Calf halter training 101-again!

[Sue]

Hi folks, many will remember previous years when I have illustrated how we halter train our calves at this time of the year. As there are many newbies joined in since last Christmas, I'll run through it again-with this years kids-if anyone is interested?

Actually this year we were not going to bother due to circumstances like my broken arm of 3 months ago and Trevors total knee joint replacement 3 weeks ago! However it would be a pity not to have some halter trained animals from this years calves, for several reasons, so we started today!

We have seperated out 5 cows and calves from the bull, actually we have also split the mobs and left the stud bulls with the bull calves and their mothers, and removed all the cows and heifer calves-just in case any heifers come into season as they are now 5 months old.

Now first thing to mention, we select on temperament and I must be able to work amongst the cows in the yards without fear of being attacked (there is still danger of being squashed by large bodies though!) I must also be able to weigh and tag their calves, at birth, right under the cows nose out in the paddock-so consequently after several generations their genes for good temperament are predominant (quiet nature also goes with tender meat as the genes for both are linked!)

So this morning we ran them through the yards, separated the 3 bulls and 2 heifers we fancy, let their mothers out into one paddock and ran the calves round the race, over the scary metal tray of the scales, into the crush-where each of them got a quick brush and scratch and let them out into an adjoining paddock to their mothers. None of them played up, they stood reasonably quietly and I could put my hand on their backs in the yards.

Point to remember-these calves are run as a mob with their mothers, have not been touched since they were tagged and weighed at birth-have never been near the yards before, have never been drenched, injected or fed anything other than grass and milk plus water from a trough.

Just to prove that you don't need to bucket rear a calf to make it quiet enough to train, neither do you have to wean it off its mother first!

Next step will be to bring the mothers and babies back into the yards this afternoon for their milk. We will probably part them overnight as well and then get into the routine of feeds off Mum at 6am and 5pm for the next 3 weeks. After each feed and the cows go back to their paddock they will be handled-starting with putting on halters tomorrow, a brief tie up in the race and gradually get them used to our presence.

The aim is usually to get them quiet and trained enough to go to Levin Show by the weekend of 21/22 Jan-but this year our 'disabilities' might preclude taking the team of 9 we usually do-perhaps just 2?!

Stage 1 running into the race and giving each one a brush, to get them used to the feel and close prescence of humans!


Stage 2 walk around them in the yards


Grenadier, G333, a very settled young lad, showing promise, and one of the heifers behind. These are all born between 1st and 4th August so around 20 weeks old. I'm picking they are all over 200kgs-but the scale batteries were flat!


Please ask questions if any of you are interested enough. Others have different methods, but this works for us!

[Ruth]

There's not much will stop you two!

..."quiet nature also goes with tender meat as the genes for both are linked" - it might be useful to explain that in more depth again (I can't even think how to explain it because I've forgotten the detail). It is not just that quiet animals have better meat, it's that the genes for good temperament and some of the genes for tender meat travel together in inheritance. Are they on the same chromosomes, or how does it happen?

[Belle Bosse]

Thanks Sue,
I find this presentation fascinating and would love to follow along with your training methods for young cattle... and their progress and placing at the show. Please let us know how they go!!

Your young bull G333 sure is handsome!!

[Sue]

I can't really begin to expain it either-but there have been plenty of trials done to prove it-and of course others with no result!

There has been plenty of work done on gene mapping bovines. Several gene markers have been found that relate to eating quality such as marbling of meat and tenderness. The latter being measured by shear force (the amount of pressure required to cut through muscle fibres) We can now make use of these markers by looking for them in DNA samples taken from live animals-by examining blood, tissue samples taken from an ear punch or hair roots. We have had some of our animals tested this way.
In addition they have developed a temperament test in which the exit speed from a race way or head bail is indicative of its temperament-and the fright or flight hormone adrenalin can also be measured in their blood. By combining the two ie genes for tenderness and flight speed-it had been shown that the animals with the slower exit speed, also tended to have the higher number of favourable tenderness genes.

