Kicking cows!

JayinNY · Mar 12, 2012

How many have cows on tie stalls that kick? My father in law had surgery so I'm taking care of his beefs, he has 4 calfs less than a year old, and the bull kicks everytime I walk behind him, kicked the shovel full of sawdust all over the place, I wacked
him once, but he dosent learn. I try talking to them in a soft voice, but nothing. My other friend got kicked by one of his dads cows and he wacked it with the pitchfork about 8 times! A little to much I thought, but then again his hand swelled up from the kick, how does everyone deal with kickers?

Wheat Farmer · Mar 12, 2012

Sale Barn.

oldtanker · Mar 12, 2012

(quoted from post at 14:55:37 03/12/12) How many have cows on tie stalls that kick? My father in law had surgery so I'm taking care of his beefs, he has 4 calfs less than a year old, and the bull kicks everytime I walk behind him, kicked the shovel full of sawdust all over the place, I wacked
him once, but he dosent learn. I try talking to them in a soft voice, but nothing. My other friend got kicked by one of his dads cows and he wacked it with the pitchfork about 8 times! A little to much I thought, but then again his hand swelled up from the kick, how does everyone deal with kickers?

I eat em, best revenge there is for ornery cows!

Rick

gregger · Mar 12, 2012

dont walk so damm close + a stranger has them a lil spooky , they dont know ur smell or ur voice , ware one of his old coats , dont talk , have no dogs around , and dont walk so close

rrlund · Mar 12, 2012

Beef cattle in tie stalls? Turn'em loose. Don't know why they'd be in tie stalls anyway. Had a lot of trouble with cows kicking when we milked,but a "can't kick clamp" took care of them.

supergrumpy · Mar 12, 2012

be wary

farmer 2 lots over got kicked below the belt, cows foot pinned his testicles against a steel post, squashed them buggers flat

not a bit funny to him, he spent many days in the hospital

rustred · Mar 12, 2012

the ornary milk cows used to get the kickers put on them. its a device that clamps on the back legs with a chain you tighten and they cant kick you. its just that some like to lift their leg and spill the milk pail, those not really that ornary i guess.
but the beef cows you would not want to try that .

JayinNY · Mar 12, 2012

Tell me about it, beef inside?? Hes 81 and brings them in every winter, mine stay out! His barn is very small but I try to walk as far away as i can. The older cows know me, so there fine, but the calfs just met me! I agree with the other guy eat em or sell em, he had 4 last year that were so nutty he sold them.

bison · Mar 12, 2012

(quoted from post at 15:22:01 03/12/12) Beef cattle in tie stalls? Turn'em loose. Don't know why they'd be in tie stalls anyway. Had a lot of trouble with cows kicking when we milked,but a "can't kick clamp" took care of them.

I second that

donjr · Mar 12, 2012

Why not put them in a free pen or a yarding area? The kicking is more defensive than vindictive. All beating does is bruise the meat and makes them harder to handle because they fear being hit again. Calves will let out a kick much quicker than you can react, too. It's like a coil spring and you can't see it coming. So, stay clear of the hind quarters for a start. And as they get used to you, the reactions will lessen.

JayinNY · Mar 12, 2012

Yes i try to scrape down far enought away, then walk in front of them instead of behind them. Iv been up there in the winter over the last 9 years, but these ones are the worst.

WJD · Mar 12, 2012

We always tied their head with a halter and put a rope around one back leg. If they kicked with the other one the cow fell down.

37chief · Mar 12, 2012

Ouch. Stan

Bruce from Can. · Mar 12, 2012

Soft words,gentle touch,and good feed. If you whack them , they will remember, and next time they see you coming they think they'er going to get another whack.

Old Timer in Ohio · Mar 12, 2012

When I was younger (about 75 yrs. ago), they used to put "kickers" on the cows that kicked more than usual. The kickers were made of a short (about 1 ft.) piece of chain, with clips to slip over the legs at each end. The cows couldn't kick without ending on their butts, they learned real quick!!!
Bob
God Bless

cole in mo. · Mar 12, 2012

I learned two things about cows at an early age, #1 if you get in front of them you get run over, #2, if you get behind them you get kicked.

farmerjohn · Mar 12, 2012

They always taste the best as hamburg.

Dean Olson · Mar 12, 2012

Had horses like that as a kid. Dad built the stall such that we could slide a 4x4 in after they went in. They won't kick that board more that about once. After that we would use a 2x4 if we had one we didn't trust but most would never kick again.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 13, 2012

not cows and not always kicking, but the horses can get a little pushy if they think you'll let them. If you want to "train" anything, there is one basic formula...

any action needs an immediate (quick as you can bat an eye) reaction.

