Help need tips for taming

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susanstirling

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My sons story is similar to one I just read. I did 4-H as a kid with horses, etc. However my son decided he wanted a steer. My friend and I decided to do ranch steer instead of the very expensive show steers that come broke and trained. Maybe a mistake. She brought all three home on the 17th of January 2009, needless to say the smaller one some how escaped not to be found. The next size up (my sons) tried to go over the panel but he is still there and the larger one who seems to be about 100lbs more then ours was okay. After one week the larger one was eating out of the bucket while holding it. Shortly there after Nubs about 500 lbs started as well, he even was licking my sons arms. Next day nothing, next day he seem to come to him, same thing ate and licked. Next day not so well. Then we decided to seperate them. So my son went over got in the pen he ate from the bucket did well. Pretty soon he even layed down. So my 10 year old son sat down on the ground and talked to him for about 15 minutes scooting closer till he was about 3' away. He slowly straitend out his legs but Nubs got up so did my son. Everthying still okay, cleaned the pen etc, went back in to see if he would grain, next thing I know he puts his head down starts shaking it and comes at him. I got him out of the pen. We tried again same thing. My son thinks he was playing. I don't either do my friends so her husband has been going in with him and he doesn't eat as eagerly anymore and then will lay down and then get a littly snorty. He also will do a low mooo, I thought was like purring maybe not. We have till september for the fair however I don't know want to do. I can't afford to just butcher and would like for my son not to fail. He is ADD/ADHD and this has been great for him. However the other steer that seems to be a little older and bigger is doing much better, you can touch him and try to lay a rope on him but he jerks away. I really need this to work and I don't think I can trade him in on a better steer. Is it even possible to think we will get him to the fair Thanks
 
The first thing I would do is get your sons steer halter trained..

Post this on the show board as there are a lot of excellent herds people on there that do this all the time and have really good advice.

Good luck with everything and I think it is a great thing you are doing for your son, but as you said his safety comes first. :)
 
Susan,

Maybe I'm missing something as well - why not use the larger one? One word of caution, though. A 10 year old is not going to be experienced enough to know when/if a steer is about to come at him. This could be potentially very dangerous, as even a small steer can hurt someone - especially a 10 year old. I agree with the previous poster that people on the show board with more experience should be able to give you lots of good advice. The only advice I have is be careful; showing anything is not worth jeopardizing his health, ofcourse.
 
Get a halter on him if you have not already done so. Put a lead rope on the halter that is at least half the distance of the pen width/length. Let the calf circle the pen while your son holds the rope. Keep working toward the calf getting closer. Do not try and force the calf at this time. Just keep working closer and closer. Have a show stick in hand and when he gets close enough scratch the calf on the belly with the stick. If the calf puts his head down pull it back up but not with a jerking motion, just pull it up. Do this through out the day. Eventually he will be able to get up to the calf. If the calf bolts, fine just start over. Usually you cannot start by trying to pull the calf forward but you can pull to the side and make them turn. Leave the lead rope on the calf. The next day start over. It takes time to build trust. By the second or third day start tying the calf up for a short period. Increase the time daily. Lead the calf to water and feed.
More than likely the steer put his head down not as a form of agression but the opposite. I know it looks intimidating but often times they will do this because they want to be scratched or is a sign of subserviance. It is time to cowboy up and test the water. Do not leave the pen but approach the calf from about a 45 degree angle. Always have a show stick. use it to scratch from a distance when first approaching, never hit or poke with it. The calf must learn that the show stick is not a weapon but something that he likes. It also will give you son the feeling of having protection.
Here is an article I found.http://www.showrite.com/cattle/basicsteps2.html
 
If he's being really aggressive and you are having a hard time halter training, tie him to the back of an ATV/tractor/what have you and start hauling him around. Drive slowly, make sure he doesn't get tangled and just go around and around. Eventually, he will get the hang of it. One of my 4-H friends had to this with his steer and the steer was an angel afterwards. Make sure he knows your son is the boss-don't let him get away with anything. Keep right at him, work with him every day and he should come around. If your son works hard and he still doesn't come around, ship him. You don't want anyone to get hurt, and if your son worked as hard as he could he didn't fail. Make sure there is an adult around at all times when he's working with him, since your son is only ten. Best of luck.
 
