so this is my third year showing and my first two steers were pretty much babiesi never had much of an issue breaking them. But my steer for this year is completely insane. I put him in the pen and went in with him and he would run full on into the fence trying to get away. Hes not little either. What can i possibly do to get him to calm dpwn. hes been in the pen with the other steer and my heifer for 2 weeks. hes such a nice calf i hate to waste him but the previous owner is convinced he is unbreakable. I havnt had the halter on him because i am pretty sure i would have gotten really hurt trying to hold on. hes been in the chute and had the halter on then but whenever i touched him he would flip out and jump and kick and jerk around. im worried hes gonna hurt himself. please help!
Steer is LOCO!!!
- Thread starter showgurl
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Woody
Well-known member
You knew he was this way and you still bought him???
Up the creek, no paddles!
Up the creek, no paddles!
farmboy
Well-known member
bring him to me, i'll break him
simmyman67
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Get you a MEAN donkey. That'll break him real quick. You should see some of the huge crazy Brahman bulls my grandpa has gotten like babies by using donkeys. A little show steer is nothing to one of those spitfires.
I have been in your shoes time and time again! The most recent time is quite a story I don't care to repeat because it is so embarrassing....but to make a long story short and not so embarrassing, I did not end up showing the crazy heifers. To this day, 2 of the 3 of them are very spooked when around my husband and me.
If you are anywhere near southern IN I would love to recommend you to a guy who is excellent in breaking show cattle! He offered to take my heifers, but since I can only open show...and they aren't registered...I didn't worry about it! Let me know if you would like his number!
I wish you the best of luck with your situation!
If you are anywhere near southern IN I would love to recommend you to a guy who is excellent in breaking show cattle! He offered to take my heifers, but since I can only open show...and they aren't registered...I didn't worry about it! Let me know if you would like his number!
I wish you the best of luck with your situation!
Have you talked to the person who sold you the steer? Did they warn you about the steer? If they didn't I would be upset and request they take the steer back. There are a lot of good calves out there with good attitudes. If they did and you still bought him I agree with Woody. Patience may work on him but nothing is worth getting hurt over. Talk to the seller and see if they can help you.
OH Breeder
Well-known member
If this steer is new to you and your farm with some animals it takes time. Some are more sensitive than others. I suggest a 5 gallon bucket and a bag of peppermints or marshmallows. Just go just inside pen and sit. If the calf comes after obviously get up and out. But you said he goes the opposite way. So sit there let him know you are not out to eat him. When animals are scared they resort to the instinct of fight or flight. Cattle are herd animals and you don't look like part of the herd. It may take a couple of weeks just to get him to cone to you. Once he realizes you have something he likes he will associate you with treats. Once you can get him to react calmly to you entering the pen and next step try brushing him. I wouldn't try haltering him just yet. When you feed him take feed in pen sit it down and back up and just sit. We've had cattle that others couldn't break. Most of the time they require time. Rarely their is one that just has a screw loose. He's not ready for donkey yet as you haven't even tried entering the pen and him not run away. Once you can walk in and halter him if he doesn't lead you could move to a donkey. I have found there are no shortcuts to training cattle right. Let me know how that works for you.
cmscattlecomom
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I have been down the same road!! My brother had a heifer that I thought we would never get broke. We would just spend time with her and eventually was able to halter and tie her up. She fought the halter as usual but after about a week was able to brush her down. Leading her was another problem. WE found that best way was to get one of our old show cows to help lead her. Tie a 2nd halter to a necktie. Put the necktie on the cow and put the 2nd halter on the steer/heifer backwards. You do need 2 people, 1 to lead the old cow and 1 to lead the steer/heifer. The cow helps just in case he gets away and its not as hard on them as the donkey. We did get my brothers heifer broken and she is one of the best behaved heifers at the show!!
OH Breeder
Well-known member
showgurl said:
see above 5 gallon bucket
OK so worked him last night and boy did that get scary for awhile. i ran him into a small secluded pen by himself and let him calm down and then finally got the nerve to get in there with him. The pen was only about 10feet by 10feet i figured this would force him to let me be that close to him. at first he really freaked and i wanted more than anything to get out of there but i stayed put and just held my breath that he would only try to get away and not turn on me. He calmed a little so i just sat there and talked after a little while i tried touching him with the showstick he took off but after a little while he would stand for a few seconds and let me scratch before taking off. Then i ran him into the chute to get a halter on him. while he was in the chute i just got my hands all over him and he was ok with that as long as he was confined and couldnt move. He even ate a little corn out of my hand. Thanks for the tips they might just be helping. keep em comming
simmyman67
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I would continue doing that until he gets really comfortable with you.
I would stay with the 10x10 pen idea until you can stand there and brush him. We like to have them where we can walk up to them in a larger pen and brush them (or better yet, they come up to us because they know they get brushed and a treat) before ever haltering them. This usually only takes 3 or 4 half hour sessions in the pen before they gentle down. Once they are gentle, we halter them and they are really easy to break to lead because they don't want to get away. We put the halter on in the little pen and gently urge them to give to the pressure. We try not to pull them around. Would rather turn into them to get their feet moving and then urge them to walk forward. One or two steps is good to start with and work up from there. We don't tie them up until they lead. This usually works out to be a lot faster in the long run and eliminates sore heads and bad experiences for the calf.
I definatly saw the most improvment with this plan, i do beleive i will keep at it and its safest for me rather than trying to hold on to him when hes rageing mad on the end of the halter. im determined to break my calves this year with no help from my dad or anyone else physically.
