Cows can fly; prevention help

[greenmojo]

Don't y'all just love crits? They do the daggonedest things.

If she escapes again, we will be eating Wagyu / Angus early this year...

 

[MacLawn]

I hear ya, greenmo! Keep'er tender!

 

[EddieWalker]

People that I know with donkeys got them to protect their goats or sheep. I guess the same thing applies to cattle. Be careful on the donkey, you want one that will bond with your animals and look out for them. Older donkeys that you can get free or cheap are usually problem ones that attack the animals they are in the pen with. Ideally you want a young one who grows up with the herd. In your case, I have my doubts that adding a donkey will make they cow happy.

Eddie

 

[greenmojo]

This is getting tough... calls into 4 different people with steers for sale, nobody returning calls.

~Moses

 

[jerrybob]

Run an electric fence line about 3 ft. inside your fence. We've done it many times......takes just a few attempts and she will stop. Good luck........

 

[Jisgren]

I would recommend a low line angus to keep her company. They are smaller cattle, very laid back, and very good beef.

Check with http://westernstateslowline.com for breeders in your area

 

[texasjohn]

you want somebody's 4h or FFA calf...one that is dog gentle and you can lead around, literally...else it, too, will sprout wings.

 

[greenmojo]

you want somebody's 4h or FFA calf...one that is dog gentle and you can lead around, literally...else it, too, will sprout wings.

That's exactly what we found! A 4H family with a few calves. Worked out great.

I couldn't find what I wanted locally so the next plan was just to find some type of companion for her, and we grabbed this little guy. So far, so good. They get a long and the heifer is much more relaxed. Actually saw her with her head down sleeping this afternoon for the first time.



jerrybob and a few others have suggested running a hot wire 3' to 4' inside the barbed wire fence to prevent her from getting close enough to jump the fence... I am going to do this tomorrow. Great idea.

So, in the end it looks like some companionship and a bit more hot wire and she'll be good for the time being. Now, how to prevent the mountain lions from snacking on a 200 pound calf. ;-)

~Moses

 

[texasjohn]

OK...now you need to teach her about range cubes...she needs to learn they are yummy, then you need to get her to eat them from your hand...hold one out pointed to her , let her smell it and then gently let her take it from your fingers. Normally, I HATE to get an animal this dog gentle...but you NEED to have that large critter this gentle. Reason..should she start flying again, she will follow you around if you have some cubes in a bucket...shake the bucket...teach her to COME to the bucket and she will get a treat...and, then, walk off and teach her to follow you, getting a treat on occasion...this way you can LEAD her back to the house as necessary.....and, should an extreme situation present itself, you can put a rope around her neck....be sure to have a place to tie the other end of the rope like a pickup bumper or STOUT fence post...That little calf is not likely to become HER lead cow....meaning that she will follow where the calf goes...maybe, but not likely....therefore, you need to plan how you will handle the larger animal NEXT TIME she wanders off....hint...once an animal learns to jump a fence, not likely to forget it, and will do it again next time a stress/ presssure situation presents itself to them. by the way...angus have a reputation for jumping fences...not all do it, but a significant percentage of them seem to be willing to roam about.

Warning...the price you pay for having a cow which will eat out of your hand is that they begin to think of you as a member of their herd....and, like any other member of their herd, they will engage in a shoving match to determine who is the dominant animal...THUS, you MUST begin to carry a STOUT stick/pipe/walking cane with you WHENEVER you are in the pasture...this will extend your arm and let you administer punishment when a shoving match starts...Note, that animal is faster and heavier than you are...so, you simply MUST be smarter than she is and be prepared to ALWAYS stop or win any confrontation.

Suggestion...since these are your first cattle in a long time, you would benefit from learning more about how to handle cattle...see if you can't find somebody with stock AND significant experience and offer to help them work their animals, on multiple occasions. There, you can see how things are done and figure out how to do things on your place. Each cow has a different personality. Be aware that how to work stock is ALL about many subtle clues you give to the animal....all these things mean something to the animal....figure out how they respond and learn instinctively how to adjust your body stance to achieve the result you want from the animal...
directly facing the animal, standing still, then talking forward, walking backward
turn side to animal, observe animal from corner of eyes while standing still, walking forward, walking backward.
Circle around behind or in front of the animal, looking at them directly, then out of corner of eyes.
Vary the distance between you and animal, learn when animal will move away from you, stand still, or perhaps move toward to you.
Be aware that the animal will choose to fight you or run from you, depending on the situation.
What the cow does with their head is VERY significant...lowered head means low concern...high head means very wary or perhaps about to run...or quickly lower and charge...

I don't usually run on like this about animal behaviour, but since you are just getting started, I don't know how much of this you are aware of and how much is yet to become second nature to you...

Wishing you all the best of luck

 

[fishheadbob]

Good point texasjohn. My cows were trained to a grain bucket; made calling them home a lot easier. All the "training" consisted of was putting today's grain in a 5 gallon pail and thumping the bucket a few times before giving them the grain. After a while they associated the thumping sound with some good eats. They would come running with drool hanging from their mouths.

 

[greenmojo]

OK...now you need to teach her about range cubes...

Excellent information! I had to read it twice.

I don't remember 1/10th of what I should have, but that all makes perfect sense. I am headed to town here in a few minutes and will get some good eats for her.

Also going to grab some stakes to run an internal wire to keep them back away from the fence a bit.

~Moses

 

[Mace Canute]

texasjohn, your post reminded me of an incident that happened back in the 60's at a cattle auction house we used to buy feeders from. They had one cow in that gave every indication of being dangerous and while in the ring the guy who was there to move them around was standing right next to a barricade built close to the wall to provide a safe place if/when a critter decided to go after them. He was standing only a couple of feet away and the cow a few feet from him but that cow sprang forwards and head butted him against the wall before he could jump sideways behind the barricade. He died from internal injuries.