Victoria":3ureh9tq said:
If the older, bigger one is calmer why doesn't your son just use him? Sorry if I am missing something here....

Because the bigger one belongs to our friend. So we have this one. thanks susan
 
hillsdown":1la4qo37 said:
The first thing I would do is get your sons steer halter trained..

Post this on the show board as there are a lot of excellent herds people on there that do this all the time and have really good advice.

Good luck with everything and I think it is a great thing you are doing for your son, but as you said his safety comes first. :)

it all started out well, but we are at ground 0 again I would like to get a halter on him, I just don't know if we will be able to. susan
 
susanstirling":2t8ab8np said:
it all started out well, but we are at ground 0 again I would like to get a halter on him, I just don't know if we will be able to. susan
Unfortunately I have to disagree with it starting off well. The halter should have gone onto the calf before it was ever unloaded from the trailer. You should have gotten the proper education on how to do this before you brought the calf home. I hate to sound so rude about this but it is like throwing your kid in a lake and tell him to learn to swim on his own or drown and to make it worse you jumped in with him.
You are right about starting at square one. Get some experienced help and get the halter on. A 500 lb. calf is not fun without the proper facilities. Call who ever is in charge of FFA or 4H and ask for help.
I have never seen a professional fitter resort to dragging a calf with an ATV/Tractor or anything else for that matter. Turning in circles works good. Get them hungry enough and thirsty enough they will generally lead to water or feed.
 
novatech":awlxqj08 said:
susanstirling":awlxqj08 said:
it all started out well, but we are at ground 0 again I would like to get a halter on him, I just don't know if we will be able to. susan
Unfortunately I have to disagree with it starting off well. The halter should have gone onto the calf before it was ever unloaded from the trailer. You should have gotten the proper education on how to do this before you brought the calf home. I hate to sound so rude about this but it is like throwing your kid in a lake and tell him to learn to swim on his own or drown and to make it worse you jumped in with him.
You are right about starting at square one. Get some experienced help and get the halter on. A 500 lb. calf is not fun without the proper facilities. Call who ever is in charge of FFA or 4H and ask for help.
I have never seen a professional fitter resort to dragging a calf with an ATV/Tractor or anything else for that matter. Turning in circles works good. Get them hungry enough and thirsty enough they will generally lead to water or feed.
That is what I was thinking. I always either put the halter on at the ranch I was getting it from or when I took him to the vet to get casterated and dehorned which was usually the next stop after picking him up. Usually he was leading in a couple of days. You couldn't put your hands on him but he was leading. I usually tied him up everyday and would spray him down with a water hose that helped a lot with the touching part.
 
novatech":pndlbt9f said:
susanstirling":pndlbt9f said:
it all started out well, but we are at ground 0 again I would like to get a halter on him, I just don't know if we will be able to. susan
Unfortunately I have to disagree with it starting off well. The halter should have gone onto the calf before it was ever unloaded from the trailer. You should have gotten the proper education on how to do this before you brought the calf home. I hate to sound so rude about this but it is like throwing your kid in a lake and tell him to learn to swim on his own or drown and to make it worse you jumped in with him.
You are right about starting at square one. Get some experienced help and get the halter on. A 500 lb. calf is not fun without the proper facilities. Call who ever is in charge of FFA or 4H and ask for help.
I have never seen a professional fitter resort to dragging a calf with an ATV/Tractor or anything else for that matter. Turning in circles works good. Get them hungry enough and thirsty enough they will generally lead to water or feed.

Some would call me a 'professional fitter' and yes, I have used the tractor. I've also mentioned it several times on these boards, do a search. Its a good method IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Imo, this calf doesnt yet warrant it though.
 

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