Whilst temperament can be modified to some extent by environment, handling etc-the basic instinct is always there. In one experiment I read the animals were put through the chute and weighed regularly over a period of months-they all calmed down, but the speedy ones always were faster than the slower ones!

The genes that contribute to tenderness have an effect on the muscle sheaths and connective tissues, and one place I read that the hanging of the carcase for up to 15 days did not improve the tenderness to the level of that which was tender by inheritance rather than post slaughter techniques.

By the way we took particular note on how our calves behaved in the crush and when we opened the gate to let them out. One wriggled and tried to turn round-the others wandered out and Grenadier, the beige one, even came back into the yards again after we let him out-that's when I took his photo!

[Sue]

Thankyou Belle Bosse, glad to have you on board, I knew there must be a few newbies who might be interested!

The first calf is mooing now, 6 hours after we seperated them from their mothers. The idea of this is because if they go to the show for a day, whilst unweaned, they get very upset if they can't have their 2pm feed. We've noticed they usually have a feed off their mothers early afternoon-so if we can get them into the habit of feeding morning and evening-they are more settled at the show!

Grenadier G333, is the 12th calf of our oldest cow-she isn't doing a bad job of him, she rears better bulls than heifers for some reason, we have a full sister of his who is now a year old-Flora, she may just be going to a show soon-we broke her in this time last year.

[Stu_R]

They are looking nice and quiet in the photos Sue
Your cattle are all nice nattured and quiet though .. most of the ones i have met have just beeen sooo laid back

Must get a bit better organised here , and get down a few weekends befor show this year and learn how to show lead them properly so that i can actually do it right if i am needed

[Sue]

Yes Stu, they are pretty laid back-but haven't put a halter on them yet and the show is 3 weeks on Saturday! Nose clips will be the next exciting lesson!
One of the silver bums is Xalts baby bull-Governor Grey.

Yes, we will probably be in need of a couple of extra hands if you are able to get down. Not sure yet who we are taking-as I will have to do the driving and don't particularly want to do 4 trips which we usually do! Maybe just two-a bull calf and a yearling heifer. Unless we take Dahlia and her calf Gala as well, and leave them there overnight! Then I will need an extra leader for one of them!

I will be stewarding as usual-except for the classes I am in-but can leave Trevor to do the writing up of results this year-as he will need a sitting job!

[Stu_R]

Happy to help as always Sue
Will try n get a bit more organised and get down there a couple of times befor show day ... well thats the plan anyway

The show is anniversary weekend ?

[digby]

thanks for this Sue , I haven't started yet!

[Sue]

Day 2 of the handling lesson.
Today they were walked over the scales and weighed, put into the crush, had a halter put on (not tied up) while they were brushed and then let out again. One bull 332 and the heifer were the most unsettled and jiggly-can be an indication of how difficult they will be once tied up-that will be tomorrows test!
They were waiting in the yards at 6am, mothers standing outside-as the yards have access from two sides. It is just a case of opening the gate for the cows to come in and feed them-takes about 20 minutes for them to empty the udders! Possibly 8 to 10 litres?!

First one is Grenadier 333, he weighed 297kgs and is the youngest
The calculations are, born 4th August so 146 days old.
actual weight 297kgs-birth weight of 48kgs = 249kgs divided by days of age 146 =a gain of 1.7kgs per day! Now I realise he had a bellyfull of milk 2 hours earlier-but if you take off 10kgs, he is still gaining 1.63kgs/day.




G332 Governor Grey decides he wants to turn round, not quite enough room! Happy enough with the halter.


He weighed 255kgs, birth weight 41kgs, born 2nd Aug age 148 days gain 1.44kgsday



G331 Gunsmoke another settled boy, weighed 275kgs, born 1st August, 149 days birth weight 41kgs gain 1.57kgs/day


Lastly the heifer Grevillia G330, born 1st Aug weight 43kgs 149 days old
weight 231 kgs, gain 1.26kgs/day. Slightly more jumpy in the race, but then she is a female. I prefer to halter train bulls at this age!


She wasn't in any hurry to walk out again.

So some points from today-make the experience a pleasant one, despite being enclosed in a scary place without mum, and ignore the bloke with the silly Christmas day party hat on!

