Starting a Heifer

[Hardin Farms]

Hey guys, we had a heifer on the farm last week and my son is getting interested in showing cattle. the particular heifer was born to one of our best cows. She's really easy going and calm around my kids. I'd like to halter break the heifer and start her as a "show heifer" for next season. I have zero experience with showing cattle. This will not be a venture to win any awards or to buy $10,000 registered cattle. This is strictly to teach my children responsibility and to teach them the value in caring for something. I understand this takes time and effort and we are willing to do it. My wife stays home with our 4 kids, so she is my "farm manager". We have commercial angus and brangus cross cattle. This particular cow is purebred angus.

So the first question. Should I move the pair to a separate lot and hand feed them daily to get them comfortable being handled?

How soon should I try halter breaking the calf?

Thanks for any pointers and tips!

 

[kenny thomas]

Halter breaking a 100lb calf is much easier than an 800lb calf

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have played this game with kids and grandkids.
My youngest granddaughter is currently showing a commercial heifer I gave her.
I found out it was more important on the first one to match the calf personality to the kids. That didn't always mean my best calf but it yielded the best results for the kid.
My granddaughter really wanted a fine looking Char/Angus heifer I had.
I told her no as that calf was going to be one incident away from a blow up.
I picked a calf from a dog gentle cow and placed them in a two acre lot.
I had them running to see me.
This is that heifer. This is a commercial show that all calves have to be sold at auction.
There are two classes 50% more or less Brahman.
She is less.

 

[Hardin Farms]

Halter breaking a 100lb calf is much easier than an 800lb calf

That was my thoughts. I was thinking about getting a halter on it within the first couple of weeks. Her momma doesn't seem to mind me messing with it. I tagged it and weighed it and she didn't seem bothered. It made her nervous, but i'm around them a good bit.

 

[Hardin Farms]

I have played this game with kids and grandkids.
My youngest granddaughter is currently showing a commercial heifer I gave her.
I found out it was more important on the first one to match the calf personality to the kids. That didn't always mean my best calf but it yielded the best results for the kid.
My granddaughter really wanted a fine looking Char/Angus heifer I had.
I told her no as that calf was going to be one incident away from a blow up.
I picked a calf from a dog gentle cow and placed them in a two acre lot.
I had them running to see me.
This is that heifer. This is a commercial show that all calves have to be sold at auction.
There are two classes 50% more or less Brahman.
She is less.

That's great advice. This cow is dog gentle as well. I was thinking about putting them in a lot and doing that with them. i have about a 2 acre "goat" pen that only has one goat in it now. I think this may be what I do.

As you say, I am more interested in my kids getting the experience than I am results.

Great looking heifer there.

I know learning what/how to feed them will be a learning experience, but i enjoy that part.

 

[simme]

Lots of human contact, gradually increasing. Start at a young age, a few months old. If you are able to pen them separately and feed a little every day in a small area, put the feed out and stay in the pen with them. Over time (days/weeks), move closer to them as they eat. If they are not comfortable, back away until they are. Over time, they will be comfortable with you very close. Reach out and touch them briefly. Best if they come to you and you reach out with your hand and let them sniff and touch your hand. Go slow and you will be able to rub them as they eat. When they are very comfortable with being touched, put a rope halter with a somewhat short lead on them when you are feeding and let them eat and drag the lead in the pen after they finish eating. Remove the halter when you turn them out. Eventually the halter will be part of the feed experience. Then move the calf with the halter to a small space and just hold the halter lead. Put a little pressure on the lead to turn the head. Over time, start leading the calf. Soon the calf will be broken to lead. Try to avoid the rodeo situation where the calf is not comfortable and tries to run away and pulls the rope from your hand. More difficult to make progress after that. That is a reason to stay in a small space at first where there is not enough room to run. Halter breaking is a learned experience - for the calf and the person. Not learned in a week. Disposition is somewhat inherent. Some calves are just not a good fit. But most can be broken to a halter over time. After they are comfortable with moving in response to the halter lead, work on starting and stopping. At a show, they need to move when the person does and stop when the person does. Sometimes this is an issue. Then need to learn to set the animal up - stopping with most feet in the correct position and using a show stick to place the other feet. It is a lot of work, but will teach a lot of discipline and patience to your kids and family and make some good family memories.
After the basic halter breaking, the most important thing is for the parents to master when to intervene and when to not. Parents need training too.
With zero showing experience, you need to find a local mentor that can help and offer advice. There is a lot to learn about feeding, clipping, grooming and presentation.

