# Best way to tame the calf?



## NATIVO (Dec 17, 2008)

Our new calf has been pretty wild since the day she was born.
We let her run loose with her mother and that's most likely the problem.
(mother is a very tame milk cow).  Should I seperate them to calm her down? Or will she tame down on her own?


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## Farmer Kitty (Dec 17, 2008)

You need to spend time with the calf. Petting her, haltering her (if you intend for her to lead), just handling her. Whether you leave her with mom or not is up to you but, you need to spend time working with the calf to tame her down.


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## Thewife (Dec 17, 2008)

I don't tame my pasture babies to be petted or halter broke.
I do wander close to them, until they look like they are going to run, then I turn and walk away. I talk to them, using their names over and over! I slip them an extra hand full of feed when I can.
It takes awhile, but if I can build some trust, in the end they know their names and are usally eaiser to work with!


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## Farmer Kitty (Dec 17, 2008)

thewife said:
			
		

> I don't tame my pasture babies to be petted or halter broke.
> I do wander close to them, until they look like they are going to run, then I turn and walk away. I talk to them, using their names over and over! I slip them an extra hand full of feed when I can.
> It takes awhile, but if I can build some trust, in the end they know their names and are usally eaiser to work with!


But, your dealing with beef and she is dealing with dairy. An animal she is going to want to have more hands on later. If she tames her down as a calf she doesn't have to fight a wild cow later. Not saying she should spoil her but, she should work with her so the calf learns to trust her.


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## Thewife (Dec 17, 2008)

That makes sense!

I don't like mine too tame. The one I over did it with, likes to be petted and does not move when I need her too! 
If do need to help calve, help a calf nurse or catch one without the whole herd, my taming method works well for me!(usually)


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## wynedot55 (Dec 18, 2008)

she needs to start spending time with the calf.halter it an rubb on it.an work slowly with her.an she should gentle down nicely.


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## jhm47 (Dec 18, 2008)

Occasionally a calf is born that is just plain wild.  They stand with their heads up and stare at you.  I believe that this is genetic, and a throwback to when cattle were truly wild, undomesticated animals.  Usually these type cattle are not able to be "tamed" as such.  Some breeds seem to have more problems with this than others.  The worst breeds seem to be:  Salers, Chianina, Charolais, Galloways, Limousine.  Of course, there are exceptions in each breed, and even some of the most docile breeds will have a wild one sometimes.  The worst breeds mentioned above will often have very tame individuals, so there is no hard and fast rule on this.


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## Farmer Kitty (Dec 19, 2008)

jhm47 said:
			
		

> Occasionally a calf is born that is just plain wild.


I think this happens more in beef breeds than dairy breeds. Her calf is a dairy breed that has been nursing so, they aren't getting the contact with her as they would hand raising her. 

Not to say that you can't get a wild, untameable one in dairy but, in 20 years with our own farm, we have only had one. I tried and tried but, couldn't tame her. I had told DH to ship her when she was born because you could tell right away that she wasn't going to be tameable. His brother told him to ship her. He didn't. When she was in the pens as a young heifer she would climb the walls when you walked into the barn! She ended up dead out in the pasture-if I remember correctly it was a case of she broke into the corn silage pile and ended up laying with her back downhill and couldn't get up.  Probably for the best as I'm sure she never would have broke for milking and it would have been an awful tramatic experience for her.


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## wynedot55 (Dec 19, 2008)

when we was milking cows.we milked a few wild cows over the years.but our barn was a harringbone.an the wild 1s wasnt to bad.i dont think we ever had to sale a cow because we couldnt break her to milk.


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## jhm47 (Dec 19, 2008)

When I was in high school (loooooong ago), we had a 1/2 Holstein, 1/2 Guernsey cow.  She was extremely wild, and would kick till she fell down sometimes.  My Dad milked her, since I couldn't get close to her without getting kicked.  We often had to drop her to the floor to milk her.  By the way, do any of you know of the old rope trick to make a cow fall down without choking her or causing pain to her?  I learned it in 4-H when I was a member.  It has come in very handy over the years.

If any of you are interested, I could start a post and tell you how to do it.


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## Farmer Kitty (Dec 20, 2008)

I know the trick. It works very well and doesn't hurt the cow at all.


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## wynedot55 (Dec 20, 2008)

ive got a friend thats 89.an he used to milk the wildest cows by hand.even with them kicking all around him.an 1 day i asked him how he did it.an he said i was so stout when i was younger.that i used to push my shoulder an head into them.an push them to the wall so they couldnt kick me.


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## Farmer Kitty (Dec 20, 2008)

wynedot55 said:
			
		

> ive got a friend thats 89.an he used to milk the wildest cows by hand.even with them kicking all around him.an 1 day i asked him how he did it.an he said i was so stout when i was younger.that i used to push my shoulder an head into them.an push them to the wall so they couldnt kick me.


DH who is almost 6 ft does that. I can't push a 1100+ lb cow over if she doesn't want to be pushed. And anytime I've tried putting my shoulder and head into them like that I end up hurt. Nose leader tied to their hind leg, with their head around and touching their sides works best for me. Even that mean little b*tch of an jersey, named Arrow, broke that way. It was kind of funny to see her upside down though. I've never had one do that before or since.


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## Thewife (Dec 20, 2008)

jhm47 said:
			
		

> If any of you are interested, I could start a post and tell you how to do it.


I've seen it done, never had any need myself. I would like to know *how* it's done!



