Herding Cattle, your best method?

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EIEIO

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The other day I posted about driving a "tame" herd and what a PITA it was at times. From the amount of private e-mails I got I had to go back and read what I wrote and guess I was typing more than thinking as I did not quite get my point across and folks got to thinking I could not move my cattle. I can just fine but have been trying some new (to me anyway) methods.

So, here is the question. What method or methods do you use when herding your cattle?

Of late I've really been getting into the ways of Bud Williams (google search his name and you will find out a lot about him and his methods). It's a real low stress process and I've picked it up from some neighbors that use it on both their cattle and goats.

Sunday I spent just over an hour with them working around 20 new what some here would call "wild" cattle. Within an hour we were able to move/drive them anywhere we wanted them to go with what I considered very limited to no stress involved with either the cattle or us.

My cow herd is usually led with feed but I'm not doing that with the replacement heifers I have. They are tame to feed, meaning I can dump out some range cubes and walk down the line checking them without them running off but I'll never again only have cattle that will just follow as it becomes a problem when you only want one or a few cattle penned or separated off from the herd.

Bud's methods do take some work and seem to be opposite what a person "thinks" they should do but it's working for me anyway.

So, again, how do you get your cattle to go where you want them to go and are you happy with your current method? If you work alone like me how do you get just a single or few cows cut from the herd and put where YOU want them?

J
 
Pened mine at dark yesterday to haul calves to the salebarn except 2 one had a brand new calf she got a reprive. Went and got the other one with the mule and dog that was her first mistake one more and she will get to ride the trailer.
 
I call mine in to a small pasture with cubes. Shut those gates and call them all into the pens if I need them all or if I need just one or two I will keep moving them into smaller spaces and push out the ones I don't want into the bigger pasture. Sometimes if it's jus tone I can pour out a pile of cubed near the gate and get behind them and push in the one I want. This usually works ok with the cows but not for the calves they have a tendancy to turn sideways rather then go forward.
 
sidney411":3e3r7mtw said:
I call mine in to a small pasture with cubes. Shut those gates and call them all into the pens if I need them all or if I need just one or two I will keep moving them into smaller spaces and push out the ones I don't want into the bigger pasture. Sometimes if it's jus tone I can pour out a pile of cubed near the gate and get behind them and push in the one I want. This usually works ok with the cows but not for the calves they have a tendancy to turn sideways rather then go forward.

That's pretty much the way I do it, but I put up an excluder panel that the calves can go through but the cows can't. Just slowly push them all towards the excluder andthe calves end up on the other side. To get a specific cow in the chute to breed I have a wide set wing and slowly push her towards it, once inside I close the back gate and open all ofthe other gates infront of her. But, if possible I have someone standing by and keeping an eye on things and not helping just to call the ambulance if needed.

dun
 
I use a feed bucket to get them into the corral or move them from pasture to pasture.

Once I have them there I have a couple sticks (old rake handles :lol: ) that I tied some plastic stringers on the end. ( I used some of that barrier tape similar to that yellow police line stuff).
They dont like the stringers rustling around and dragging on their butts so they move pretty good.

It works pretty good for me but I don't bring in outside cattle so don't have any wild ones.
 
When I need the whole herd I get the truck call the lead cow and bring everyone in the corral. Sometimes one or two of my mother's old ladies won't come in. So I wander out on foot and tell them to get moving. Any cow runs from the gate and won't go in I ignore. I don't bother with her again until shipping day. Cows don't get second chances around here for not coming to the corral when told to.
When I need to get one cow it depends on the cow I'm getting. Then I do what is easiest for that cow. If she's halter trained then of course I just go out and catch her. If she is one of the really tame ones I typically drive until I see her then hold a bucket out and call her by name. Sometimes I get one or two other cows but not often. I don't feed my cows oats on a regular basis. So many don't even care about the bucket. If I am just going to get a regular cow I go out with a whip on foot and walk them into the corral.
If that doesn't work then it depends if my horse is close. If he's close I use him. If not my mother and I each use a truck and we chase her in. Any cow that needs to be chased with a truck or a horse even once does not get to stay. We've only had a few like that because we bought for a couple of years.
Even the ones that I bring in with oats can be chased instead if I don't have a bucket handy. The key is in the whip, I don't use it to whip them although I do sometimes guide them with it. The cows know that if I have a whip then I'm not there to visit I'm there to move them.
 
I heard a story of a man in Japan who called his milk cows by placing a pager on the lead cow. He'd dial her up and she'd bring in the herd. Now that's technology. :cboy:
 
Our old boss cow will bring in the rest when called...rattle the grain bucket and we get a stampede.
We use the low stress handling methods to seperate and move them in smaller pens and we hold chute drills every month or so just to make it easier at vac and worming time. Yeah, drills..keep the chute open and run then through the crowding pen, ours have little fear of the alley and chute...but we only keep a small herd so it goes pretty quickly. Yeah, I do have alot of extra time on my hands.
DMc
 
I had kinda the reverse thing this past weekend. While I was at home(get there every3 wks or so), I was gonna clean out the catch pen. The cows were in there and didn't want to leave. We don't feed in there and really was no reason for them to be there. I wanted to leave the gate open, so less gettin on and off. We had to work about 20 min. to get em out. :roll:
 
<chuckle> Thanks for the Bud Williams link. I'm surprised that someone is able to make a living teaching what I always thought was common sense. I was taught pressure and release handling techniques from the time I was a little 'un.

My herd is pretty much used to it, so when I run out into the pasture and cross back and forth behind the herd a couple times, they gather and make tracks back to the pens.

Rod
 
Daybreak":24nrxiz6 said:
Howdy,

I open a gate to another field, yell "come'on" and they all look up, and come a running. 8)

Just saw that post Daybreak. Yep, I can relate to it. Make sure you back up and don't get trampled as they run into the pen.
 
I ring a big ole dinner bell near the feedpens. On their way to these pens they have to go through lanes that can be open or closed to various pens. These pens have futher cutting gates that can cut out ones you don't need. If they cant hear the dinnerbell I ride out on a 4 wheler and ring a trianglular steel dinner bell. If I only want a certain pasture I will ride out to them with a 5 gallon bucket on the four wheeler and they will follow me into wal-mart if I wanted them to. If I wind up with some onery ones a good well trained dog is worth his weight in gold. A bad dog is not worth the powder it would take to get rid of him.
 
I do feed and horses. Also feed and horses at the ranch I work for. There's always a turd who won't come to the pens with feed. The horse will bring him or he'll get roped and loaded on a trailer. Cattle aren't that hard to train for either method. I'm glad I have both, but feed will do the trick for a small operator with some good temperament cattle. And cull anything that won't come to your way of thinking.
 

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