Taming a 2yr old Highland Heifer....need help! PICS

[michelle43]

Okay, so here is the story. I currently own a 2yr old Highland Heifer and a 10 mos old Highland/Angus cross steer. I bought both of them last September. The owner incorrectly told me to put them both out in my pasture (electric fence) the first night as that was what they grew up in. Well, the next morning.....no cows. 15 hours later, they were spotted 7 miles away at the local transfer station. No amount of trying to round them up worked and I ended up getting a friend with a tranquilizer gun to shoot them both with a tranquilizer so we could get them loaded up and on my farm.

Back at the farm my horse barn was fortified and the heifer and steer were loaded in together and locked up. Within a week I was able to feed them both treats from my hand, but the heifer was still very unpredictable. I fed them from outside the barn. In order to clean the barn and get them more room, I put up cow panels and created a safe enclosed area with a 3-sided run in that I have wintered them in since. Everyday I give them grain and treats and now they see me as their 'food' person. I am able to 'pet' and brush the head and neck of the heifer from outside the pen, and she will come to me to get petted, but she is still really unpredictable.

Anyway, long story getting longer.....I want to release her and the steer after my pasture gets a good growing start so they can be out on pasture until I butcher the steer in the late fall. This brings up 2 problems...I want to breed the heifer and I also want to work with her so she is a better cow. She comes from really good lines and is very healthy and I think will be a great breeding prospect, (but I'm a beginner at this). I also thought of A.I., but am unsure how i would get her immobilized so it could be done as well as how i could tell if she was in standing heat and all....

I'm rambling, so I'll stop. Here are some pictures.....did I mention her horns are really long! These pics were from last fall.

Red right after we 'captured' her and put them in the barn...it took a few days for me to be able to get the halter off....

T-bone in his new 'yard' a week later....

All advice is appreciated..I really want it to work out for me and Red so I can breed her each year. Thanks everyone!

 

[michelle43]

Well....I realize I'm new here, but it seems that this is more a goat forum than anything else. If any of the goat people out there know anyone who keeps cows, I'd appreciate their advice. Thanks again for looking.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

The trouble with Highlanders is that in most cases, electric fence isn't hot enough to keep them in, which explains why they were able to escape like they were. If you have an electric fence that is designed for holding horses in and not cows, you better invest in a better fencer, like one that can extend the current to 25 miles. The hotter the hotwire, the better and the more they'll feel it through their hide and thick hair.

The guy you bought them from was definitely wrong about putting them out on pasture the first night you get them. Keep them in a secure area (like the one you have them in currently) for at least a week to a couple weeks until they get settled down, then you can let them out on pasture. But you must make sure they respect the hotwire first before you let them out or consider leaving them in the pasture without you having to watch over them 24/7.

There are a lot of beef cows out there that do not get touched or handled and are still able to get bred by AI. The secret to getting them bred by AI is that they're in a head catch or medina gate that keeps them there until they are serviced. Medina gates work well for those cattle like longhorns or highlands, better than a squeeze chute or a head catch will. But you will have to find or build some area in the barn or corrals you have up so that you can get her in and catch her so you can AI her.

 

[goodhors]

Well at her age, whatever you do is going to be hard. If I owned her, I would take her to the Vet and have the horns off. I know, part of the look, but she is NOT civil now, may not EVER get real civil. You don't want the END UP getting horned. Does happen when the cattle feel threatened. And Highlands are as apt to do it as any other breed. Neighbor has Highlands, has been horned a couple times, ALMOST DIED!!

Next would be to put on a buckle type halter that she can't rub off like those rope things. I would not want a chain chinstrap one, easy to get her hung up on those chains. These that X under the chin have worked well for me.

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Calf-Turn-Halter-Brown/dp/B002MV9V14

I got a sorta civilized heifer last year, way younger and smaller. I put the halter on her and let her drag a rope about 15-20ft long. It was thick round nylon, so mud and weather didn't bother it. I had a knot about every 4ft for good grip. Her stepping on rope often, hitting the knot, helped her develop some respect for pull of rope. Doing it to herself, she would give to rope pull, not "bulling" thru the pull. I have pretty good fences, high tensile that is electrified, just like the farm she came from. So I had no fence problems with her.

