Kingfisher
Well-known member
Like a stiff cane fishing pole eh?TexasBred":1xhohzqt said:
Handling cattle: Who taught you ?
- Thread starter Kingfisher
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Ryder
Well-known member
I read somewhere about the plastic bag and didn't think it was any big deal. I tied a bag onto about a four foot stick just to see if it would work. Certainly nothing fancy.Train":3o335d8b said:
I was amazed at how well it worked.
Depending on what you are trying to do,sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes to get the job done. I don't believe there is any one sure fire way.
What I know I learned just by being around when cattle were being handled. Nothing replaces common sense. The worst help you can have is somebody who knows a little but thinks he knows a lot and is wired up and refuses to slow down and listen.
A long time ago I used to work at an auction barn on sale days and that was the worst place to learn anything.
novatech
Well-known member
This is the very reason I always work my cattle by myself, From outside the pens I use a long cane pole with a flag on the end. Saw it on a Temple Gradin video.Ryder":1qdonqw9 said:
Ditto on the sale barn. They are all about learning what not to do. There are a few vets the same way.
TexasBred
Well-known member
Pretty much the same..the big end of the pole. That old man told me "don't ever go anywhere wihout your stick". And I don't.Kingfisher":3bacr7w7 said:
regolith
Well-known member
Cush? My cows understand 'hush'.
The oddest thing is now I sometimes have the opportunity to work in a team of four cattle-men and we all use much the same sounds and gestures to work the cattle - yet I've worked alone from 2002 until this year and developed my methods without any guide.
Second question is easy. Most dairypersons here (and yes, totally different type of handling to beef) use a stick, usually cut from 3/4 inch alkathene water pipe. The difference is in how it's used, which determines whether you have gentle cattle or wild cattle. I favour a gentle touch on the spine or tail head to move the cow up, only using a harder tap if she doesn't move first time. In the yard drafting, used to extend your arm as a guide or block to turn them.
They've got automatic drafting systems now... at a price.
'Who taught me' could be answered many ways. Sometimes I favour the 'cattlemen are born not made', especially after seeing my sister around cattle for the first time. My earliest lessons were as a kid living next to finishing steers; the steers taught me. Weren't other kids in the area, just siblings and steers and our cat.
Dave
Well-known member
Most of the time I use that fiberglass electric fence post because it is handy. I do like the paddle. It makes you wider with something more visible out there at the end. When I am loading cattle into the trailer I generally pack the hot shot. I don't energize it often but when 7 are in and number 8 is stalling, well it helps to get him in before the front 7 decide to turn around and come back.
Kingfisher":15zvvr1l said:Thank you for your response. He just has more practice than you I suppose........msscamp":15zvvr1l said:How are your cows doing?
You're welcome.
I appreciate the sentiment, but it's way more than a lack of practice - Dad has a gift when it comes to animals, he always has - a gift that I lack. I can't explain it, but somehow he knows so many things about them just by being around them for a little while that it's unreal. Sometimes I think he knows what they are going to do before they know what they are going to do. :lol: It's not just the cows either - it's also my goats, dogs, horses, the whole 9 yards. Thank you for asking, but our cows are gone - we sold out back in 2006. He had reached the age that his reflexes weren't what they used to be, and cows became a dangerous operation. He was stuffing boluses down a cows throat one day to treat her for footrot, and she slammed him up against the pipe and guard rail fence and nearly killed him. Split his chin open, knocked him out, and he realized he had lost his edge. He sold out not long after that. How's life treating you? Good, I hope. How are your cows doing?bigbull338
Well-known member
man i must be 1 crazy cattlemen,because selling the wont cross my mind.because i think when you get to old to work them,then you get help with them.ive known people that kept an tended till cows till they was almost 90.an 1 of them the dr told him to sale his cows.an he told the dr they give me peice of mind tending them.well never sold his cows.after he died his son took them over.
Calman
Well-known member
I rekon the truth about who taught me to handle cattle would be the cattle themselvs.
Our cattle will mostly go where you want them to go once they figure it out.But ya gotta let them think it was their idea not yours.We've had some in the past that would raise their head above the rest and give you that waleyed look but those don't last long here.
It's been said hundreds of times but still rings true.The right kind of facilities is the major part of being able to handle cattle.Just my :2cents:
Cal
Our cattle will mostly go where you want them to go once they figure it out.But ya gotta let them think it was their idea not yours.We've had some in the past that would raise their head above the rest and give you that waleyed look but those don't last long here.
It's been said hundreds of times but still rings true.The right kind of facilities is the major part of being able to handle cattle.Just my :2cents:
Cal
dieselbeef
Well-known member
10-4...i taught me..the cows helped..never had a bit of help from any one ..cept when they were loadin one i sold em. so far so good i guess.
sdcowboy
Member
I learned from an old cowboy and years of being an old cowboy myself. I carry a rope.
The handiest tool you can use about anywhere you go.
I'll tell ya a story. I once worked for a feller that was more farmer than rancher and we were going to move some cows. I'd saddled up and went to get my rope to put it on the saddle and he said, You don't need that rope. We aren't going to catch anything. I said" I feel kinda naked with out it" and took it along.
We used it to open two gates that were too tight, pulled a critter out of a mud hole and roped a calf that had a problem.
You just never know when you might b need one and having it along and not needing it won't hurt a thing. I even take one with me when I go fishing,
And I once took one with me to a dance one night, but that's not recommended if your sippin a little whiskey.
