Steer that won't lead

[StephanieHoppe]

I know there is a ton of older posts on here about halter breaking a calf, however most that I have read are about unruly calves. That is not my problem. My son has a calf that is dog gentle, he is broke to tie, easy to catch, you can rub all over him as well as bathe him... He just will not walk!! He actually plants like a donkey and will not move.. Period. Now when he wants to walk, he does and he walks pretty good, but most of the time, he will not walk. He will just stand there and not budge. Any suggestions???

 

[SimFarmer]

We use a donkey to take the stubbornness out of our calves. It's amazing how quickly they will change after a couple sessions. Also can't complain about not having sore shoulders!

 

[vc]

Look up Knabes post on getting one to walk, we use the pull release method and it works great, (you will never win a tug of war with one). you have to start slow, getting him to move is a start, Each calf is different, we got them to move by simply having a hand full of green grass in front as soon as he moves forward like you want we let him have some, as long as he keeps moving when we want him to he gets more. We use the pull release method as we do this. If he is just so set on not moving, tie him in a stall and walk him to his feed and water, for a few days, again use the pull and release method so he figures out what you are trying to train him at.
Another thing to try is change your routine walk him away from where you usually are, if you have second calf try leading it in front of him, have had calves that are stubborn at home but once they are away from the barn lead fine. (there is one of Knabes post at the bottom of this thread)

 

[GoWyo]

Get a helper to poke the teeth of a comb into his tail right below the tailhead.  They usually move forward.  Before that though, try treats like alfalfa cubes, cattle cake, whatever they like.

 

[knabe]

i know it's hard to believe, but you have the same problem as an unruly calf, they are just expressing the same issue differently.


one takes the same approach.  the problem with the stubborn one is you never truly can trust them as one day they just walk over you as we ignore their lack of respect for us.