 

[Caustic Burno]

That's great advice. This cow is dog gentle as well. I was thinking about putting them in a lot and doing that with them. i have about a 2 acre "goat" pen that only has one goat in it now. I think this may be what I do.

As you say, I am more interested in my kids getting the experience than I am results.

Great looking heifer there.

I know learning what/how to feed them will be a learning experience, but i enjoy that part.

I have seen a lot of the heifers competition, she will place in her weight class . She won't take first place if I was judging.
Looking at the field of twenty or so she will come in third or fourth IMO. I wasn't pasture blind going in, this was about next year my granddaughter will have the experience to handle what we pick out versus what I picked out. The next year it will be what she picks out.
That approach has yielded several blue ribbons for the grandkids through the years.
They got to find out if they really wanted to do it.
I had one rule if I gave you a calf. If you start you have to finish what you started.

 

[Hardin Farms]

I have seen a lot of the heifers competition, she will place in her weight class . She won't take first place if I was judging.
Looking at the field of twenty or so she will come in third or fourth IMO. I wasn't pasture blind going in, this was about next year my granddaughter will have the experience to handle what we pick out versus what I picked out. The next year it will be what she picks out.
That approach has yielded several blue ribbons for the grandkids through the years.
They got to find out if they really wanted to do it.
I had one rule if I gave you a calf. If you start you have to finish what you started.

This has been my philosophy on parenting so far.

 

[Hardin Farms]

Lots of human contact, gradually increasing. Start at a young age, a few months old. If you are able to pen them separately and feed a little every day in a small area, put the feed out and stay in the pen with them. Over time (days/weeks), move closer to them as they eat. If they are not comfortable, back away until they are. Over time, they will be comfortable with you very close. Reach out and touch them briefly. Best if they come to you and you reach out with your hand and let them sniff and touch your hand. Go slow and you will be able to rub them as they eat. When they are very comfortable with being touched, put a rope halter with a somewhat short lead on them when you are feeding and let them eat and drag the lead in the pen after they finish eating. Remove the halter when you turn them out. Eventually the halter will be part of the feed experience. Then move the calf with the halter to a small space and just hold the halter lead. Put a little pressure on the lead to turn the head. Over time, start leading the calf. Soon the calf will be broken to lead. Try to avoid the rodeo situation where the calf is not comfortable and tries to run away and pulls the rope from your hand. More difficult to make progress after that. That is a reason to stay in a small space at first where there is not enough room to run. Halter breaking is a learned experience - for the calf and the person. Not learned in a week. Disposition is somewhat inherent. Some calves are just not a good fit. But most can be broken to a halter over time. After they are comfortable with moving in response to the halter lead, work on starting and stopping. At a show, they need to move when the person does and stop when the person does. Sometimes this is an issue. Then need to learn to set the animal up - stopping with most feet in the correct position and using a show stick to place the other feet. It is a lot of work, but will teach a lot of discipline and patience to your kids and family and make some good family memories.
After the basic halter breaking, the most important thing is for the parents to master when to intervene and when to not. Parents need training too.
With zero showing experience, you need to find a local mentor that can help and offer advice. There is a lot to learn about feeding, clipping, grooming and presentation.

This is where i was planning to start.. just rubbing on em and treating them like a pet. I've seen some put em in a chute to get the halter on em, which usually upset the cattle a little bit.

From reading your post, if they're not gentle enough to get the halteron em yet, they aren't ready for one?

I am pretty good at being hands off. I had a dad who wanted to do everything for me and i never felt like i earned a lot of the successes i had.

I do know some guys that show and do really well at it. They've got money and never have started from scratch with a calf. They are excellent at the show side of things though. I will lean heavily on them when i get up and going.

 

[simme]

From reading your post, if they're not gentle enough to get the halteron em yet, they aren't ready for one?

