What makes a calf bat shift crazy ?

[coachg]

Dealt with the craziest calf I've ever seen yesterday. Had him loaded about a month ago and he did a u turn and crawled over , under and through about 20 other calves to get out the trailer before the truck driver closed the gate . Then went through a gate , took it off the hinges and popped the next gate open because of an old chain . Then through a webwire fence back to his momma . Really nice angus calf out of a brockle faced momma and my Plattemere Weigh Up son . Last calf I needed to sale from this years crop . I guessed him now at about 600-650.
Well this weekend I got them together in our catch pasture leading to the corral. Monday morning I walked him to the corral and put him and momma in the corral with a couple of bred heifers . Went and got the truck and trailer and backed up to the head catch . My farm hand , Donald maned the head catch and I got him separated and headed up the chute . He never checked up . I think he bounced off the front of my 24 ft trailer and Donald shut the gate . He proceeded to run head on to the back gates, jump and hit the top of the trailer . I've never owned a calf that acted like that !
I drove straight to the sale barn and gave the hands a heads up to watch him . Had to go home and wash blood out of the trailer . He's been around me since he hit the ground, I've never worked him , treated him rough even hollerd at him when he got away last month. Did that experience cause him to be crazy or is it genetic? Called the sale barn after the sale and he brought $1300 after deductions . Didn't ask what he weighed but I know it was less than the 600-650 I guessed him at after all his craziness on the trailer. And who knows what he did before and during the sale ?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

No answer for you.

But 2 years ago I had a nice BWF replacment heifer that was calm as a cucumber, could walk around her and she wouldn't even move an ear towards you. Came out a few days later and she chased me out of the field, got her in the corral of 6' tall guard rail and she tried to jump it multiple times, tried to kill 4 of us loading her up.

In the 2 or 3 days when she went from calm to crazy all she did was graze in the pasture. Not idea what went wrong with her. Lol

 

[CowboyRam]

No answer for you.

But 2 years ago I had a nice BWF replacment heifer that was calm as a cucumber, could walk around her and she wouldn't even move an ear towards you. Came out a few days later and she chased me out of the field, got her in the corral of 6' tall guard rail and she tried to jump it multiple times, tried to kill 4 of us loading her up.

In the 2 or 3 days when she went from calm to crazy all she did was graze in the pasture. Not idea what went wrong with her. Lol

Sounds like locoweed to me. I remember dad talking about some steers eating it and it made them go crazy.

 

[gcreekrch]

People can be the same.

 

[wbvs58]

I'm glad you were able to get him sold.

Ken

 

[coachg]

Calf belonged to my daughter and son in law . Glad to get him gone and very pleased with what he brought ! Goes into the college fund for their 2 daughters , 5 and 6 months. Makes Paw Paw happy !

 

[Ky hills]

It happens. Some are just turned that way. Had a purebred Angus calf out of a docile registered cow and sired by an AI bull with top of the breed docility EPD's, calf was odd, he was tame enough some days to almost be petted and the next day he'd run through a fence if you got within 100 ft of him. He went under an alley way gate and busted out of a lot when trying to work him. The other calves just stood there and watched.
Also some years later sold some bred commercial black and BWF heifers at a special sale. Couple days later got a call from one of the folks that bought some that they wanted to bring one back that was crazy. I agreed to it and we had a time getting her loaded back up after they brought her back. I don't know what happened unless she got stirred up at the stockyards during the sale or something set her off. They said she went through some gates at the new place. Hadn't noticed that kind of behavior with her here, she always blended in with the others ok.
After we took her back to the stockyards to sell by the pound, they said after selling her she ran out of the ring and went full speed into a gate and broke her neck, went down dead instantly.

 

[Warren Allison]

Did that experience cause him to be crazy or is it genetic? Called the sale barn after the sale and he brought $1300 after deductions . Didn't ask what he weighed but I know it was less than the 600-650 I guessed him at after all his craziness on the trailer. And who knows what he did before and during the sale ?

Have her prior calves been like that? Or any other calves sired by that bull been like that? If not, then I wouldn't think it is genetic. Sounds like he just really liked it at your place, and was pissed off because he didn't want to leave!! LOL. Is that cow bred back to the same bull?

 

[coachg]

She has never had one like that , we have even kept a daughter . She's not a pet but neither are most of our cows . She is bred back to the Gizmo bull so we'll have a different bloodline there . And no we've never had one like that out of Weigh Up . He was one that you didn't take your eye off of but he never gave us any issues when handling him . He was out of my weight class and a whole lot faster than this old guy ! Just a big mommas boy I reckon. Tit baby is what my 4 yr old grandson calls em .

 

[MurraysMutts]

If he was still a bull........

That explains everything

 

[sunnyblueskies]

Wow, never had that in a calf. Had a free martin who survived 4 years on the place because we couldn't get her loaded. Work her in the corral with the other cows, no problem, but once she was in the alleyway no fence was high enough. At that time we still had the good ole wood alleyway and she busted some of it every time. After 4 years we did finally get her in the trailer, took her to the truckers yard and let her out. She cleared a couple very high pen fences, but couldn't make it past the outter one. Yay!!
Now we have a bull, he's born here, only handled by 2 people, never mistreated, never felt a hot shot. Knows all the pastures, the corral, being worked in it since he was a calf. Now as a coming 3 year old you can't be in the same pen as him. He'll charge, even if there is another animal in with him. Time to say bye bye.
I guess we all have stories of crazy critters at one point or another and neither of us will ever know the answer, but we sure will remember them.