Showing steers
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jschoolcraft86
Well-known member
So here's a little more background on his question. He is specifically looking for advice on getting a steer to walk in a halter. The steer takes a few steps and then digs his heels in and fights. He has now learned to stiffen up, tip over to the side, and just lay down. This has been going on for a little while and hasn't shown signs of improving.
My thought was tie him close to the tractor and go slow but there has been some resistance to that idea.
We are all pretty new to showing (their second year, my first being involved) so any advice is appreciated.
P.S. I directed him to the show board for further show questions but we are here now.
My thought was tie him close to the tractor and go slow but there has been some resistance to that idea.
We are all pretty new to showing (their second year, my first being involved) so any advice is appreciated.
P.S. I directed him to the show board for further show questions but we are here now.
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
Sometimes it takes a tractor. How big is this calf?
Is he food motivated?
Gotta keep the tension on the rope. When he walks forward give him a cattle cube. Then do it all over again.
Sometimes it takes brute strength on a stubborn one.
If u ever let him get away from u, he has learned he can, and will keep doing it. Gotta BREAK him
Is he food motivated?
Gotta keep the tension on the rope. When he walks forward give him a cattle cube. Then do it all over again.
Sometimes it takes brute strength on a stubborn one.
If u ever let him get away from u, he has learned he can, and will keep doing it. Gotta BREAK him
This will be as brief as possible but here is the basic procedure that works here. Start them as young as possible. A scotch comb is my best friend. Stay close / follow the calf gently trying to touch /scatch his tail head. Once you connect, He should love that. This is important:, when you are able to get a few scratches in, then YOU walk away before he decides to. Take a few days doing this til its a non threatning routine. Next start carrying a halter with you. Start combing / scatching while placing the halter on his back, neck, face. Do not put it on him yet. Take a few days with this routine also. At some point after he is used to this rope thing place it on him VERY loose. If he wants to slip out if it let him. Again, a few days with this routine. At this point I will not touch him with the comb or even scatch him unless he is in the halter. No more freebies buddy!! Slip the halter on and off a bunch of times only combing when haltered. Usually around here its at this point he is offering his head up, "halter me!!" Now to lead...... A slight steady pull, do not turn this into a tug if war. You will lose. When he advances a foot, let off the pressure right away. Loosen the halter if it has tightened. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. This can take an hugh amount of patience. I WILL NEVER USE A TRACTOR. Did once and never will again. You WILL hurt that calf. Remember, these are living and breathing creatures.
Now the other forum members will be all over me about breed, age, brute strength etc, and thats ok. But this is how I do it. Just so ya know, I too, have been put in the hospital by some halter breaking practices I no longer do. For the last 20 odd years, my goal is a "trained" calf rather than a "broke" one. Good luck to ya!
Now the other forum members will be all over me about breed, age, brute strength etc, and thats ok. But this is how I do it. Just so ya know, I too, have been put in the hospital by some halter breaking practices I no longer do. For the last 20 odd years, my goal is a "trained" calf rather than a "broke" one. Good luck to ya!
greggy
Well-known member
I will start by saying, I am new to cattle, and I do not show cattle.
You say he is not feed motivated ? That is because he is not hungry ! And your not given enough time to let him know your the food god.
There is no shortcut IMO, and do not force anything at this stage, I would do this....put him in a pen on dirt, give him water, any feed, you bring it and feed him, do not feed for the first day/night on the dirt, and then give it in a bucket or on the floor or whatever, do this for a few days, then, when you first arrive, feed him some by hand, maybe fav hay or fav feed in a bucket, then give rest of ration....
It will not take long for him to be following you...
You say he is not feed motivated ? That is because he is not hungry ! And your not given enough time to let him know your the food god.
There is no shortcut IMO, and do not force anything at this stage, I would do this....put him in a pen on dirt, give him water, any feed, you bring it and feed him, do not feed for the first day/night on the dirt, and then give it in a bucket or on the floor or whatever, do this for a few days, then, when you first arrive, feed him some by hand, maybe fav hay or fav feed in a bucket, then give rest of ration....
It will not take long for him to be following you...
I don't know nothing about showing steers either. I have a grand daughter who i hope will be interested in showing steers when she gets older. So i hope to learn from you how you get a steer to lead.
Maybe this might help. The last bull i bought was raised as a show calf. The rancher i bought him from had kids and it had been sort of a family tradition showing cattle. This ranchers Mother told me that her son and his brothers and sisters showed cattle growing up too. He said he would help me and my grand daughter when she got big enough to start showing cattle.
Anyway. After i went and looked at the bull that was about 18 mpnths old and 2500 + lbs and decided to buy him.
I was on my way to pick him up and wanted to ear tag him before i turned him loose in the pasture. I called the rancher and ask if he had the facilities so that i could tag him and he replied sure. When i pulled up he had the bull on a lead rope scratcing him on the head. I had my tag and tagging gun. He lead the bull up between these two metal post with a sort of like cross bar that he latched to keep the bull from walking all the way through. And that was all. I asked the rancher if we were going to be able to tag him with no more than that to tag him . The rancher said sure. Gave him the tag and gun. He put the tag in. The bull flinched just a little like as if he would with a horse fly. Then the rancher leads the bull up into the back of my trailer and ties him with a lead rope like you would a horse. Closes the trailer door. I ask him how am i supposed to untie him and get that halter off. Just lead out like you would a horse and take the halter off. I was thinking yeah right. The bull had a nose ring in his nose. The rancher told me that was the most sensitive place on a bull his nose. He even showed me by taking a hay string and running it through the nose ring and leading him around with it. The rancher said it was part of the rules that they have nose rings to show intact bulls i think for safety reasons to be able to have more control over it.
