Most popular breeds around here are Angus, Hereford & Simmental.
HALTER BREAKING CALVES without brute strength
Confine them.
Hand feed them their hay & grain (I mean go into their pen & put their feed down) Walk around them, cleaning their pen, etc. After a few days of hand feeding, put them in the chute & put a halter on them. Let them drag it for several days. Put calf in a small enclosed area. Use a showstick to "touch" them. Use it to scratch them. As they get accustomed to you being close enough to touch them with the showstick, work your way closer & scratch with your hand. Then you can pick up the end of the halter & let them run/walk in circles around you. Do NOT try to pull or stop them. They will stop (usually in the same "safety" spot). Scratch with showstick. When they seem calm, you can slightly tug on the rope halter, at first, just trying to get them to turn their head, then, try to get them to take a step. NEVER NEVER play tug of war with them UNLESS you are strong enough to WIN! I am NOT.
Generally, I can bring new calves in, let them drag halter for a few days, while I hand feed & get them used to me being in & out of their pen. I usually tie another halter to the end of their dragged halter, so I have more space to "hang on" to them, while they run in circles. If I spend an hour with one in a small pen using the showstick, I can usually get them so I can hand scratch them a little & get them to take a few steps toward me. After I do that a few times, I put their feed down & quietly tie them (to a very secure spot) and leave them alone (observing them all the time from a distance). After a few times being tied, I tie them to same spot, then put their feed in another spot (close - like the other side of the small pen). I quietly untie them & walk them to their feed, always making sure they are CALM when I untie them. Works great. I never leave them tied for more than about an hour during training.
Feeding: If you want to be competitive, you need to feed grain. I feed whole shell corn, with some protein pellets. When you start a calf on grain, you feed 1% of their body weight (500# calf can have 5# of grain - 2.5# am & 2.5# pm) After 1 week, you can increase the grain by another 1% - IF they are cleaning up what you feed them. Up to 3% of their body weight.
As far as how much you should/need to feed depends on the condition of the calf when you start. Usually, I start my show calves while they are still nursing. I lock the calves in the barn, away from their dam during the day & they go out with dam at night. They probably never get more than about 3#/day to start and might get up to 6#-8#.
They need fresh GOOD grass hay & water at all times.
:nod: 
