Yoke Sizes for Calves?

Everyone trains a little different, but basically if they are old enough to walk you can start training. With that said a you should have realistic expectations for a 3 day old calf vs. 3 months vs. 3 years. Start slow with the animals as singles with a halter, lead and switch and keep it simple, come-up and whoa at first, adding commands and more time to lessons as they progress and get older. A five inch yoke is a reasonable size to start with and can be made from a 4×4 and conduit. You can start yoking at a few weeks of age as long as each calf knows the basic commands. This is very general, but I am just a beginner myself with a back round in horses also. There will always be a place in my life for horses, but I own a pair of steers now and have a much greater fondness and respect for working cattle and their teamsters than I used to.

I made a 4 inch yoke with PVC bows easily the first time, mine are HolstienXJersey. A simple fir or pine 4×4 is light enough that they just get used to walking together, but don’t have to carry any real weight. I spent a lot of time in halters getting them used to walking side by side before introducing the yoke, and was suprised at how easily they took to it. Have fun with the calves and get ready to spend tons of time with them.

For my 4″ yoke I used 3/4 inch pvc, because it has an outside diameter of about an inch. It was easier to drill a 1 inch hole through the 4×4. The trick to bending the pvc is to fill it with dry sand. This allows you bend it without collapsing the tube. Plug the ends and heat it outside over a fire or cook stove, the pvc will fume. Be careful not to burn the plastic and heat till they are noodle limp. bend around a four inch mold and they will cool quickly into shape. I have done the same with my five inch yoke but I used 1 inch pvc that is about a 1 1/2 inch hole. It works great but someday I’ll have to bend some wooden bows.