# how do i halter train a calf?



## countrygirl23 (Jul 8, 2009)

i bought a holstem mix tuesday cattle sale and she will already come up to me and she will eat out of my hand.shes very sweet calf.any suggestions will be helpful.
         thx countrygirl23


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## she-earl (Jul 9, 2009)

The calf will probably not like the feel of a halter.  I would put the halter on and let it shake it heads, snort or whatever but not really try to lead it anywhere.  With time, the calf should get used to the halter and then you could try to lead it around.  I have found the harder you pull the more the calf pulls back.  When you try to lead it somewhere, may be have some grain it likes to tempt the calf to follow you.  It will take time and patience.


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## Farmer Kitty (Jul 9, 2009)

How old is the calf? A young one you can halter and then give a good rub down. Many times they will follow after that. If not use grain or their milk replacer pail to coax them.

An older calf, heifer, cow, steer, bull can be haltered and tried with the above method but, unless they are big babies it probably won't work. Then I have found it easiest to hook them on behind a tractor, truck or whatever and very slowly and carefully lead them forward. When they stop to pull instead of leading, stop. Let them tug until they decide to step forward. Then gently and carefully pull the rope tight. I've broken many heifers and cows this way.


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## wynedot55 (Jul 9, 2009)

the best thing todo is have the calf in a small pen.then put the halter on it.an be ready for it to take off running.an then tie the calf up.an watch it.because some calves will fight an pull back on the rope.


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## amysflock (Jul 9, 2009)

What I learned is once the halter is on (a nylon rope halter works best for me), pull with steady pressure but as soon as the calf takes a step forward, give it some slack so it learns that moving toward feels better than moving away. I used that technique to get both of our calves individually over to a sturdy post in the yard, and tied them up so they could learn the lesson more throughly without my input. It took our heifer calf only 15 minutes to learn, the bull calf over an hour, and each struggled to the point of frothing, somersaulting and getting all twisted up. (Don't give them too much lead in the halter rope, just a couple of feet, so they can't get too tangled.)

And be patient...it takes them awhile to get it and they won't necessarily perform perfectly each time. A little grain helps as a motivator, too.


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## countrygirl23 (Jul 9, 2009)

i dont know the exact age of the calf but i know it cant beover 8 months old.thanks everyone
                       countrygirl23


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## Sara (Oct 29, 2009)

Here's a good video on halter breaking calves http://www.24-7agtv.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&Itemid=1&id=54


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## Serian110 (Jun 7, 2010)

I just posted this on google bizz



Regards

Serian110


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## durgasoft (Jun 17, 2010)

You have so many animals. You should be able to give advice for any issues rather than need any advice. You do not need any pens. All you need is a rope to put around the neck of your animals and places to tie the ropes to. I mean there is no sense to spend money for pens etc. You did not mention if the calf is a mail or a female (heifer). May be Calf means a male calf. But if it is a female heifer you have to be ready to find ways of artificially breed her when she comes in heat.


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## amysflock (Jun 25, 2010)

durgasoft said:
			
		

> All you need is a rope to put around the neck of your animals and places to tie the ropes to.


I totally disagree...haltering a bovine takes a lot more than throwing a rope around the neck and tying them off to something. Cattle lead with their heads, so if one wants any hope of leading a cow anywhere (and those little calves are FREAKISHLY strong and pulling by a rope around the neck won't be pretty. For range cattle and large beef operations, haltering certainly isn't necessarily or probably even a cost effective endeavor (cost being the time it takes the rancher to halter break). In those cases, rounding cattle up using a series of pens and chutes, running them through a squeeze for preg checks or vaccinations, requires only occasional roping (and yes, that'd be around the neck via lasso).

Anyone interested in learning to halter break the right way will find a lot of great resources out there by way of books and instructional videos.


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## clarmayfarm (Jun 26, 2010)

Sorry, I have to agree with the person who suggested tying first.  Always works wonders, unless it is a beef calf with a serious "crazy" gene.

DO NOT use a rope around the neck, if they pull very tight, it will cut off their airway. Always use a halter.

Tie them up with the halter, give them enough rope that they can lie down, but not enough to tangle themselves. Give them feed and carry water to them for a day or so.

 Then, start leading them to water on day 2 or later. At first, hold on and they will fight you, but if it is a baby, you can hold it.

Usually in a week to 7 days they will be "Broken" to lead!