Cow could drag the rope in her enclosure to get started, with you picking up the end and pulling her around to give treats. My heifer liked alfalfa pellets, pieces of apple, even plain oats. If she is chargy, you NEED to be very careful. A pig show stick, 3ft hollow plastic tube on the nose HARD, WILL help keep her back. My heifer worried about being "cornered" would get upset then. So working in the open, having a long rope, both treats AND stick, will make things about as comfortable as you can to handle her.

I would also work the get her tied up, learning patience. Being tied may give you some time to work with her more, grooming, doing a bath, to help her settle for you. Also lets you TIE her in the trailer when you need to take her to the vet, a bull, someone with a headgate to do shots or be bred.

Getting a stronger fencer, keeping all vegatation off the wire, will help keep her off the fence. Now the qualifiers!

She is a heifer, probably coming into heat regular, and instinct want her bred so she may go hunting for a bull. They come in season monthly, could be hard on your fences. Some female cattle are just REALLY hard to keep home if not out with the bull while in heat. So while she is excellent stock, registered, she may be a liability to have around going thru fences. When you get her bred, she will not be in heat for 9 months, then you may have issues again.

You might think of trading her for a younger animal you can train as it grows, which would be easier to deal with.

 

[michelle43]

Well at her age, whatever you do is going to be hard. If I owned her, I would take her to the Vet and have the horns off.

Getting a stronger fencer, keeping all vegatation off the wire, will help keep her off the fence.

She is a heifer, probably coming into heat regular, and instinct want her bred so she may go hunting for a bull. They come in season monthly, could be hard on your fences. Some female cattle are just REALLY hard to keep home if not out with the bull while in heat. So while she is excellent stock, registered, she may be a liability to have around going thru fences. When you get her bred, she will not be in heat for 9 months, then you may have issues again.


You might think of trading her for a younger animal you can train as it grows, which would be easier to deal with.

That great news about dehorning....I've wanted to get her horns taken off, but I thought she was too old.

The fencer I have is a 'weed cutter' and is definitely hot enough per some cattle farmers near me. I just think she was too afraid and had no idea where she was. She left in the night and it was really dark so I don't think she saw the fence. Once she got 'bit' she barged through it.

The farm she was on had only one measely wire that was not on the whole time. Also, she was with a herd of cows and heifers and the bulls were separated, so I'm hoping she's not a wanderer.

Trading her may be exactly what I need to do as well. I'd like to give her one more chance before I do that though. Thanks for all the advice and the link. I think tying her up and then working with her may help. If she's tied by her head and I'm on her side, how far forward do I need to be to avoid being kicked?

Thanks again!

 

[goodhors]

Mine when tied, could kick from her shoulder to past her rump. And FAST. The pig stick was helpful there, she got smacked when she kicked, until she quit kicking. Her choice to stop. Stick is noisy, does sting, but not like a solid stick. Pig stick works well for punishment when she misbehaves. Cows ram each other to be dominant in a herd, so a person MUST not allow the lower status heifer to act dominant without retaliation. Another cow would also punish the heifer for such actions and it would hurt heifer a LOT more than pig stick. Kicking is just totally unacceptable when you work around her.

Do know that most cattle will move INTO pressure. So if you push on her, she will push back, so don't get trapped against the wall when she is tied. Your pig stick can help here. My heifer was supposed to move, anyplace at first, when I touched her sides and clucked. Then she learned to move AWAY from the pig stick pushing on her, though it took a while. That herd reaction again, push back on other cow! I kind of just gently tapped to annoy her while clucking, until she moved away and I quit! Action, reaction, annoyance stops! If she ignored the tapping, we could increase the intensity until we got the desired reaction. Again, kicks should be punished. FINALLY she will learn to move over with the touch and clucking sound, won't need the tapping each time.

