Halter breaking?

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Angus Cattle Shower":2c1gomja said:
Does anyone use a donkey?

yes you can use a miny donkey. they r very stubborn and they can and will pull a 700lbs calf easily. you can also use a jenny
 
horseguy":3dtdk3bi said:
Angus Cattle Shower":3dtdk3bi said:
Does anyone use a donkey?

yes you can use a miny donkey. they r very stubborn and they can and will pull a 700lbs calf easily. you can also use a jenny

A mini donkey? :roll:
 
horseguy":2py0tqef said:
Angus Cattle Shower":2py0tqef said:
Does anyone use a donkey?

yes you can use a miny donkey. they r very stubborn and they can and will pull a 700lbs calf easily. you can also use a jenny

A 250# donkey pulling a 700# calf? I think not. Get a large standard donkey and please, please, please supervise this activity (or you may lose the calf)!!!
 
Gale Seddon":1loftpl8 said:
horseguy":1loftpl8 said:
Angus Cattle Shower":1loftpl8 said:
Does anyone use a donkey?

yes you can use a miny donkey. they r very stubborn and they can and will pull a 700lbs calf easily. you can also use a jenny

A 250# donkey pulling a 700# calf? I think not. Get a large standard donkey and please, please, please supervise this activity (or you may lose the calf)!!!

I think a miniature donkey would work just fine............as long as you are breaking them Miniature Herefords with him ;-) :lol:

Listen to Gale, you need a donkey that will be the boss and strong enough to handle a large calf.

I would only use a Donkey if I was breaking lots of calves and needing to do it in short time. Or if I just happened to have one for other reasons. With one calf just, pen it, tie it, lead it to food and water and they will come around most all times. Daily attention and handling and you will be on your way in no time.
 
what about if he is charging, fine in the beggining now doesn't want to walk and will charge.

Lilfarmgirl
 
lilfarmgirl":3f6zw4qn said:
what about if he is charging, fine in the beggining now doesn't want to walk and will charge.

Lilfarmgirl

I never have dealt with that, any bad temperament that made me be scared for my kids meant they went from the pampered show life to the feed lot ASAP!

I suggest you do not mess with a calf that will charge you!
 
If your leading the calf and he tries to charge, come back and hit him with something on the head. After a while he may not like you, but he will learn to respect you.
 
he charges when my son is leading him. I will have him give him a good smack.

Lilfarmgirl
 
Guess it would depend on what is meant by charging for me. When I think of a steer Charging I think of him coming at you like a bull trying to hurt you.

Now if you are talking about him butting at you or pushing on you as you lead then I would work with that. But if by charging they mean you get in the pen and the steer charges you. I would probably send it down the road.

Currently only my 9 year old and 11 year old will be showing calves so I will not have any patience at all for stuff like this.
 
I may cause a bit of a stir with this. I break around 50 animals a year and I use a very gentle method, similar to what has been mentioned already. BUT once every second year or so I get a nasty one. By nasty I mean something that will charge like a bullfighting bull when you enter the pen, or one that unfortunately learns it can get away.

To deal with the charging there are several methods I have used because the animals are all different. If he is charging out of fear I try tying him to a rail really tightly and putting my hand on his head, between his eyes and leaving it there no matter what. They snort and carry on, but sometimes will calm down.

If that doesn't work I put a halter on the steer and have two people, one on either side of me, with bits of poly pipe. As he goes to charge, they crack him as hard as the can on the head. This also works for animals who put their head down and bolt.

If he still charges, I put a bull ring through the nose. Wait a couple weeks for it to heal, then take him for a walk and rip up hard on the nose ring.

With the animals which learn to get away, I know this might cause a stir but yes I use a tractor. But please understand I only do it in the most extreme cases. First you have to make a special bar that fits onto the tractor, ours goes on the three point linkage, and swivels so nothing can get wound round it. It also has rings welded on to tie to. We tie the difficult animal on the left, and a quiet one on the right. Then, as the driver slowly drives off, we have someone walking next to the animal so it thinks its being led, and someone behind to make sure the animal keeps moving.

Unfortunately I have had to deal with some nasty animals in the past, but all of them are breakable. Good luck!
 
As Keren said, IF you are going to use a tractor - it is imperative that you have someone walking next to the animal. We recomment having two leads, one going to the tractor, the other with the walker. That way, the person can pull him (multiple taps) and if they don't respond the tractor can apply pressure pulling. The animal must think the person is strong enough to be in control.
Years ago, we had animals that we thought needed the extra strength of a tractor. Haven't used it for many, many years. Don't think the cattle changed, think the handling methods have improved over the years. :p
 
this is a charge, head down comes at you when you try to get him to walk. He will back up and then run at you (past you) and get away. I have my son try the various ways and maybe one will work. He is not giving up he knows he can break him eventually. We do walk him in the barn, this way if he gets away we are not chasing him down the field.

Lilfarmgirl
 
lilfarmgirl":k1g69265 said:
this is a charge, head down comes at you when you try to get him to walk. He will back up and then run at you (past you) and get away. I have my son try the various ways and maybe one will work. He is not giving up he knows he can break him eventually. We do walk him in the barn, this way if he gets away we are not chasing him down the field.

Lilfarmgirl

Hopefully he is an older teen with some experiance?
 
We do walk him in the barn, this way if he gets away we are not chasing him down the field.
You are missing the point. If he EVER gets away, you will always have a problem. Put a longer lead on him & keep him in a small pen. That way, even if he bolts PAST you/or son, he did not get away & you need to let him know that by pulling on the lead - sharply. NEVER let him in an area that he CAN GET AWAY!
Sounds like you need to go back to stage 1, and just keep him in a pen & tie him at one end & brush him, than lead him maybe 5 feet to feed and/or water & retie him. Do this for few days - to a week, depending on how well he does. Keep increasing the distance, but never get in a pen bigger than the length of your lead so he NEVER gets away.
If your son is too young to hold him from bolting, you need Dad or bigger brother on end of lead WITH him, so calf thinks your son is stopping him. With a long lead this is easily done. Just tie two leads together.
 
my son is 18 and this is his last year showing in the group he is in. He does have experience, I think he gets frustrated. I will tell him to start back at step one as if we just brougt him home. The steer doesn't mind being tied up, just the walking part. I know he will break him, just finding a way to do it is going to be the key.

Lilfarmgirl
 
lilfarmgirl":24usyhf9 said:
my son is 18 and this is his last year showing in the group he is in. He does have experience, I think he gets frustrated. I will tell him to start back at step one as if we just brougt him home. The steer doesn't mind being tied up, just the walking part. I know he will break him, just finding a way to do it is going to be the key.

Lilfarmgirl

When he is tied can you brush and touch him everywhere. Is he broke to wash and blow?
 
he doesn't care if he is tied, and you can touch him and brush him. We haven't washed because its been too cold to wash him.
 
lilfarmgirl":mz9zy0rn said:
he doesn't care if he is tied, and you can touch him and brush him. We haven't washed because its been too cold to wash him.

then I would just do like Jeanne said and work him in small area not let him get away. Do lots of brushing and get him as gentle as possible all in small pen.
 
we have seperated him from the others, put him into a smaller pen and are going to start all over. Let him get used to us, brush him and just have as much contact with him as possible. I will let you all know how it goes.

Lilfarmgirl
 

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