weaning calf behavior

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snickers

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we just bought a 8 month old gelbvieh bull calf that was taken off momma same day we got him. we brought him home very calm non aggressive behavior. we put him in the barn the first day, second day we let him out in the lot with two other calves and he didn't pay any attention to them all's he wanted to do was push on the cattle panels, wanted to jump fence really just wanted out so we put him back in confinement and my husband was going to give him grain and he tried to get him and I think he was just missing momma's milk, hungry, etc. but my husband thinks this is prelude to bad behavior and we probably won't keep him. we are not to familiar with gelbvieh's behavior so is this something they do alot? or I say give the little guy a chance it's just because he has only been gone from his mom 1 day. The calf has never had grain and came straight out of pasture so not sure if he's even had hay. I think he will be fine at least I hope so.
 
snickers":1wkhev5n said:
we just bought a 8 month old gelbvieh bull calf that was taken off momma same day we got him. we brought him home very calm non aggressive behavior. we put him in the barn the first day, second day we let him out in the lot with two other calves and he didn't pay any attention to them all's he wanted to do was push on the cattle panels, wanted to jump fence really just wanted out so we put him back in confinement and my husband was going to give him grain and he tried to get him and I think he was just missing momma's milk, hungry, etc. but my husband thinks this is prelude to bad behavior and we probably won't keep him. we are not to familiar with gelbvieh's behavior so is this something they do alot? or I say give the little guy a chance it's just because he has only been gone from his mom 1 day. The calf has never had grain and came straight out of pasture so not sure if he's even had hay. I think he will be fine at least I hope so.
he just came off moma, and in a strange place.... dont judge all his temperment from serperation .. i go though a few days of it every year retaining heifers.. their so stressed ,,that one twitch will send the whole group flying
 
Not the norm at all for Gelbviehs. But any fresh weaned calf will be a block head. Give him a buddy to keep him company while he's in convinement and give him some grain a couple of times a day. LAUGH HERE Talk to him and if you have the time read him the newspaper, but make it only the boring parts. A calm voice will do wonders for many calves.
 
dun":2ujikktr said:
Not the norm at all for Gelbviehs. But any fresh weaned calf will be a block head. Give him a buddy to keep him company while he's in convinement and give him some grain a couple of times a day. LAUGH HERE Talk to him and if you have the time read him the newspaper, but make it only the boring parts. A calm voice will do wonders for many calves.
Hey Dun---What secton ???? :wave:
 
glad to report calf is alot better, eating grain now but we still have him locked up and will keep him that way until after labor day just to be on the safe side. thanks for your comments and advice.
 
snickers":16zoy5o9 said:
glad to report calf is alot better, eating grain now but we still have him locked up and will keep him that way until after labor day just to be on the safe side. thanks for your comments and advice.

By then the biggest problem you will have with him is him following you around for more grain.
 
go ahead and giggle about reading to that calf, but I tell ya what if you keep talking to them it does get them to calm down and seems to increase the trust factor, so I have to agree with dun.
 
snickers":pytyvusc said:
we just bought a 8 month old gelbvieh bull calf that was taken off momma same day we got him. we brought him home very calm non aggressive behavior. we put him in the barn the first day, second day we let him out in the lot with two other calves and he didn't pay any attention to them all's he wanted to do was push on the cattle panels, wanted to jump fence really just wanted out so we put him back in confinement and my husband was going to give him grain and he tried to get him and I think he was just missing momma's milk, hungry, etc. but my husband thinks this is prelude to bad behavior and we probably won't keep him. we are not to familiar with gelbvieh's behavior so is this something they do alot? or I say give the little guy a chance it's just because he has only been gone from his mom 1 day. The calf has never had grain and came straight out of pasture so not sure if he's even had hay. I think he will be fine at least I hope so.

Breed doesn't matter under these circumstances. A calf's security is his/her mother, take that away and the calf freaks. Factor in a new owner that he/she is not familiar with, along with new surroundings, and his/her stress level goes through the roof! Grain and hay are irrelevent at this point, your job is to get him settled in and used to you. Once that happens, everything else will fall into place. I would spend as much time with this calf as I could just talking to him, and getting him used to me. Make sure your movements are slow and deliberate, and give him a chance to acclimate to all of the changes made to his environment. You might even give some thought to reading to him, but make sure the reading material does not cause you to become excited, because he WILL pick up on that. As far as the grain and hay goes, if you have another calf that is similar in age to this one, and is used to eating hay and grain - put them together - the other calf will teach this one what to do with both of them once he has settled in to his new home.
 
CKC1586":109itpnu said:
go ahead and giggle about reading to that calf, but I tell ya what if you keep talking to them it does get them to calm down and seems to increase the trust factor, so I have to agree with dun.

I agree. I talk to mine all the time when I'm with them. I've even got a few that talk back.
 
grannysoo":7l1qbzhr said:
CKC1586":7l1qbzhr said:
go ahead and giggle about reading to that calf, but I tell ya what if you keep talking to them it does get them to calm down and seems to increase the trust factor, so I have to agree with dun.

I agree. I talk to mine all the time when I'm with them. I've even got a few that talk back.


I have to although I dont speak their language MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO im not sure what that means other than feed me some grain.
 

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