Training an feeding question, before or after

Ours are on pasture 24/7. They are bribed to the barn twice a day with a small treat. Once before work and once after. They get at least one training session a day or two when my time allows. Make sure their needs are meet before training. Food water or flies. If you don’t they will be distracted. If you feed or water them only after training they will become barn sour. Training sessions don’t need to be long. In fact when they are young it is better if they aren’t. It is more important that they are trained regularly. At the moment I take them maybe a little over a hundred yards and turn around and go back to the barn. Then keep going ten yards or so past the barn the other way before finally returning to the barn so they don’t get barn sour.

Being a person of varying routine, my calves/steers also have a variable routine. Sometimes it was after morning feed as Vicki described and sometimes it was before evening chores. If it was before evening chores I would work them pass the barn as much as needed to make sure that I had their attention and not the person feeding the beef animals. This was not very often, but was a nice challenge to work through and changed things up a little once they were more handy. I was not always able to work them everyday, but I made sure that every time I feed them that they yield to me and back up before they receive their feed dish. This is an almost an automatic response now, I say almost because how I feed them has changed some since moving to VT. Since chores in VT are modeled in a manner for regular draft animal use on the farm, now they always eat first thing and are ready for work if the weather and ground conditions permit.

The “Silver Bullet” is what you find to work for you. Every teamster has his or her own experiences and reasoning for what they do. Every teamster and every animal is different so some details don’t work for everybody. Even my dad and I are a little different. My dad and uncle where as different as night and day. Your routine will always be evolving. A lot in the beginning and less and less as you get more experience but never quit looking for a better way to do things. The best thing to do is to pick as many brains and ask as many questions as you can. Find out how they do things and why. If it makes sense to you then try it and if it works well then keep it in your routine. Drew Conroy’s and Ray Ludwig’s books should both be considered as required reading. However there are many many little details or nuances that you will never be able to pick up without watching another teamster. Since you are in Indiana anyway the MODA gathering this summer in Kalamazoo MI would be a great place to get ideas. If you watch you will see that no two teamsters are exactly the same.

It makes sense to think of draft animals as athletes. They are utilizing their bodies to do more than your average steer. I can even see the neck and shoulder development on my working steers as compared to the other steers. I don’t grain my steers right now but I can see getting them some oats once they are really pulling. I have tried to give them grain but they don’t seem interested in it that much. Which I find strange because the goats are always ready to eat grain.

I try and think like an athletic trainer when working my steers as well; with work periods and rest periods. I think that with time the feeding can be fine tuned just like a pro athlete.

Training begins as soon as the animal drops out of the cow’s vulva and continues non-stop until the day you realize, the ox has surpassed you. Outdoor training should happen like youwould between meals. Train often, but not in long durations.

Carmen