What I described is a basic slow approach. When you decide it is time to put the halter on, have the halter ready, adjusted to fit best you can tell. Hold it properly with some slack in the piece that goes under the chin. Slip it over the ears and then under the chin and tighten the lead enough so it does not fall off. And then just stand there. If they are fidgeting, you might decide to drop the lead. If they go crazy and climb the wall, you might remove the halter and decide it was too soon. Just use your intuition at that point. OK that they resist a little. What I described was a slow safe approach that can be sped up depending on progress and behavior. Just avoid a rodeo.
Some people would crowd all the calves in an alleyway and put the halters on and then turn them in a pen to drag the leads for a day or so. Then put them back in the alleyway and rodeo them to a tie point and let them fight the halter until they submit. Maybe that is where the "breaking" term comes from. Just a different approach.
When they are first tied up, don't leave them. If they fight the halter, the knot will get very tight and if they flip over, you will need to untie quickly. A sharp knife should be available for an emergency.

I view showing cattle as an investment in your kids and family. Lots of life lessons can be learned. But, it can get expensive depending on how far it goes. Not that important on how the calf places in the show. Important how your kids develop and grow from the experience. Sounds like you agree on that.

 

[Hardin Farms]

What I described is a basic slow approach. When you decide it is time to put the halter on, have the halter ready, adjusted to fit best you can tell. Hold it properly with some slack in the piece that goes under the chin. Slip it over the ears and then under the chin and tighten the lead enough so it does not fall off. And then just stand there. If they are fidgeting, you might decide to drop the lead. If they go crazy and climb the wall, you might remove the halter and decide it was too soon. Just use your intuition at that point. OK that they resist a little. What I described was a slow safe approach that can be sped up depending on progress and behavior. Just avoid a rodeo.
Some people would crowd all the calves in an alleyway and put the halters on and then turn them in a pen to drag the leads for a day or so. Then put them back in the alleyway and rodeo them to a tie point and let them fight the halter until they submit. Maybe that is where the "breaking" term comes from. Just a different approach.
When they are first tied up, don't leave them. If they fight the halter, the knot will get very tight and if they flip over, you will need to untie quickly. A sharp knife should be available for an emergency.

I view showing cattle as an investment in your kids and family. Lots of life lessons can be learned. But, it can get expensive depending on how far it goes. Not that important on how the calf places in the show. Important how your kids develop and grow from the experience. Sounds like you agree on that.

Sound advice. I generally find that the slow approach on most all things works best. I'm definitely leaning toward this method.

Bigger question. Would you fool with trying to halter break the cow? She 3 is year old on second calf. real gentle cow. Can almost rub her when she is eating now. I intend to use her calves this way for the next few years anyway.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Sound advice. I generally find that the slow approach on most all things works best. I'm definitely leaning toward this method.

Bigger question. Would you fool with trying to halter break the cow? She 3 is year old on second calf. real gentle cow. Can almost rub her when she is eating now. I intend to use her calves this way for the next few years anyway.

I wouldn't.
In the picture below is a black baldie cow with a new black calf. She was first place in her commercial class in 2011. Bought her at the heifer auction to support the kids. She was owned by a little girl halter broke dog gentle.
I can work that cow, anyone else she wants to eat them.
Lot of difference starting out with a calf versus a grown cow IMO.

 

[simme]

Bigger question. Would you fool with trying to halter break the cow? She 3 is year old on second calf. real gentle cow. Can almost rub her when she is eating now. I intend to use her calves this way for the next few years anyway.

If you want the cow halter broke and she is gentle, you may just be able to slip a halter on her and find she behaves OK. My cows are generally so gentle that they are hard to move into the alley and chute. I have put a halter on some that have never had a halter before and been able to "pull" them into the chute.
If she fights the halter, it would not be worth it to me to go any further. A well known simmental bull PVF-BF BF26 BLACK JOKER was sold when he was 14 months old. The new owner wanted to show the bull, so he halter broke him and showed him. Owner was a big boy. But 14 months is a little late to start.
Once an animal has experience with a halter, you can generally put a halter on them years later and make out pretty good. But a mature bull that was halter broken when he was young sometimes is a little scary to lead with a halter. They don't have fear. I bought a yearling bull from Ankony that was green broke - mostly broke to tie up. He later had a foot abscess that needed attention. He weighed 2300 pounds and had not had a halter on in a few years. Took him to UGA vet school so he could go on the tilt table. Needed to unload him through a narrow door directly into the building. He would not go out of the trailer through the narrow door. I went into the trailer and put a halter on him and pulled and he came out. I did have a little fear in the trailer.