The handiest tool you can use about anywhere you go.
I'll tell ya a story. I once worked for a feller that was more farmer than rancher and we were going to move some cows. I'd saddled up and went to get my rope to put it on the saddle and he said, You don't need that rope. We aren't going to catch anything. I said" I feel kinda naked with out it" and took it along.
We used it to open two gates that were too tight, pulled a critter out of a mud hole and roped a calf that had a problem.
You just never know when you might b need one and having it along and not needing it won't hurt a thing. I even take one with me when I go fishing,
And I once took one with me to a dance one night, but that's not recommended if your sippin a little whiskey.
I've sorted cattle in alotta facilities and pens. the easiest way ive learned is respecting the cows bubble. its all about positioning and pressure for me and i may be armed with just a old stick or sumtimes a weed at times. showing the cows a way out is a plus as well. if its a first calf heifer or a SS cow whos been thru the song and dance half dozen times you cant rush in there hooting and hollering and hitting aint the answer. she head out as long as you respect the bubble.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Kingfisher":2q66ibch said:
Learned on uncles herd on 250 head of hateful Gerts how to really work cattle. Cattle can't process two or three thoughts at the same time, they have pressure points for forward reverse or side to side. Back in the day we carried an axe handle I wanted a 45. These weren't the tame cattle I knew these were wide eyed eat your arm off blow their nose in your back pocket cattle.
Nesikep
Well-known member
I learned everything not to do from my father, and the right way of doing it from the cows... I also found that I don't work them unless I have to, this year I vaccinated in the field, there were only 3 I didn't get and I'm not concerned about them as long as the majority are done (scourgard).. I completely agree with the sale barn being the place to not learn how to handle cattle.. it may work for the ones that want to kill, and for the people handling them, I guess they have to be on their toes for them, but it broke my heart last year to see this one heifer who was completely tame get separated out... it was such a riot in the pen when you could have just gone up to her and taken her head to hold her back.. also, I don't know why, but they seem to make a point to have the hydraulic door hit them on the way out... I usually don't carry anything with me, if I'm loading in a chute, twisting the tail usually works alright. When they face you, I find a good analogy is like 2 magnets pushing each other, and once you get the hang of it, you know how they'll move... Of course, i've also broken my hand punching them in the snout back in the day before we culled a lot of perpetually contrary cows.. some just HAVE to go the other way and there's nothing thats going to convince them it'll hurt less if they go where you want them to. Now that I have a few halterbroke cows, i will usually tie one up in the crowding pen and that'll make the others go there.. Also very important is the corral design... I've found cows will go just about anywhere as long as it's uphill.. if only I had known that when we built the corrals!
As for getting bulls into a bullpen, again, tying a cow up in there works wonders, even if he did sniff that butt 10 minutes ago
As for getting bulls into a bullpen, again, tying a cow up in there works wonders, even if he did sniff that butt 10 minutes ago
Lon
Well-known member
TexasBred":qodqlnj3 said:
thats interesting i never thought of that. i wouldve like to seen that done. i bet it is handy i might have to steal this idea from ya and try it out this spring.
i learned the most from my dad. he said you can learn more from a good horse than any man can teach ya, but he has a way of teaching you without ever saying much. learnt not to get in a hurry and how to move around them. now that married help my father in law a lot and he has tried to show me what he knows :roll: i laughed told him he needs a good horse. than i helped my uncle and he taught me everything not to do around cows. you have never seend cows run till you see his when a 4wheeler goes into the pasture and he is 55 or so now and still can jump a fence in coveralls when a cow looks at him :lol: dont even have to try and bluff him. as far as what i use sometimes a sorting stick and most the time dont carry anything just pull my neckerchief off when need something.
Suzie Q
Well-known member
I can round the cattle up by myself. With a quad to the yards and with a poly pipe in my hand in the yards. No I was not taught and hubby just doesn't get it. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I tell him he steps in the wrong place and the cattle go the opposite way, so now I bring a herd of 80 of calves in by myself.
In the yard I mainly use the water pipe to block. They move forward if you are behind them. I will admit to clicking to them like I do a horse!!!
We do own a hot shot. Here it is called a yellow cattle dog. We don't often use it and often forget to take it. But it is a lot easier to use that if a cow won't go forward or if a Brahman lies down in the crush it will get her to stand up.
In the yard I mainly use the water pipe to block. They move forward if you are behind them. I will admit to clicking to them like I do a horse!!!
We do own a hot shot. Here it is called a yellow cattle dog. We don't often use it and often forget to take it. But it is a lot easier to use that if a cow won't go forward or if a Brahman lies down in the crush it will get her to stand up.
Ryder
Well-known member
A laid down sulled up Brimmer has got to be on earth just to help you develop patience and self restraint.Suzie Q":17j7pnab said:
If it occurs in the bucking chute at a rodeo it is even worse.:help:
bigbull338
Well-known member
them old brimmers love to sull up in the chute.an it gets real rough when they lay down.because not much way to get emm up other than a hotshot.
Suzie Q
Well-known member
The 3 brahmans we have at the moment... I don't remember them laying down. They are red. I do remember grey ones laying down.
Nesikep
Well-known member
I was working on one cow that I was worried about going down in the head gate, I laid a length of 4" truck tie-down strapping on the floor, it's stayed there since.. if one goes down, at least I have something to lift with, because it's no fun trying to get something under a cow that doesn't move
