how do i halter train a calf?

[countrygirl23]

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

 

[she-earl]

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.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

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.

 

[wynedot55]

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.

 

[amysflock]

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.

 

[countrygirl23]

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

 

[Sara]

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

 

[Serian110]

I just posted this on google bizz



Regards

Serian110

 

[durgasoft]

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.

 

[amysflock]

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.