They come in for food (we'll bring some hay for them to nibble while tied up tomorrow)
They enjoy a scratch, especially around the tail area-get them used to a gentle touch everywhere-especially underneath and around the legs and head eventually.
Put the halter on loosely-don't tie them to start with.

Note the halter is a slip one, which will tighten up if they pull, and slacken off when they stop. Easy to put on and off without fiddling with buckles to do up if you leave it slack.

When all go through the process, let them out to graze for the day.


Yes Stu, Show is Jan 21st, Anniversary weekend. We'll probably be doing the first wash and trial load on the float the weekend before-but will keep you posted-I haven't put entries in yet. Tomorrow we'll bring Dahlia and her calf in and see if the calf, that was broken to halter in October, remembers!

[Stu_R]

am sure she will Sue
She was a good girl at the show .. even i could handle her

[hilldweller]

You've certainly got it down to a fine art Sue and if I ever get the time to do some showing with my lot I'll refer back to all your threads for advice. They look lovely, as they always do. Best of luck at the shows.

[Ruth]

Great weights, Sue! I'm beginning to think I can tell how much a calf is gaining per day! Those huge soggy calves are really interesting to compare with the scrawnier hard-doers who aren't getting enough to surpass their growth needs. (There are of course none of the latter in your pictures here, but I have the bottle-fed <1kg/day example of my own to compare with a 1.7kg/day monster.)

[Sue]

Well HD, it has taken several years of trial and error to enable us to get them to the stage we can take them away from their mothers for a show with only 3 weeks training!

Apart from showing-which is actually a form of advertising as much as seeing how they compare to others-the fact that they are calm and settled around people and one can hire out quiet bulls, or help a cow calve if she needs it, or handle her calf, knowing that you can get up close, tie them up, get them on and off floats and trucks quietly-also pays dividends.
I know Ruth does all of the above with her cattle, without bothering to halter train-but if you take them out in public like we do, they just need that extra lesson or two!

When we have the vet to attend our stock-say to put a ring in a bulls nose-he only has to give half the dose of sedative he normally would give-because they dont have the adrenalin flow, which acts agaist the sedative. Last time the vet came he told me it took 3 shots to knock down a Highland to have its horns chopped off-so it could go to the works!

Our art group held an outdoor sketching session at our run off this afternoon. Once the cattle spotted we were there they came to supervise, including the bull! As at least 8 of the 22 had been halter trained-including the bull, they were quite happy to come and add some licks!

[Sue]

Ruth, we do have some of those scraggier, slower growing ones-do you want some photos?! They are the ones from cows with the poorer milk figures of course-and not the ones we would be taking to shows-they come right eventually, but don't produce this type of calf themselves either!
The cows with the higher milk EBV's are very evident by the calves they produce, without looking at their figures!

[Sue]

Here are some of the 'also ran' bunch, we don't seem to have a real scrawny one this year, but there are no doubt some gaining <1kg/day

[Ruth]

Ah! I've just had another thread direction thought, since both of us have significant data and family history in our herds. When will you weigh these other calves? There's certainly a real difference between them and the soggy calves!

We have yet to castrate and NAIT tag ours and they're getting pretty big! Once this rain goes past, we'll have to get them in and do it.

[Sue]

Day 3 attaching a rope to the halter. This morning all 4 had a session in the crush, with the rope attached and tied up, for a few minutes each.

It is essential to learn how to tie a quick untie knot-so in the event of an emergency, say the calf rears up and does a back flip in the race, or gets tangled.


All you do is pull the loose end and the knot undoes. Even when pulled fairly tight. Also use a soft rope, not that hard nylon stuff that halters are sometimes made of. The nylon stuff burns when it pulls through your hands at speed!

*points to remember-

*put the halter and rope on, let them sniff it first, handle them around the head, scratch behind the ears. Some trainers don't go near the head at first-but I like to get them used to it, before you have to put a nose clip in a heifers nose, or a rope in a bulls nose ring, or they will associate hands near their heads with unpleasant things!


*when tying-tie the rope high so they can't get a leg over it, and short-only about 1m or less, just enough for them to be able to lie down-when they are tied up.

* join two ropes together if you let them into a bigger space and they might run and pull the rope out of your hands.


* once you tie up out of a race, you may have to start with a long rope and haul them in to make it shorter-then stand back. If they haven't learned that the rope limits their movement-as in the race-they may rear, fall over, try to turn and get their legs and rope tangled. If they jump around just leave them until they settle-give them some hay. Don't let them off again while they are struggling-or they will know it works!



* for quieter ones, and I did this with Grenadier this morning-let him walk around with the rope attached-encourage them to walk round, stop and give them a scratch-learn there is a resistance to where they want to go. These can be the danger ones! You think they are quiet and suddenly they have an outburst when you least expect it!



* when leading don't wrap the rope around your hand, in case you suddenly get pulled over, hold the loose rope in one hand and lead with the other. If training to lead for shows, always lead from the animals left side.


If you are starting with smaller animals than ours, say dairy type calves, Highlands or Dexters, they are much easier to move around and prevent them going where you don't want them, but in most cases they will still be heavier and stronger than you!

Don't EVER let them get away from you by pulling, putting their heads down and running. If you do it is asking for future trouble as they will try it on every time. Every step you take it should be to minimise escape and trauma (for both!) and to progress steadily to a calm beast who is happy to be groomed, tied up, moved around and handled.

For bulls and heifers I always handle them between and down the legs and their udders/testicles at this early point, and they will just love being washed-apart from water in their ears(!) This stands them in good stead for being milked, or measured or clipped for showing and I rarely have an animal which kicks-which I believe is a result of them accepting being touched everywhere, at an early age.

[Stu_R]

they doing well so far
How did Dahlia's girl go ? .. she was fine at Manawatu show

[Sue]

Too wet to do anything today Stu!
Dahlia is an old campaigner, we don't need to do much with her to remind her- just little Gala will need a few reminders and try a nose clip now she is a bit bigger!

[Stu_R]

i knew Dahlia would be fine
I still think Gala will be to .. as she was ok with even me handling and leading her at Manawatu show
Dahlia i think she remembered me from the Grove overnight and was fine with me .. she always is though

[Sue]

Day 4, but actually day 6 since we started, because it has been too wet to muck about in the yards, since Thursday!

Today we only concentrated on Grevillia330 the heifer and Grenadier 333, and let the other two bulls just have a walk through and a tie up in the race.

Grevillia had her first walk out on the rope-she did a few somersaults and was not at all fussed about being tied up in the yards.
At this stage it can be a bit scary-for both handler and calf! While you are trying to shorten up the rope and tie them safely they can be inclined to pull back and then suddenly rear and lunge forward-if you are between them and the fence it can be a squashing experience-especially when they are this weight!
She did a spectacular leap-once tied, and fell with a thump on her side-she didn't try that trick again.


333 did a few pulls and lunge forwards, but was more settled. I note I have left his rope too long in the photo, I later retied him up higher, the danger is they can get a leg over and get tangled up. At the start you actually have difficulty getting them close enough to both yourself and the fence to tie them short enough!

We left them tied up for about and hour and had a cup of coffee-when we came back they were like this!

Got Dahlias daughter Gala in for a reminder lesson

-I left her standing like this while I took a photo of Grevillia who had just done the spectacular fall. She was slightly reluctant to lead-but very calm, and didn't run away when I let go the rope. Back on Nov 6th she went to a show after a weeks training-but then she was under 100kgs and I could push her around.

[Ashlee]

Great reading, Cheers.

[FarmerEms]

Sue - Quick Q, how would you go about haltering our Highlands? They have both had halters on them before, but not with us, and since they're still kind of new and a bit spooky at times i'm a bit hesitant to try it out in fear of them either barging me over or running off and then not being able to get the halter off...?

[Stu_R]

FarmerEms .. i would say the same way Sue is doing the calves .. and in the yards like they do for first few times
Horns do make a diff though ( not that they intentionally use them , just that they can get ya accidently when they spook )
if you notice ... all Sue's trainning is done in race/crush and then in their yards
I have a slight advantage as i know their yards and how its set up