You are proving the point because you are telling us how they have trained you.

Carry a buggy whim or prod and as soon as one starts to kick, give it a good sting (not a love tap) across that hip. Won't take long. Horses know that there is 3ft of space that they don't come in with me unless I close it myself. If they forget, they get whatever I have in my hand on the part that invaded the space. Bein a nice guy got me two real good and nasty bites from the stallion and gets an adjustment just for laying an ear back when near someone. New stallion watches the old one and learns from his mistakes :roll: . Result is a real good relationship with an occassional adjustment when they forget.
Babies get the same treatment (scaled to fit) from day 1 cause little hooves hurt just as bad as biguns.....

Anonymous-0 · Mar 13, 2012

Give them a wide berth.worked so far,

JRSutton · Mar 13, 2012

I'm removing all steel posts within a 1000 foot radius of my cows.

JRSutton · Mar 13, 2012

I don't do a lot of beef cows, so not an expert but - pretty much any bull I'd just stay clear of and not try to fight him too much. Bulls are bulls, and even if you could somehow train him not to kick, you can't trust a bull. Treat him like you would a loaded gun.

I've seen guys try and beat it out of the animal, to each his own, but that's just not my way. In my opinion, just stay away from him. If you need to be up close and personal with him, get him into a rack.

Heifers I always come in as much from the side as I can and tap them on the butt (from a good distance) and talk to them, let them know you're coming. 99.9% of kicking is from surprising them, and it's fairly easy to surprise them.

And what gets most people is that they can swing their legs out pretty far to the side to get you.

jackinok · Mar 13, 2012

simple,stay out from behind them!!!IF you have one that you absolutly HAVE to for some reason break from kicking,what we used to do a hundred years ago with a ox was simply wire a short chain on its tail!it will soon learn. kickers on a milkcow works.

mkirsch · Mar 13, 2012

I dunno, I've always had better luck beating it out of them than trying to make nice. If they think they're going to get whacked again, they usually freeze.

You might call that animal cruelty, but take a few shots in the face, a couple in the sack, and have them step on your toes a few times... It won't seem so cruel anymore.

Besides, they're made of leather...

I've seen them kick right through those "Can't Kick" devices. One even snapped one of those things clean off.

Usually when you're friendly with a cow they think you want to play, and they will try to put you through the nearest cinder block wall.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 13, 2012

Ship it.

Mike (WA) · Mar 13, 2012

Yeah, we had a pair of those when we were milking (Dad called them "hobbles"), but I could never figure out how to get them on without getting killed. . .

buickanddeere · Mar 13, 2012

We had a horned devil of an Airshire cow. Great milker but absolutely mean. Took a few sessions of a heavy club over the head and nose but she got the idea and would stand still with pure evil in her eyes. Needed a tune up every 4-6 weeks as she would lift a foot to kick the milker.. She didn't notice me different from Dad until I had the milker almost on her one day then she went wild. I Didn't have to hit twice as she discovered the same rules applied. Then again nobody had ever hit her hard enough before to leave her dozing on the floor .That hard head ruined a perfectly good club too.My Mother could not hang the milker on her unless Dad or myself stood guard.

Tony in Mass. · Mar 13, 2012

I was going to leave this alone. But holy cow. Some comments make someone think they either never been near livestock, or should never be near them.
First off. Is there dogs involved in this? I helped one guy with dogs yapping all over, nipping at the heals as they came in, they ALL kicked like mules, if they weren't needing to be milked, they would split the scene for sure. Another fellow had no dogs in or out. Kept the herd in all winter, so they all needed to be clipped. 100 head, only one kicker, she had pink eye and blind in both eyes, so really high strung. Everyone else stood there and took it like girl wanting a new hair do.
Your beefers tied up like that got to see you as much every day as a milker. That's the only way they will ...act like a milk cow.
That bull is a different animal than the rest, but it might be the sound- or fear- of the shovel. Especially since he can't see what you are doing back there. Get a plastic snow shovel and just scoop and toss the new bedding, while you talk to him.
I found cows aren't like horses, they didn't grow up with people poking with their feet all the time. Kicking can be just a reflex of the shovel hitting the hoof when scrapping, like, they have an instinct to react to something bugging their feet. That reminds me of all the people in the now dried up gofer hole free zone. I never met a cow that ever stepped in on or near anything suspicious. They take care of their feet better than most humans.
Or, get a big iron pipe and clobber every one of them every day.

Kicking cows!

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