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## Electric (Feb 5, 2011)

I have halter broken both my foals and both my calves with one method:
Patience. 
I put a halter on when she was 8 months old. (the one I bought.) And she tried to rub it off for a few days, but she got used to it. Then, I tied a lead rope to her and let her walk around with the lead rope hanging. (But short enough not to get stepped on) And after a while, I tied her the the ball of the tractor (Or something sturdy) and let her pull, and fight it for a bit, eventually, I could tie her anywhere. Then, I practiced walking her. At first, when she stopped, I pulled her head from side to side, throwing her off balance and forcing her to step forward, while putting pressure on the rope.  When she stepped forward, I let the rope slack and rewarded her with a pat or a scratch. Then I did it again and again. Within a week, I could walk her around the round pen (or small enclosure) and I practiced walking her to the end of my driveway, to get used to cars, using the same technique I used in the small pen. Now, I can lead her at a run, and walk her down a busy road with me. 
Hope this helps!
Edit : here is her pictures!


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## rittert3 (Feb 6, 2011)

I have heard from many people that a donkey is very useful in this task. You just halter the animal being broke to lead and tie to the donkeys halter and leave them for 2 or 3 days as long as the donkey is stronger there is no reason it wouldn't work. Also Donkeys are cheap right now where I'm at a heathy jack can be had for $25.


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## goodhors (Feb 20, 2011)

While the donkey method has been used in times past, it is usually with larger animals, not calves.  And not all donkey's are equal as trainers.  Some kick the tied-on victims into hash.  Are you willing to have your bovine severely damaged?  Donkey really WILL NOT give in to the bovine and eventually will pull it where donkey wishes to go, but some bovines are NOT smart so it takes a longer time to learn to "go with the pull" instead of arguing.

Can also be hard on the donkey, attaching a huge lump of flesh restricting his movement.  Untrained donkey can not understand, fight that pull strongly.  Donkey Jack will kill a stallion in a fight, they have no quit.

Our friends have a donkey TRAINED for leading cattle, she wears a harness so there is no pull on her head and neck to cause donkey spinal damage.  They consider her a huge asset in cattle training, but they raise a lot of show calves for steers.  Saves them a great deal of time with that many.  But at the price of their calves, they would not consider using ANY donkey they found for teaching calves to lead.

I also did the halter on my young heifer, but I did leave a rope dragging so she stepped on it.  This taught her to respect for the rope, not to pull against it.  Self taught.  Rope was about 14ft from her head, so I could grasp the end when it was time to handle her.  I wasn't close, so she didn't run, still could get the rope!  I had nothing for rope to snag on except the heifer's feet, so it was not a danger to her.

I would go out in the field, pick up the rope to hold her, then "reeled her in" for treats from my hand.  We also did the driveway walking UNDER CONTROL, so she learned obedience to the rope.  Just lots of turns, stop and wait for ME to move on.  All the handling, walking about you can do daily, even just a few minutes a day, will GREATLY help your cow handling later on.  She learned to come when called in fairly short order, got scratched, a treat, then I walked away.  She spent time tied so she was easy about it, got bathed, fed while tied.  Learned it was no big deal being tied.  Tying well is GOOD for any bovine to know, reduces problems later in their lives.

All the work really came in handy when I took her to a friend with a bull kept in a wooded field.  She was there a couple months, but EASILY was haltered in the corral and led quietly to be  self-loaded back into the trailer.  Tied and rode quietly home in the trailer, unloaded gently.  Only took a day to be coming again when called at home.  We barn the cattle at night for safety, so they MUST be handled daily, behave well on the twice-a-day leading sessions to go in and out of the barn.  No run-ins, HAVE to be haltered and led.


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## Electric (Feb 20, 2011)

> While the donkey method has been used in times past, it is usually with larger animals, not calves.  And not all donkey's are equal as trainers.  Some kick the tied-on victims into hash.  Are you willing to have your bovine severely damaged?  Donkey really WILL NOT give in to the bovine and eventually will pull it where donkey wishes to go, but some bovines are NOT smart so it takes a longer time to learn to "go with the pull" instead of arguing.
> 
> Can also be hard on the donkey, attaching a huge lump of flesh restricting his movement.  Untrained donkey can not understand, fight that pull strongly.  Donkey Jack will kill a stallion in a fight, they have no quit.


I agree . No donkey will quit a good fight. We had our standard donkey knock out our Belgian stallion a few years ago, we came home and the donkey had the stud by the bottom of the neck(where the windpipe is) and had pulled him halfway over the fence, and would not let go. We had to use a hammer to lever the donkeys jaws apart.


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