Now he didn't have to use the nose ring when i picked the bull up other than showing me how it would work. And all he had to use was a halter and lead rope. I always use nose tongs when i a working cattle to control the animal to make it safer for me and the animal. The nose tongs seem to me to have a very similar affect that a nose ring does. And i would think you could use nose tongs to teach a young calf to lead in a humain manner. I don't know that to be fact. But might be something you might try. Let me know if you try it and if it works.
Maybe this might help. The last bull i bought was raised as a show calf. The rancher i bought him from had kids and it had been sort of a family tradition showing cattle. This ranchers Mother told me that her son and his brothers and sisters showed cattle growing up too. He said he would help me and my grand daughter when she got big enough to start showing cattle.
Anyway. After i went and looked at the bull that was about 18 mpnths old and 2500 + lbs and decided to buy him.
I was on my way to pick him up and wanted to ear tag him before i turned him loose in the pasture. I called the rancher and ask if he had the facilities so that i could tag him and he replied sure. When i pulled up he had the bull on a lead rope scratcing him on the head. I had my tag and tagging gun. He lead the bull up between these two metal post with a sort of like cross bar that he latched to keep the bull from walking all the way through. And that was all. I asked the rancher if we were going to be able to tag him with no more than that to tag him . The rancher said sure. Gave him the tag and gun. He put the tag in. The bull flinched just a little like as if he would with a horse fly. Then the rancher leads the bull up into the back of my trailer and ties him with a lead rope like you would a horse. Closes the trailer door. I ask him how am i supposed to untie him and get that halter off. Just lead out like you would a horse and take the halter off. I was thinking yeah right. The bull had a nose ring in his nose. The rancher told me that was the most sensitive place on a bull his nose. He even showed me by taking a hay string and running it through the nose ring and leading him around with it. The rancher said it was part of the rules that they have nose rings to show intact bulls i think for safety reasons to be able to have more control over it.
Now he didn't have to use the nose ring when i picked the bull up other than showing me how it would work. And all he had to use was a halter and lead rope. I always use nose tongs when i a working cattle to control the animal to make it safer for me and the animal. The nose tongs seem to me to have a very similar affect that a nose ring does. And i would think you could use nose tongs to teach a young calf to lead in a humain manner. I don't know that to be fact. But might be something you might try. Let me know if you try it and if it works.
One more thing. I have on a few ocassios taken a small plastic peace of hay twine and used it to catch my bull with using his nose ring. I don't like doing that and only do it when there isn't any cows around or he is posturing. In my opinion a bull is a bull. He i would guess now weighs around 3500 lbs or more. I have personally seen a farmer mauled by a pet cow he and his wife raised from a calf. Heard and read about people killed by bulls and calfs. So always be careful.
GoWyo
Well-known member
Use Bum Steer's method. Response to the question is on point and it works. Never tie them up until they know how to lead.
darcelina4
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Get cattle cubes. Use them like dog treats. Hold them high and when he takes a few steps, let him have it. When he does what you want, cube him. We raise lots of calves for show and this is how we get them walking . All of our cows get halter broke even if not show cows. They are food motivated. This works great to get them leading and it gets extra feed into them. Good cubes are like crack to cows, they love them. If you think he isnt food motivated then it is likely you have him on the wrong grain or too much at once causing acidosis. Give him some baking soda and have a pan of baking soda near his grain feeder. They will eat it to feel better. Years ago we bought a bull calf that was eating a bull ration with an ionophore. He was acidotic. That crap burnt up his gut. It took him awhile to get over that and gain. We feed out show steers and heifers a show feed from the luther Oklahoma mill that does not have ionophores. The day before our spring show, I ran out of the show feed and wasn't going to be able to get to luther. I bought a bag of the bull ration at the other feed store. Big mistake. The steer got a belly ache. He was pissy to handle and his gut was sucked. We did poor at the show because we screwed up. So if your steer isnt eating as much as he should, look into your feed. Ours are eating full feed but always have room for extra cubes if we are offering them as treats.
Ryder
Well-known member
I have used nose tongs to position an animals head while restrained in a chute or stanchion. That works ok.504RP said:
I had a bull practically pick me up and sling me against the wall of a barn while I had hold of the ring in his nose. Didn't faze him one bit.
An agitated bull is much stronger than most can imagine.
Be very careful with bulls and don't take anything for granted.
Thanks for telling me that. I don't trust bulls period. Not even cows. When i got the bull home that i talked about in the post. I reached in from outside of the trailer and untied its halter. Then opened the trailer gate to let it out. I have seen some cows that i was more afraid of than bulls. Thanks again for the heads up.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Lots of different advice here. I am a small woman and have been showing for many, many years.
PATIENCE, patience, patience. Brute force is NOT the way to go. You need to start over like it is day 1 with your steer. Pretend he does not know anything.
Keep in small pen. You are the only source of food, water and attention. Put a halter on him and let him drag it around. When you feed, bring the pan up to him, get ahold of the rope & lead him with the pan in front of him to the other side of the pen. Don't let him eat until he lets you lead him.
You will NEVER WIN trying to out-force him. Yes, you can use a tractor - but they are not stupid - they know YOU cannot make him do it without the tractor.
PATIENCE, patience, patience. Brute force is NOT the way to go. You need to start over like it is day 1 with your steer. Pretend he does not know anything.
Keep in small pen. You are the only source of food, water and attention. Put a halter on him and let him drag it around. When you feed, bring the pan up to him, get ahold of the rope & lead him with the pan in front of him to the other side of the pen. Don't let him eat until he lets you lead him.
You will NEVER WIN trying to out-force him. Yes, you can use a tractor - but they are not stupid - they know YOU cannot make him do it without the tractor.