A little trivia. UGA vet school is very reasonable cost wise for treating cows. Seems like they charge a lot for horse work and small animals. I suspect they don't get much cow work, but they need enough to train their large animal students. I think the cost to treat the foot abscess was $80. And they have the equipment and facilities that most large animal vets don't have. If you are close enough to a vet school, you may find them cost effective to use for vet work.

 

[Gary Dennis]

I have played this game with kids and grandkids.
My youngest granddaughter is currently showing a commercial heifer I gave her.
I found out it was more important on the first one to match the calf personality to the kids. That didn't always mean my best calf but it yielded the best results for the kid.
My granddaughter really wanted a fine looking Char/Angus heifer I had.
I told her no as that calf was going to be one incident away from a blow up.
I picked a calf from a dog gentle cow and placed them in a two acre lot.
I had them running to see me.
This is that heifer. This is a commercial show that all calves have to be sold at auction.
There are two classes 50% more or less Brahman.
She is less.

Caustic, where is this show at?
Thanks
Gary.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Galveston County later April.
Looks like it's going to be on Zoom this year, that's what I am hearing so far.
I have not gotten any details on the auction yet.
If it's online it will hurt the pot money. All the buyer's have the option to put a 100 dollars in.
Then names are drawn and 1000 dollar certificates are given the winner . The money must be spent on the calves in the sale.
This was nearly 30 years ago little girl had drawn last in the sale, all the buyers were tapped. Her face just sank so another guy and I got in a bidding war over the calf.
Then someone started bumping the bid he finally baled and I said calf rope.
It was my wife bumping the bid. I paid close to 2K dollars for that Brangus heifer 30 years ago.
She produced 19 bull calves before retiring from service.
Never got a heifer.
I am terrified at what Nanny will bid on that heifer up the page. After nearly fifty years I can bite my bottom lip very well.

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

Quickest way to break one is to let them drag the halter around for a week, then tie them in the barn where they can lay down. Feed and water tied for a couple days, then start trying to lead them to feed and water. If they don't want to go, tie them back and try again later. Doesn't take very long for them to learn.

 

[Hardin Farms]

Quickest way to break one is to let them drag the halter around for a week, then tie them in the barn where they can lay down. Feed and water tied for a couple days, then start trying to lead them to feed and water. If they don't want to go, tie them back and try again later. Doesn't take very long for them to learn.

Had a great uncle that ran a cattle operation for a wealthy business owner. This was his method to breaking bulls. He ran a registered Santa Gertrudis herd. I've heard of him breaking mature bulls in this fashion.

I've also seen him drill holes in 1/4" thick plate with a brace and bit... So his "best way" and my "best way" weren't always exactly the same.

If it stays dry this weekend, i may try to move them over to the lot so i can feed them by hand daily. Then we will try to get a halter on and go from there..

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

Had a great uncle that ran a cattle operation for a wealthy business owner. This was his method to breaking bulls. He ran a registered Santa Gertrudis herd. I've heard of him breaking mature bulls in this fashion.

I've also seen him drill holes in 1/4" thick plate with a brace and bit... So his "best way" and my "best way" weren't always exactly the same.

If it stays dry this weekend, i may try to move them over to the lot so i can feed them by hand daily. Then we will try to get a halter on and go from there..

This calf had the halter put on for the first time 8 days ago. She's leading around like she's been in the pen for a couple months.

 

[Hardin Farms]

View attachment 3301
This calf had the halter put on for the first time 8 days ago. She's leading around like she's been in the pen for a couple months.

That's awesome! looks like you have a happy farm hand there.

How much time do you spend "socializing" with It each day?

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

That's awesome! looks like you have a happy farm hand there.

How much time do you spend "socializing" with It each day?

When they get home from school, they go out and rinse and work hair, then tie with their heads up until they feed in the evening.