 

[jix]

My least fav bovine is a Hereford bull with an attitude like rhe one that chased me right outa my shoes into a mud bog that he was too smart to run into. I got stuck so far into that marl mud that I could not get out. Wife got the tractor and threw me a rope and pulled me out onto the draw bar, then she went to the gate and I opened it to let us out. That bull dogged me and I almost could not shut the gate, but the tractor did. We went into the house and I got out the .30 .30. then I shot the bull in the head, through the fence and dragged his carcass to the butcher gallows, strung him up gutted him, then skinned him with the tractor and a chain. Quartered him with a chainsaw, then put his quarters through the meat grinder. I sold the meat for feed to a fur farmer who kept mink and foxes, so now that bull is a ladies fur coat or two. No more bulls for me after that, Turn them onto steers early on before they get pushy, but even then used a rope and post to hold 'em snubbed while they got clipped in the corral.

Cows never a problem cause we had a bor4der collie and he was always wide awake in the pasture and he could read a cows mind. Any foolishness would cause him to teach a cow lessons that I could not get them to remember, but they remembered what Tippy taught them.

 

[Sysop]

Were you wearing shoes when you got that light tingle from the fence? That may be okay if so... Take your shoes off if you want to see what the cow feels.

Run an electric fence line about 3 ft. inside your fence. We've done it many times......takes just a few attempts and she will stop. Good luck........

Good recommendation. Reason for this is because of how they are made. As was previously mentioned, cattle are a prey animal and they need to keep constant watch for predators. Due to this, their eyes are way out on the sides of their heads so they have a wide field of view. This is good for watching all around for movement, but it is horrible for getting both eyes on a single object, which is required for depth perception. They are great at judging how high something is, but horrible at judging how far or deep it is. They won't risk jumping over something without knowing they can clear it. Having the electric 3' inside everything else makes them give up quick.

 

[Raincoast]

The "get a chicken" suggestion is not as silly as it might seem. Our last heifer came from a fairly large herd & she was very unhappy with her new surroundings at our place. She didn't go OVER the fence, she went THROUGH it. Repeatedly.
Our local vet suggested a chicken companion & we tried it as an act of desperation. Two days later the two girls were inseparable. The little banty hen spent most of every day perched on the cow's back. The cow calmed right down & didn't escape again until her first heat.
When that happened, we got a call from a neighbour saying our cow & her bull were enjoying a romantic evening & suggested leaving her with their herd for a couple of days. Good neighbours (and companion hens) are worth their weight in gold!

 

[texasjohn]

Mace, if you have messed with feeders, then you are familiar with what I was writing about.

At our local auction barn there was a lanky guy who watched for those animals which would actually charge in the ring and goaded them into charging. He would put a foot on their lowered head and vault into the air grabbing an overhead bracing pipe or aiming for the pipe fence between the ring and the buyers. People cheered him...I always thought it extremely dumb to take such risks...but that's the brashness of being around 19 years old. Dunno if he ever made a misstep.

Me, I don't keep eyes on a bull as much as cows...there are more of them. And, two cows can get to pushing and run over me in the process. Beware of a cow who has a calf less than a week old. Given the postpartum hormones, an extremely gentle cow, on occasion, can decide that its human caretaker is a threat to the infant calf and choose fight over flight/docility.

fishheadbob, yep, my cows follow a bucket rattle with cubes very well and they don't have to be extremely close. However, the OP has only one large animal...he needs to be able to approach her, when she is scared for some reason, calm her down, and lead her back home after fence jumping...or into a neighboring pen....he doesn't need her to keep running but to stay close by. That said, it doesn't always work. About 30 years ago I had a calf which managed to escape every time I tried, even climbed vertically out of a trailer top with bars over it. Took to jumping all my fences and into the neighbor's as well, then back. This went on until, at about 1800 lbs, my son and I hunted it down like a deer. I shot it in the head at about 200 yards with a 30-30, winched it onto a flatbed and had it ground into hamburger.

 

[greenmojo]

Were you wearing shoes when you got that light tingle from the fence? That may be okay if so... Take your shoes off if you want to see what the cow feels.

Well, I have since felt (twice), what the fence is capable of... Apparently the S17 wasn't fully charged... a couple of days later when I was hooking up the internal wire, I reached out to touch the fence and WHAMO, it stood me up straight. Felt it right through the lungs and heart.

An update; heifer is more calm than ever before, and hasn't even considered an escape. Junior (young bull), he's enough to keep her company and they both appear to be keeping each other out of trouble.

I went with an internal hot wire about 4' inside at about 2' high, and each of them have tested it at least once or twice and now stay very much clear of it.

Thanks again everyone for helping solve another problem!

~Moses

 

[DrRod]

We boarded horses at a farm that had a year-old Herford [named John Henry] that had been raised with a litter of pups. And it thought it was a dog. And was very friendly. One time he wanted to get to me after I had petted him and he started to push me -- the power was unbelievable. I slipped behind a desk in the barn aisle and he started pushing on the desk - I though I was going to go two dimensional. I don't think he was mean, just didn't know his own strength. But a good lesson in what an animal is capable of even a nice one - they just totally out-class us in strength and speed.

 

[texasjohn]

On a farm/ranch, everything is faster, heavier, stronger, sharper, more powerful than you are...what is between your ears is the only place you have an advantage..use it!

 

[Raincoast]

What's between your ears... And a short length of 2X4. My Aunt, on the family farm in Alberta, never approached her bull without a stout chunk of timber in her hand. I watched her bang him between the horns, one morning when he was being a little more frisky that he should. I thought it'd knock the poor guy out, but he just shook his head & walked away. He looked like he was wondering what that loud noise was!
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer...