First Time Calf Owner, Jersey Calf behavior any tips?

[Hannah11]

Hi Everyone,
Brand new here, just came across this site through Backyard Chickens
Excuse my lack of knowledge on cows...

Recently a friend of mine suggested we get a bull calf together for beef so that was all great she is bottle feeding him on her property and when he is weened he will move to mine. So after seeing how beautiful he was I decided to purchase a female for a pet, maybe milking down the line. As you can properly tell I have NEVER owned a cow or had any experience I am somewhat wondering what I have got myself into..

So anyways I am fairly worried about the way my girl (luna) is behaving she is very bossy, I can understand that is natural but I would like to encourage more gentle behavior in her. apparently the male is lovely and sweet, even with a two year old around. So has anyone got any specific techniques for raising a calf to a good pet with good temperament? preferably not the way a friend told me to do it..he said that the best way was to use a piece of cut off hose to smack her with when being bossy but I don't really think fear based training is a good way to raise pets.



So once again any tips on training? also any other tips about raising calves would be welcome (handy tips)

This is Luna..







Thankyou all!

 

[violetsky888]

What a beautiful crescent moon! I'm new to cows too, raising calves. My bigger ones I just pet at feeding but I also have two smaller calves I'm halter breaking. They weren't bottle calves so they are cautious and were weaned too young sales barn calves. I might be wrong but I would let your calves work things out between themselves, but if she shows aggression towards you/people I think a very meaningful whack once might be a good idea. My calves all have a pecking order that once established everyone gets along though I did sell one heifer that was brutal in her bullying of another more gentle heifer. My sales barn calves are very gentle with each other and myself, though they are more fearful and building trust is where I'm working from. If I whacked mine it would be a big setback. I'd also like to say jersey bulls have a reputation as being the most dangerous type bull or dairy bulls in general. My jersey cow was very respective but very active and energetic. I thought of her like an arabian horse. I'm pretty sure beating a sensitive excitable type animal will not end well but you cannot tolerate aggression towards people even once.

 

[violetsky888]

I meant to add, I would make a steer out of the jersey bull is you want him as a pet. I think they are very smart type of cow.

 

[Baymule]

You absolutely cannot tolerate any aggressive behavior. A head butt from a baby might be cute, but from a full grown cow, it could mean broken bones or death. A whack on the nose will teach respect and it won't hurt your cow.

Cows will hook each other with their horns, they will butt each other for dominance. This is how they communicate with each other. It is important they do not communicate this way with you. Since Luna is so small, this would be a good time to halter break her. She is beautiful.

Always remember, livestock are big animals. Even the most gentle can hurt you. Observe them, their behavior and how they relate to each other. Learn "their" language. Cows don't speak our language. They are cows. They think like cows, not people. They make decisions based on hunger, fear, thirst, breeding, raising their calf and defending it. Cows do not make decisions based on emotion, certainly not human emotions.

Enjoy your cow. She will bring a lot of joy into your life.

 

[Bossroo]

No farm animal should be a pet much less a bovine of the dairy persuasion, that is just plain lunacy ! They are meant to provide for your sustinance and livelihood. Since farming is one of the most dangerous ventures, make sure that your life and health insurance is all paid up and in full force.

 

[violetsky888]

There's nothing wrong with loving your animals, both large and small whether you eat them or not. My bovines are bigger and chunkier than my neighbor's and I believe more trustworthy solely based on they don't spend a lot of time reacting with wild borne instincts. FEAR reactions are often confused with aggression. I think there are two kinds of farmers. Farmer 1 has tight control over his animals and "works" them using heavy restraints and lots of mechanical equipment always striving to maintain some kind of barrier between the animal and himself. Farmer 2 has to rely on some kind of cooperation from the animal and uses physical less control. If you have a small herd of less than ten animals you probably fall under this category since it would be difficult to justify the costs of expensive chutes and other equipment and you also have more time to devote to individual animals. I believe farmer 1 would be more at risk when the unexpected happens like finding yourself in a tight space with a cow. (though he is probably a lot richer) One time I was leading a halter trained cow on a long lead into a trailer planning on walking out the escape door. Dear H closed the door on me trapping me in with the cow. Nothing bad happened, but not because a stupid unexpected event occurred just the cow was somewhat of a pet and didn't have an extreme fear reaction. As a side note, I know of 3 different men that got hurt bad in tractor related accidents. One got popped by a tree he was pushing, one had the tractor topple over in a creek the 3rd had the tractor catch fire, (he didn't get hurt bad twisted his ankle running for extinguisher). Tractor's obviously need loving too or they might turn on you, so make a pet out them as well and you won't have to pump up your insurance.

 

[BrownSheep]

I actually agree you shouldnt treat cattle as pets. I raise yaks and do call them pets but there is a huge difference between how I treat them and say a dog.

I do understand what you mean about fear vs. aggression. My bull is a fairly docile guy and enjoys treats and head scratches from the opposite side of the fence. BUT he is a huge scaredy cat, which makes him dangerous....

In actuality all of my animals are dangerous when you consider they all way at least 800 and have 2 ft long horns. A simple mis-step by them or me could easily lead to somebody dying.

As to the OP's question. I would work on halter breaking her now. Halter breaking instills some respect just because it shows them that you have a bit of control over them. It is a lot easier to halter break a little calf than a 300 lb weanling.

I wouldn't be oppose to tapping her on the nose. Not was a hose per say but really it doesn't hurt them and it is easier for them to understand.

It's like with spanking a puppy. Loud not hard. Nobody is looking to injure their animals.

Just a warning, bottle males tend to be some of the most dangerous animals to own. My ram who was a bottle baby could easily harm someone. It isn't that he's mean or really trying to hurt us, but they tend to see people as cows ( or sheep in his case) and they are battling for dominance.

 

[Azriel]

More info on what you are calling agressive behavior would help. If you are bottle feeding her, the feeding agression is common. Have you ever watched a calf nursing on its Mom? They butt their Mom real hard, they push, and shove to get the milk, thats just being a calf. She also needs to be able to run and buck and kick up her heels. When they are as young as your calf they have lots of energy and need to be able to work that off. Jerseys tend to be very gentle cows, and if you get her halter broke now, and keep working with her she should calm down with age. Do not let her butt you, or charge you, and if she is bouncing up and down and comming at you with her head down, she is trying to play and not getting enough time to work off her energy, she sees you as her Mom and is trying to play with you as she would her real Mom. There is nothing wrong with her being a "pet" but she is a calf, not a puppy, and she will grow up to be 800+ pounds and she needs to learn your language as well as you need to learn hers.
Oh, on that bull calf, get him cut or banded now.

 

[snowk]

I am also a first time cow owner and have a couple of questions to add. First, my girl is about 6 months old now and has begun to grow horns. I think that it would be safer if I had her de-horned, how expensive is that? Is it hard on the calf? Next, I know nearly nothing about her genetics. I got her for to milk but she may well be "free martin." Is there anyway that I can tell this, or at what age could a vet check her and get a good idea? She has all of her exterior parts Finally, she lives with my sheep and runs and plays with two of them in particular. We have to be careful about the feed, but we mostly feed grass and hay anyway. When we give her feed I lead her out of the pasture and stake her with her own feed so that the sheep don't get any copper. I think that they are getting along famously but we were talking about getting another bottle baby (bull/steer) for the freezer this spring. Do you think that putting her with another calf would mess up our happy herd?

 

[Azriel]

Snowk, you should put up your own post, you will get more answers. If your calf was not a twin with a bull calf chances are she is not a freemartin. I don't know much about dehorning, but it can be done and the sooner the better. I would ask a vet about it. I think you would be fine adding another calf as long as you have the room.