Herding Bull ?

[MrBilly]

We have several herding dogs that hlep us with the movement of our cattle. I recently purchased a Rock'nD Ambush son; what I did not know is that this bull is a herder. :roll: We have another Rock son who is not.

Anyway, he is with about 40 girls (it is breeding season) and we are still moving them daily to winter grazing- should call it spring grazing. We start the group moving and "Rocky" goes out in front of the herd and drives them back. If one of the girls splits and heads for the new grazing pasture, he runs out after her, heads her off and drives her back to the group. He actually wares back and forth just like the dogs do. The only way we can get everyone where we want them is for one of us to walk behind him until we get him out to the field first, and then the other of us, with our herding dogs, comes up from the rear the the larger group. :cboy: Used to take only one of us to do this chore.

Now this was cute the first few times we observed this behavior, but it is a real pain now and adds alot of time and shoeleather to a simple task.

In order to get to the winter grazing area, the Rock and his girls need to pass two fields in which there are other bulls???? Could this be a factor? :mrgreen:

Anyone know how to break this habit?

Anyone know of herding trials for bulls? :lol2: :lol:

Bill

 

[Frankie]

We have several herding dogs that hlep us with the movement of our cattle. I recently purchased a Rock'nD Ambush son; what I did not know is that this bull is a herder. :roll: We have another Rock son who is not.
Anyway, he is with about 40 girls (it is breeding season) and we are still moving them daily to winter grazing- should call it spring grazing. We start the group moving and "Rocky" goes out in front of the herd and drives them back. If one of the girls splits and heads for the new grazing pasture, he runs out after her, heads her off and drives her back to the group. He actually wares back and forth just like the dogs do. The only way we can get everyone where we want them is for one of us to walk behind him until we get him out to the field first, and then the other of us, with our herding dogs, comes up from the rear the the larger group. :cboy: Used to take only one of us to do this chore.
Now this was cute the first few times we observed this behavior, but it is a real pain now and adds alot of time and shoeleather to a simple task.
In order to get to the winter grazing area, the Rock and his girls need to pass two fields in which there are other bulls???? Could this be a factor? :mrgreen:
Anyone know how to break this habit?
Anyone know of herding trials for bulls? :lol2: :lol:
Bill

Can you put one of the dogs on him when he "herds?" We had a young Angus bull that did that, too. And we got rid of our last Longhorn gomer because (among other bad habits) he'd fight the cows and try to keep them from entering the corral. It didn't work, of course; those gals would nearly run over him to get to the feed bunk in the corral. I think it's a young bull thing. They're trying to establish their position in the herd. Our Angus bull stopped that after he got older. I guess he figured out that he wasn't the boss. Are you concerned about fighting through fences? If so, if you can keep your cows moving along when you make your move to other grazing, the bull will stay with them.

 

[MrBilly]

Good thoughts Frankie, no I am not concerned about a fight. Besides the fences there is a electric polytape for the various grazing cells- they respect that. It is comforting to think he might age and become more graceful.

Not sure our dogs are that well trained- yet! I seem to be the dog right now that pushes him ahead of the herd - might consider taking one of the doggies with me?

Bill

 

[Campground Cattle]

We have several herding dogs that hlep us with the movement of our cattle. I recently purchased a Rock'nD Ambush son; what I did not know is that this bull is a herder. :roll: We have another Rock son who is not.
Anyway, he is with about 40 girls (it is breeding season) and we are still moving them daily to winter grazing- should call it spring grazing. We start the group moving and "Rocky" goes out in front of the herd and drives them back. If one of the girls splits and heads for the new grazing pasture, he runs out after her, heads her off and drives her back to the group. He actually wares back and forth just like the dogs do. The only way we can get everyone where we want them is for one of us to walk behind him until we get him out to the field first, and then the other of us, with our herding dogs, comes up from the rear the the larger group. :cboy: Used to take only one of us to do this chore.
Now this was cute the first few times we observed this behavior, but it is a real pain now and adds alot of time and shoeleather to a simple task.
In order to get to the winter grazing area, the Rock and his girls need to pass two fields in which there are other bulls???? Could this be a factor? :mrgreen:
Anyone know how to break this habit?
Anyone know of herding trials for bulls? :lol2: :lol:
Bill

Can you put one of the dogs on him when he "herds?" We had a young Angus bull that did that, too. And we got rid of our last Longhorn gomer because (among other bad habits) he'd fight the cows and try to keep them from entering the corral. It didn't work, of course; those gals would nearly run over him to get to the feed bunk in the corral. I think it's a young bull thing. They're trying to establish their position in the herd. Our Angus bull stopped that after he got older. I guess he figured out that he wasn't the boss. Are you concerned about fighting through fences? If so, if you can keep your cows moving along when you make your move to other grazing, the bull will stay with them.

A good trained stock dog can make him forget about the ladies and act right. I use a 23 pound Bordie Collie all I have to do is tell Lucy to get a hold. It's an amazing thing to watch little teeth on noses and heels. Lucy can make a 2000 lb bull get on his tip toes and go where you want him. I have also found using more than one dog makes things confusing when issuing commands. Are your dogs trained or they just a breed of stock dogs?

 

[MrBilly]

The dogs are trained on sheep and participate in herding trials. :devil2: They are not cow dogs, but do help some with other herds where the bull is not so dominant. They also are not trained to nip heals. They are Bearded Collies, which are not as focused and intent as the Border Collie. Yep, need a Border one of these days.

Thanks. :cboy:

 

[Jake]

There isn't any breaking them of the habit. Our charlois braunvieh cross bull did that whenever the girls got worked or sorted or out of his territory. He would bunch them up and keep them together. Luckily our cows love the pellets so much they curl around the outside of him and he is overwhelmed.

 

[Campground Cattle]

The dogs are trained on sheep and participate in herding trials. :devil2: They are not cow dogs, but do help some with other herds where the bull is not so dominant. They also are not trained to nip heals. They are Bearded Collies, which are not as focused and intent as the Border Collie. Yep, need a Border one of these days.

Thanks. :cboy:

Not all Bordie collies can handle a real aggresive bull or cow. I just happen to have a reputable trainer in my area. His dogs compete nationally Houston,Denver and etc. Get ready when you go shopping a good started dog can start at 600 dollars and up which needs to be finished. A real cow dog in my area is 2000 dollars and up. I am begining to think I am in the wrong business. The biggest thing I learned about stock dogs was I needed to be trained.

 

[jcarkie]

i have a braford that bunches cows. first one i ever had that did, he doesn't stop them from coming in but will run and turn them back, usually he is first in so they follow. i thought it was amazing the first time i saw him do it, but it isn't a problem. he is two years old.

 

[MrBilly]

A little follow up. We have been experiencing the problem with our herding bull while moving him and the girls towards pastures where there are two other bro. Yesterday, we went in the opposite direction, and he was as meek as a kitten - no herding activity. Now that makes sense to me, he previously was trying to keep his girls togehter and blocking their movement towards other bulls - he did not want them flirting with the boys, no? :lol:

 

[dun]

Makes as much sense as anything else. But with cattle you know as well as I do that next time he may be just the opposite.

dun

A little follow up. We have been experiencing the problem with our herding bull while moving him and the girls towards pastures where there are two other bro. Yesterday, we went in the opposite direction, and he was as meek as a kitten - no herding activity. Now that makes sense to me, he previously was trying to keep his girls togehter and blocking their movement towards other bulls - he did not want them flirting with the boys, no? :lol: