a stubborn heifer

I got a 9 month old blanck angus heifer that I'm trying to move out of the herd, and she's really trying my patience. Five of us spent Saturday afternoon trying to get her penned up in the corner of the pasture, and she's not going for it. We got her cornered once, and when I pulled the corral panels around her, she rammed into the panels and dragged them back into the pasture, with me trying to hold them back (didn't have them chained to the gate pole, my fault.) We put the panels back and tried again, and she eventually jumped thru a 4-stand HT fence, then over an ATV to get back to the wooded pasture.

I moved 4 steer calves last weekend without a problem by moving the herd through the corner gate and into a paddock where I have a temporary alley and squeeze chute. She wouldn't follow the herd into there then either, but now it's just gotten worse. If I can get her into the squeeze chute, then I can get her in the trailer and off to another pasture, to be butchered next year.

Any ideas on how I can coax this ornery little SOB into a corral? Prime alfalfa and feed aren't working. It's like she's convinced that she will be dead if she goes through that gate. When we push her, instead of going to the corner and standing there, she turns and runs back at us. Her momma is in the herd, but she appears to have been weaned off of her on her own. The bull is still in the herd, so I'd like to get her out soon before I have an extra calf this fall.

One way I found in my old crippled age handling cattle/calves is to build a creep feed pen that the calves get accustomed to going into to eat hay or feed. Then when I want to catch them and they're in the pen I drive up in my truck and close the GATE. Feed works wonders with livestock.

Its going to take some time now that she is spooked. I would setup those coral panels out there and put the feed inside them. Good luck getting the gate closed... maybe a long rope. When you get her loaded it would be good to take her to town.

Had one a couple of years ago that we had to shoot in the pasture and butcher cause we could not load her.

Loren,

I've had a cow/calf operation for 12 years. I have no advice for you whatsoever, but I'd just say stick with it. Personally, I've had virtually no luck trying to lure cows with feed if they don't want to go with you.

I've had some ornery cows over the years, but none as bad as what you're dealing with.

Good luck. I know you'll work it out one way or another.

Tom in TN

Not knowing exactly what you've got for facilities, but assuming some of it's board fencing or something tougher than HT, I'd just leave her alone and start feeding the rest inside the boarded area. Don't push her, or try try chase her for a few weeks. Just ignore her. Try to notice when she starts moving into your corral area with the rest, however. After she gets comfortable again, lay a trap gate with a rope to it and a blind to hide someone at the other end to latch the gate after she enters the pen area. The blind can be as simple as afew bales of hay at a strategic location near the latching mechanism, but something to conceal a warm body from sight. Without spooking her, feed the rest of the herd, and wait until she moves in, then use the rope to shut the gate from the blind.

My next suggestion would be to load her on a trailer immediately and send her to the auction, or the butcher shop. But get rid of her. She'll never completely change, and will always be a pain to handle and dangerous to be around. We had one that way a few years ago, and she went over and broke several gates and fences trying to corral her in decent facilities. I thought she was part deer. I finally got her in with several others headed to the auction, and she was the first to run down the chute and jumped in to the trailer. By the time she realized where she was, it was too late- the others were also following her and entering the trailer. She later tried to climb out of the auction ring, and kicked the trailer sides all the way to the auction. All I can say, is GOOD LUCK!!!!

Panel gates are no match for a heifer that wants to be on the other side bad enough and Angus blood seems to make them wilder too. You will need to either out build her ability to jump or collect her with a rifle. I have done both. I built a chute made of solid logs with a roof and drop gates that finally caught her. By the time she gave up trying to tear it apart she was bleeding from both nostrils. After that the wild ones stopped a bullet with their brain and went to the freezer. Perhaps you can find a vet with a tranquizer gun.

Promise her that you ain't going to eat her.

Just gonna have to let her calm down. Feed them in a secure area that WILL be strong enough to hold her,then just wait her out.

Surely you've got some neighbors who are into team roping(or any kind of roping really)? Call a couple up and offer a bit of "free practice".

A couple cowboys with good horses could have her roped and pulled into a trailer in just a few minutes with the only damage being to her pride. We do it all the time out here.

Aside from the good suggestions regarding feed and patience, about the only thing I can add is to remember they're herd animals and will always be easier to move in a group. When you get one like that isolated, that's when they cooperate the least.... Good luck!

Yesterday she would start walking for the woods as soon as she saw me, but by last evening she was eating with the cows again when I fed them some feed and hay, so it seems that she's starting to settle down a bit.

I think my best chance is to keep moving the cows thru the paddock and into the other pasture, until she's comfortable moving with them. Then maybe try setting up a creep feeder? I'd love to have someone just drop her with a tranquilizer gun so I could put her in the trailer and get her to the othr pasture. maybe I'll check with the vet. Once I get her moved to my parent's place, she won't be leaving there until it's in the butcher's truck next January. I just don't want her to get bred by the bull before I get her moved. How many months old before a heifer can get pregnant?

One thing that I learned is that it is easier to wean and move the calves at 6 months than 9 months. I figured I would save myself some trouble this year by waiting until the yearlings were butchered, so I wouldn't have to run a separate calf pen. Thought it would be easier since the 9 month olds seemed to have quit nursing on their own. Live and learn.

As has already been said..........cowboys; tranquilizer gun; feed/patience. The feed and patience might take MONTHS. If I ever got her in a pen, I'd put her on the road right then..........

(quoted from post at 14:15:58 02/27/12)
How many months old before a heifer can get pregnant?

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A few years back I had to have a Vet cut a calf out of a heifer that was 17 months of age.

On the catching with feed:
Back when I keep yearlings on the gain I've trapped with the aid of feed some East Texas Piney woods cross-bred Brahman steers that weighed about 750-800#s.
There's one disclaimer.: the person catching them has to be smarter than the cattle but they can be caught.

At 9 months old you could be too late taking her away from the bull. We calve milking Holsteins at 18 months!.
You do the sums. difficult cattle are usually handled here with a good dog, but sometimes the dog has to retreat into the pen first!
Sam

we grow the stubborn ones on the red river here--every once in awhile we will see the one that got away..My best advice is to gather them up in a herd-usually make a pass once a day-honk the horn.and give them just enough cake to keep em interested..I have had to replace the horn six or seven times since I bought the current feed truck...a couple of cowboys on horses work if you need the devil beast loaded today.

dont know if it will help much ,but the easiest way to work cattle,any cattle, day in and day out,is to catch them ALL then let loose what you dont want.Unless you have a good cutting horse,and lots of times even then,trying to catch one out of the herd will do nothing but eventually get you hurt.MY advice to you and anyone else.Spend the money now ,that you will spend on dr bills later,and build you some cattle working pens.Honestly,with the proper pens one man can work more cattle in a days time than 20 could otherwise.And heres another tip,take those portable corrral panels stack them up out of the way and forget them!they will get you killed!!!they are regardless of what ANYONE tells you not made to simply stand up together,they are made to be placed between solid posts.they are portable only in that you have your posts in different places and move the panels as you set up pens.by haveing posts between those panels you can expand your pens,move gates etc as needed,thats all.If you ever run on to a truly MEAN bull or cow,one that quite honestly out to get you, not get a feed sack from you,it wont take but about one minute to figure out the difference in a real pen and one of those.youve just seen what a scared little heifer will do with one,a really mean cow or bull will go through them like a semitruck and not even slow down.Most folks have never really seen a mean cow,the think ones mean if it blows a little snot on you,but a truly mean cow will attack you anytime anywhere it gets a chance,you dont have to provoke it,and its not fooling around it means to if at all possible kill you..odd thing is you can raise cattle in the same herd for years and never have one, and them all the sudden a crazy one will turn up, when it does you better be ready to shoot it,or have a pen thats built to hold it.youve got to wait for that heifer to settle down anyway,spend the time setting some posts.once you get her loaded take her to town,use that money to pay for your pens.

Sound familiar to me, I had some just like you explained. They are all gone now and I have Herfords. A lot esier to handle. In my opinion the only diff. between angus and deer is the color. They are always Wild.My 2 cents

10-4 on the Herefords. Life's too short to waste on mean people or mean cattle...

A shot of lute will take care of her if you fear she's been bred. Course you got to get close enough to give her the shot... :?

My hands-on cattle experience is over fifty years old but I have always thought that dairy heifers came into heat at a younger age than beef.

Why would you want to have that animal around another year so you could make her bigger and stronger before you try to catch her again?

I recommend a high-powered rifle. It's what we had to do with one last cow after my dad passed on. She wouldn't get within two hundred yards, of man, horse, dog, or ATV.

Our neighbor had his steers get out one time and they tried everything to get them rounded up. They got all but a few and after a couple weeks they were getting more and more wild finally one neighboring dairy farmer let him use his "Peterson" feeder on wheels that had headlocks built into it and caught the last few steers

I'm learning about the panels. It was a wakeup call when she took me and three of the panels down the hill on Sat. Those light 10' panels get slapped around pretty fast when they decide they've had enough. I had the bull go under them two years ago when I tried getting him in the chute for vaccinating. Haven't tried since. I move him to his own pasture and back by myself. He's easy-going as long as I work him slow and don't push him. Anyone else than me on the yard and he gets nervous. My herd is Lowline black angus, so overall they are pretty docile, and smaller to work with.

Overall the cows are pretty gentle to work with, BY MYSELF though. Found out over a year ago when vaccinating that having people help just got them worked up and wrecking stuff. I set up panels and a sweep gate on a post to work them into the squeeze chute. They balked at the shoot and bent up the panels, etc. A real mess.

Now the last time I nnalert the cows in November, I did them all myself in a lot less time and no problems (didn't attempt the bull though.) I lured them all with the calves into a paneled area, moved the bull back out, then set the headgate to automatic and started moving them into the alley one by one. The little troublemaker heifer even went thru without a problem, but I guess I must have tramatized her somehow.

I hear ya on the panels. I can't put in any posts until the ground thaws, but in the Spring I'm planning on building a good holding pen, sweep, and alley with treated posts and oak planks.

not sure what your confinement arrangement is but have you tryed to capture her with several others at the same time?? When handling dairy cattle, they seem to go where you want them better as a group, then let individuals go until you have the one you want.

take a serious look at one of those round squeeze pens .they are the best thing for working cattle thats come out in while.we built ours and i wouldnt take for it now.used to have crowd gates with gates you had to latch behind cattle,so if you had a bad one and were swinging the gate forward they could run over you.with a solid swing panel on those new ones the simply wont swing back.makes pushing them far easier and safer.Do a search on net for cattle working pen plans theres some good ones out there and alot of general info on working cattle in pens that lots of folks ,even ones that have done it all their lives dont really think of.

I agree with the other posts, when you get her on a trailer take her to the sale or have her butchered if that's your pleasure. I would make sure she has just one trailer ride,

Cows go into a pen because of feed, salt, or water. They also go in if the pen is a traffic way between pastures. The last load of cows I got out of one pasture went this way: one heifer jumped the corral fence. I added corral panels, old gates and whatever to get that section of the corralfence 6 1/2 feet tall or higher. I parked the trailer at the end of the chute so they would get use to it(unhooked truck and blocked trailer up, no way was I going to leave my truck in a remote pasture, didn't like leaving homemade trailer) The chute is curved so the cows won't see the end. There is a cutting gate half way down which I left open so they would get in the habit of going down the chute. I tried several times to get the heifer in the pen, closing the cutting gate which directed the cows down the chute where the trailer was. Finally got all the cows(4 head) in the pen, ran to the gate, the tamer ones were already on the way down the chute and the wild one followed them on to the trailer. That was their first and last trailer trip.

KEH

A good saddle horse and a catch rope and I will load her by myself. Enough hassles and they look for the trailer door. 2 of us did that with a bull one time and just about didn't get the ropes loose in time.
Bud

We had one like that once, my dad never lost his temper, just went and got the 30-30! She came into the yard swinging from the front end loader on the M, and straight to the processing plant.