I think all the nasty dairy cows ended up at the dairy I miked at! 
I can't say if it was the breed or how they were raised. There were some that were bundles of nerves, when it came to any human contact! Bowling over other cows, slamming into gates and walls, anything to avoid people!
They were the ones that squished themselves into the parlor, ready to explode when you tried to touch them! 
That's where I learned a rope across the back is easier than using the kickers!


As for the Limos, I was shocked when I first heard they had a bad reputation! From what I understand, the breeders have been working on the temperament. Other than any that can be traced back to the first Limo bull we used and a Jersey show heifer, (and maybe some brahmas), most of ours have been good! 
My heifer catching the other day was simple, I had one caught and in the barn before Hubby got there! While the herd stood on the slab and ate, I picked out the other, walked her down the slab and around the barn, down the other slab, and into the barn! Hubby was there, because that one, usually eats close to the bull, I don't mess with the bull!


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## Farmer Kitty (Dec 20, 2008)

jhm-sounds like you have a thread to start.

thewife-it sounds like with the cows you used to work with it was the way they were brought up. We bought a blue and white heifer onetime that was spooked of people. While she calmed down we were never able to get her to let us touch her sides. She would kick to kill! I know she was beaten and mistreated where she was raised but, couldn't prove it. We even put her in a stantion where we had to walk by her all the time (on the way into the milkhouse). It had a divider and a post inbetween her and us on the walk. We would just reach out and touch her side as we walked by. It didn't help her any at all. She would get that wild terrified look and let those feet fly. She stood to be milked just fine as long as you touched her rump, hip, or leg--just not her side.


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## wynedot55 (Dec 20, 2008)

oh the days of cows that loved to kick to kill.we had 2 or 3 cows over the years that would do that.an they would kick you accross the barn.kitty my buddy is 6`1 about 250 in his prime.his sons are 6`1 140lbs an 6`4 325lbs.an ive bought meny a fesh or springer cow from them.


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## kstaven (Jan 10, 2009)

We have been lucky and never had a mean Jersey. Can't say the same for Dexters though. Had a few that tried to kill me and have had a number of people seriously injured by them around here. Even the calves where crazy.


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## Farmer Kitty (Jan 10, 2009)

kstaven said:
			
		

> We have been lucky and never had a mean Jersey. Can't say the same for Dexters though. Had a few that tried to kill me and have had a number of people seriously injured by them around here. Even the calves where crazy.


Most Jersey's are docile but, you can get a mean one! Arrow and I used to go around every couple of months until she landed upside down with all four feet in the air after trying to get me.


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## wynedot55 (Jan 10, 2009)

theres 2 things a jersey is born todo.an 1 is born looking for a place to die.2 is born loving to kick.the jerseys we had would be fine an then boom start  kicking you accross the barn.


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## Farmer Kitty (Jan 10, 2009)

Most of the ones we had were docile and I know other's that have/had them and had the same but, as with any breed there are exceptions. It seems you got them! OUCH!


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## Imissmygirls (Jan 10, 2009)

Jerseys have attitudes!  
Notice that I didn't say good or bad... just attitudes.
We had some treasures and also some * ahem* ( fill in blank).
One thing we noticed is that many have VERY strong let-down reflexes and we thought that had something to do with the kicking.
Re: taming calf: definitely tie her at some point while very young. They need to learn that ties won't kill them, and they just have to accept it. If they learn being tied and haltering very young, they will remember it.
Re: dying... Wynedot, we had a 4H saying: If it's a 4H animal, it will die. NO matter what, it will find some strange insane way to get sick, die, get injured.  Having a 4H animal was tantamount to the death sentence.  We stopped asking why.


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## kstaven (Jan 31, 2009)

kstaven said:
			
		

> We have been lucky and never had a mean Jersey. Can't say the same for Dexters though. Had a few that tried to kill me and have had a number of people seriously injured by them around here. Even the calves where crazy.


This is Kurtis eating his words. Got some new girls in from a dairy in central BC. One seemed a little nervous and refused to let down after arriving. No big deal there, considering the trip on the truck.

Next milking. Head shy and nervous but let down because she was so uncomfortable.

Next milking. Just bringing her in to milk and she flips out. Slamming me repeatedly into the rails in the milking area. Tries to stomp on me. I got out of her reach and she takes a head on run at me slamming into an overhead door and taking it off the rails. Slams through another gate and heads for the field. Gave her some time to calm and herded her back to a corral area. Went in with feed and she tries to run me down again and then crashes through another gate.

This is a definite first for me with Jerseys. I think her new name is going to be hamburger. that is if I'm not nuts enough to try her again in the morning.


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 1, 2009)

I hope your not to banged and battered! 

Do you have a stantion to lock her in? I would lock her up in one and put the nose leader in. Then tie it to her hind leg on the side you need to milk her on. As I'm sure you know, cows kick backwards first and this way she yanks on her nose. I've had good luck breaking mean ones this way. 

Good luck with her and if she is to bad make her into hamburger.


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## wynedot55 (Feb 1, 2009)

samething happened to the wife of a friend of mine,they milked jerseys till they soldout.she was trying to drive this 1st calf heifer into the barn so she could milk her.an she was behind her when she kicked her.breaking her lower leg.an slamming her into the side of the drippshed.it hurt her pretty bad.an she finally crawled or was found by her hubby.i cant remember wich.but i do know it was 6 months before she was back in the barn milking.


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