NEED HELP TRAINING MY SHOW HEIFER!!

[~young~showman~]

Well so far my heifier has been ,for the most part, gentle. Today i went out to feed her she wasn't so gentle. I climbed ouver here pen, stood up about to grab my feed bucket, and she head-butted me and pushed me against the pen!!! Before she has lightly nudged me with her head, but nothing like this. I need some help on how to control this because the first show comes up in 3 weeks, and this is my first time showing so this makes me very nevous!!! Please help, and thank you!!!

 

[redandwhite]

I have only been showing (halter breaking) cattle for a few years so I'm sure there are others on this forum that know more than me....... Halter cattle can become really pushy as they become broke as they really aren't afraid of you anymore. They need to learn that certain behaviors are NOT ok! I have some yearling horned bulls that are as broke and gentle as can be but I must go into their pen to grain them and they used to get really pushy and try to knock me around to get to the grain. I just knock them on the head (on the bridge of their nose kinda between the eyes), usually with my boot cause that's all I have but you could carry something with you. Not real hard but hard enough that it get's their attention. A couple of times of this and she will probably stop. Good Luck!

 

[L Weir]

Is your heifer already halter broke? How long have you had her? Is she by herself? Cattle are herd animals.

If she isn't halterbroke, get busy. Stand in her pen while she's eating if you can for a few days try to get a halter on her as gently and as possible. Let on her for a few days to let her drag it around. After a day or so tie her if you can. Then after a few more days try to touch her while she is tied until she stops fighting the halter. After she relaxes then start walking her to water after she's been tied. Then walk her sround the pen. This is what we do. Others have other ways to break their animals. Try no to let her know your afraid of her. She'll feel it through the halter. I've been told that so many times myself. My daughter right now and to fair which is 4 weeks away is tying her 4-H heifers up 4-5 hours a day. This will help. If after your heifer still uncontrollable or nasty, I'd find another hiefer to show.Good luck.

 

[Catherina_Cunnane.]

Hi, What breed is your heifer?She might be one of them breed that are highly strung!
It's hard halter-training cattle that aren't use of being handled.
Best thing that you can do is to spend lots of time with her. Give her some nice feed. Here in Ireland, we give them nuts, to quieten them down if they are highly strung! It seems to work with most cattle.
Best thing that you can do it put a headcollar on her. For about a week leave it on her in the pen. Let her get used of it being tied around her head and nose. Then get her used of the cleaning routine- Brush her coat and let her get used of that feeling. Then start washing her, and whatever else you want to do with her. Then bring her round the yard with a rope. Start walking her. If she won't walk on then get someone to walk behind her if you can. Make sure that you don't give her any bad habits. Becareful that she doesn't wrap the rope around you hand and cause you an injury. When you bring her round the yard a couple of times, tied her to a gate. Make sure she can not cause any injury to herself. Keep calm with the heifer. If none of this works, keep on trying. You could always bring another heifer to the show, if you wanted? But maybe this one is the one that you want to bring, and maybe the more suitable. Maybe you could quieten her down by putting her in with other cattle?Cattle don't like to be by themselves. They like to be with other cattle, not separated from the rest.If none of this works, you could seek some advice, from people- farmers, and neighbours that show cattle!hope this helped you!I look forward to a reply and the best of luck with her!

 

[VCC]

I am going to assume that your heifer is broke to lead already if your show is in 3 weeks, like it was stated above, if she is not you need to get busy.
I believe you are asking how to stop her bad behavior, it does not sound like she is afraid, more like she does not respect you or your space. First, I would start using the gate and only the gate, do not climb the fence. Second, get you a piece of ½ inch PVC Schd 40 about 2 feet long, start carrying it with you when you go into the pen, if she tries to butt you or puts her head down like she is going to charge you, tap her on the nose with the PVC, you do not have to hit her hard, but you do need to tap her hard enough that she feels it. She will start to respect your space, you are not being mean, you are just putting her in her place, it is no different than the alpha cow putting the other cows in their place.
It should not take more than a couple of times to break her of this habit, and you can get on with working her for the shows without too much worry. The longer you let this behavior go on the worse it will get, and more dangerous for you as she grows, you need to put a stop to it now.
Good luck and I think you will be fine once she learns she can't act this way toward you.

 

[txffamom]

Judging from the date, your first show may have passed or is very close.

I agree with VCC on the PVC pipe. We have a high-strung heifer that will still try to act like a toddler if we let her. However, because of the nose taps, all we have to do is hold something in front of her nose now and she settles right down. You will do good to correct it now, rather than when she is too big to handle.

Another thing about stalled heifers, they get cage fever and get a little rough sometimes if they aren't getting enough exercise or social time with others. She may just need a little walk or a short visit with friends to calm down.