How to tame a wild beef calf

[Rammy]

Brafords usually, and not all Brafords are tigerstripes but 1/2 Brahamn-1/2 Herford is not really considered a tiger. A real Braford Tiger is 3/8 Brahman and 5/8 Hereford. Not all calves will be Tigerstripe..some will be motlled and some will be red baldies.
Tigerstripe and brindle are not the same thing. You can get brindle coat out of lots of different pairings, using just about any breed (I have a brindle beefmaster..and the heifer I posted a pic of from county fair was one of my brindled Beefmasters)
There's only one true F1 Tigerstripe and that's Braford, tho I have seen a Brahman/Simm cross that came close to the same thing. You cannot get a F1 Braford calf from mating a full blood Braford bull to a full blood Braford cow..Braford bulls are not terminal bulls.
Pound of gain for dollar input, year after year, nothing will beat 'em on pasture or their calves at sale.
Breed the F1 calves back to Hereford, Angus or Chars and you get both good mothering and steers that will mash the scales down with good grade to boot.
Great representation of the breed standard at show..as close to the perfect F1 Tiger as you will find. Long, tall, thick and wide:

http://pulse.sullivansupply.com/houston-stock-show-open-braford-f1-female/


No, probably not very popular in your area.

That is one of the biggest cows Ive ever seen. Beautiful. Definitely wouldnt want to see that coming at me in a pasture! Mine are coming along but still skittish. Hopefully, they will see Im the nice lady who gives them tasty grain soon!

Rammy

 

[WildRoseBeef]

I have the same sentiments on Angus cattle. They're dumb nutters who tend to get more panicky and high-headed then some of the other breeds I've worked with, though I've also dealt with some Simmentals and Charolais (one of my least-favorite breed too as far as temperament is concerned) that get pretty high-headed too no matter what you do to tame them. And for heaven's sake don't get me started on Limousin...

I won't repeat much of the advice already given for those heifers, but what I do is to just take some time--and not keep to any regular schedule, it's usually almost always whenever I feel like it--to hang out with the animals and talk to them quietly (I don't do the deeper-voice thing LOL, I just talk normally though my voice isn't nearly as high as some women's get, so I guess most would say I do talk low to them, even though I'm not even making an effort to try), and let them move around as they please. I'll either just stand around or walk around calmly, not ever making an effort to try to pet any of them. That comes much later. My main concern when I get them used to me is just getting used to my presence and my voice, that's it. I don't care about wanting to pet them or anything, especially at first.

I'll also take a half-arm full of hay and put it out for them, then stand back far enough that I'm not in their flight zone so that they'll come up to eat. Of course I've been more used to working with ~80 head of steers than just a few, so the brave ones that are first to come up are the first to get the hay, and I don't object.

The times when I can touch one, I start from the chin and work down the jaw, only going as far as they'll let me. I never try to scratch the forehead. If I can get to the neck, great, if not, ah well that's okay. Very rarely do I get to scratch over the shoulders and back, but that's just because I don't push for the intention of doing that anyway. Again, my primary concern is to just get them used to my presence, and if I succeed in that, that's most excellent, and the best I can ask for.

My call is usually something along the lines of, "Come calf! Come calf!" But even then when they just see me out there, I don't even have to call to get them to come running for me LOL.

 

[Rammy]

Thats good advice. Last night, with my little 2 x 2 stick, I was able to touch some pretty good. Scratched the neck and the sides some. Figured I use it as an extension of my arm to keep out of kicking range. Mostly I would like to just get them to come when I call. So far, they have only done it once. I do talk to them when Im out there. I have to work during the day, but on weekends, and when I get home, I go out and talk to them, walk around, just stand there and let them see me. I do my normal voice. I can do low, but I sound funny.

 

[greybeard]

though I've also dealt with some Simmentals and Charolais (one of my least-favorite breed too as far as temperament is concerned) that get pretty high-headed too no matter what you do to tame them. And for heaven's sake don't get me started on Limousin...

I hear that about Chars and Simms a lot, but it hasn't been my experience, but mine are a Char/simm cross..not straight bred either breed. Mine are all dog gentle. Of course, talking to some that got into the Chars way back, I also hear the old "I wore out a dozen sets of chains at calving and pulled lots of dead ones" thing. Most of those heifer killing Char bulls have been bred out of existence nowadays.

Limousin never really caught on here much except in a few crossbred programs.

Rammy, sounds like you are making progress, but let's go down the road aways..months down the road to a little problem many don't think about. . If you value peace & quiet, avoid feeding them or giving them treats every single time you go out in the yard. Before you know it, each time they see you come out of the house, they'll be standing at the fence bawling/bellering their heads off expecting you to give them something. Especially true if you have something in your hand...like a gas can, a toolbox, or a bucket of any kind. Take a sack of dogfood out of your vehicle and they see it, the bellering will start. Got a big backpack in your hand..the bellering will begin. No need to keep priming the well after the water is flowing...........
You'll want them to get used to 'sometimes, you don't get anything to eat'.

 

[Rammy]

Rammy, sounds like you are making progress, but let's go down the road aways..months down the road to a little problem many don't think about. . If you value peace & quiet, avoid feeding them or giving them treats every single time you go out in the yard. Before you know it, each time they see you come out of the house, they'll be standing at the fence bawling/bellering their heads off expecting you to give them something. Especially true if you have something in your hand...like a gas can, a toolbox, or a bucket of any kind. Take a sack of dogfood out of your vehicle and they see it, the bellering will start. Got a big backpack in your hand..the bellering will begin. No need to keep priming the well after the water is flowing...........
You'll want them to get used to 'sometimes, you don't get anything to eat'.

Yeah! Thats good to know. Silly things still just look at me with that blank, HUH? Stare when I call them. On one hand I can touch them with my stick, then I do my hand and scratch them until they move away. Then the next day they dont want me anywhere near them. A little frustrating but hopefully wont be much longer til they see me as the goodie lady.
We only intend to feed them grain to get them to come in. Once we do that Im going to back off feeding them only couple time a week to nothing since they will be on grass most of the summer. Then in the fall when we plan on selling them feed them back up to get them ready. Thats what we did with the cows last year. Thank you all for your great advice! This really helps!!
Rammy