She also was small enough to allow two of us to drag her a bit so she got the idea of being led in and out of the barn each day. She improved a lot, but again was smaller and able to be manhandled. 2yr old is probably too big for that with only one person on the lead rope. Mine, stepping on her own rope and pulling herself, was about the best method for not hurting her, learning to give to rope pull.

The first few times tying, I kind of pulled her in with the rope thru a loop or around a post, just kept shortening it until close enough to tie the rope short. then I left her stand for longer times. 10-15 minutes for a couple days, give some alfalfa pellets by hand. Increase the time a bit every few days until she is good for a few hours. I tried to do it before heat of the day, offered water when tied so she would drink from me, using a bucket.

We have a tying wall for the horses with a rubber mat floor, rings to tie on, high flat boards to face. So when weather got better, I would tie her there, hose her down, scrub her with brushes, scrape her off and let dry in the sun. Hose was helpful if she wanted to run or kick, just kept water touching the tickle spots, worked out all the kicking! No danger to me, wore out her reactive problem. So feet, legs, belly, udder, rump from the back, all got desensitized with hose water, easier to groom with soapy brush, and then later with dry brush for grooming in the chute. Mine seemed to catch on pretty quick, accepted the grooming and actually liked it with time. Cattle are ITCHY, so brushing with hard brushes is WONDERFUL to them.

If you can get your heifer leading, you can make the round inside your fence line, teach her the boundry before turing her loose. I would leave her rope dragging if it was a clean field. Gives you something to grab if she does get loose!! Leading by the fence will also improve her leading skills, if she cooperates. I kept collars with a bell on each animal. Having rounded up cattle, I KNOW how fast they can disappear behind a thistle! Bell would help if they ever got loose in rough ground.

My fences have fence flags, to add more visibility to the wire. Might be helpful to the cattle, who don't always have good vision, especially if moving quickly. I get my fence flags from the Jeffers catalog. They have a nice wire to clip on the fence wire, which holds them in place, keeps the flag loose to blow in the wind, easier to see. You get 12 flags in a bag, but mine have lasted well for years. Worth the investment to keep deer out of the wire, horses from running into wire when goofing around. I did have some sections of wire around new trees, cattle noticed the flags there, stayed off the fence. My heifer was not as hairy as a Highland, not sure if that hair allows Highlands to ignore lesser powered fence chargers. She would test wire with her whiskers, see if it was hot.

http://www.jefferslivestock.com/fence-flags/camid/LIV/cp/MN-F1/

The main thing is for no one to get hurt. Give the taming a good effort, then you can decide if you are making progress or not. Heifers are VERY stubborn, unpredictable. The 4-H kids HATE showing the heifers, you never know WHAT will set them off, inspite of all your training work. Steers are just more level headed in most instances, so easier to show. You know ahead if he is bad-tempered, are prepared, don't usually change from good to bad.

If she isn't rewarding, no fun, then let her go, try again with another younger animal. The younger you start working them, usually the easier it is. This is DAILY handling, even if just a couple minutes, that keeps the heifers tamed down. From my experience, horns can come off anytime, but older, bigger horns are messy, will bleed. May need extra work to close them. Talk to the Vet for best method, best recovery for heifer. Do it soon, to avoid fly infection.

 

[michelle43]

Goodhors....thanks for the advice. I've spent quite a lot of time last night looking into 'banding' her horns. There is a bander called a Callicrate bander that several people have used with good success to dehorn older full grown cows with almost no bleeding. I'm also going to put together a 'medina' hinge squeeze in order to dehorn her, and vaccinate her, and then later to A.I. her. I'm really excited about all the great advice everyone has given me. Red really loves to be scratched and brushed, but I'm realizing after reading your posts that she still is showing agressive 'lead heifer' behavior that needs to be stopped. I will research today and buy myself a pig stick as well.

Thanks again..

 

[country freedom]

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