attention, they're both tame and docile, I've been breeding for that for 30 years now and there are drastic differences in family lines.

 

[Rafter S]

You could keep him, but not unless he is scared of you, like others say, you do not want him bossing you all around later, pet rams are no good for same reason, at least they are only 200-250lbs, but the head and hitting you in legs could cripple, a bull, well, it could kill.

Females are bad enough, you want them to be quiet to handle, but know to move away from you, and that can be hard if your the primary source of food.

Anyway, the other problem is, unless you know the full genetics, it is too risky and time wasting to take on as a breeder IMO.

I don't think they need to be scared of you at all... I think it's just as dangerous if they're scared.. but they do need to respect... There's also a big difference between tame and docile... You can make an animal tame, but I don't think there's a lot to be done to make an aggressive animal docile.
My bulls are big sucks for attention, they're both tame and docile, I've been breeding for that for 30 years now and there are drastic differences in family lines.

Yup. I don't want my cattle afraid of me, but I also want them to move out of the way when I walk up to them. I wouldn't dream of making a pet of a bull. That's a real good way to get hurt.

 

[Nesikep]

You could keep him, but not unless he is scared of you, like others say, you do not want him bossing you all around later, pet rams are no good for same reason, at least they are only 200-250lbs, but the head and hitting you in legs could cripple, a bull, well, it could kill.

Females are bad enough, you want them to be quiet to handle, but know to move away from you, and that can be hard if your the primary source of food.

Anyway, the other problem is, unless you know the full genetics, it is too risky and time wasting to take on as a breeder IMO.

I don't think they need to be scared of you at all... I think it's just as dangerous if they're scared.. but they do need to respect... There's also a big difference between tame and docile... You can make an animal tame, but I don't think there's a lot to be done to make an aggressive animal docile.
My bulls are big sucks for attention, they're both tame and docile, I've been breeding for that for 30 years now and there are drastic differences in family lines.

Yup. I don't want my cattle afraid of me, but I also want them to move out of the way when I walk up to them. I wouldn't dream of making a pet of a bull. That's a real good way to get hurt.

Here's my yearling.. he likes attention, but likes to just hang out with you to chew cud.. right after he fought with my other bull, he just ambled up to me for scratches
https://youtu.be/qn01Ff3UU3M
My other yearling, he's docile and friendly, but he's uneducated and rough.. wants to rub on your leg, will push other cows out of the way so he gets his attention.. I don't like that very much and he's gotten a few slaps for it

Here's Zeus's dad, big guy at 2400 lbs, but the only time he worried me a bit was when I had to go feed and my boots smelled of blood, etc from putting a prolapsed cow back together the night before.. all he did was beller LOUDLY at my boots.. I made quick work of feeding and getting out of there, and the boots got a good wash before the next feeding.

 

[Hereford2]

What is the rest of the bulls breed? You said he is a brahman mix.? Don't scratch him on the head or push on his head that makes calves thing you want to play , and being slammed with a calves head hurts. And can kill you playing when he is big...