[Vinnie]

Thank you, Anne. I sometimes do not check my email because things start getting busy early in the deep South, so sorry for the delay. I appreciate your advice. Also Majorfordson, I’m not sure about giving up. I have changed around the way I deal with him. I feed him in a spot where he is separated from me. I can easily attach a lead to secure him. Then I enter the field and brush him, remove any ticks, and handle him. He has calmed down quite a bit, but I think it’s because I don’t try to lead him. It is really frustrating for me because I am not one to give up on an animal, but he was becoming dangerously aggressive. I want to try to lead him again, but Anne, I don’t know how you can simply ignore a thousand pounds of head butt. I really also would not try to frolic with a large, aggressive animal. I have never seen him frolic with other animals. He is as serious as a heart attack. Quite different from other cattle I’ve had. One would think he hadn’t been denuttered. He is growing rapidly and has gone from 300lbs to 1000lbs in eight months. I don’t know how. His sire was 2500lbs. Yet, he is such a loving animal when I am on the other side of the fence. He puts his big head on my shoulder and licks my face. He begs to be scratched. I will try again and let you know how it goes.

[Vinnie]

Thank you. I wish I had known that earlier. You saved me from getting more useless animals. I checked my Brahman for a whorl because I never noticed it before. Well, it is less prominent because of the very short hair, but yes, he does have one very high up on the forehead. It seems that this is true.
There are also Holstein/Jersey crosses in my area, but while I enjoyed my gentle Jersey milk cow, I thought the steers were too nervous. Living in the deep south there are less good oxen breeds available at a reasonable cost. Thanks again for your advice.

[Vinnie]

Thank you all. Crabapple Farm, you make some good points. He doesn’t fear me, because he allows me to groom him all over. He never tries to kick and he lets me touch his face and scratch his neck. I wonder if he is feeling discomfort because of his growing horns. Does that happen? He is a year old now, but they are just now starting to bud out. I have tried punching his nose, and that did surprise him. He responds to “back” when I bring a bucket of feed, so he isn’t violent. Yet he is only about 800 lbs. When he grows to his full size, a head butt could be indeed dangerous (my grown bull was 2500 lbs, but he was really gentle). I will ask the vet about a nose ring.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Vinnie]

Thank you Erika. I have considered the tractor, but some people have actually lost cattle to that trick because they panic. I don’t want to make him too shy, but I have considered a cattle prod for the head butting. It really is a shame because I was so determined to have a replacement for my beloved Brahma bull. He died in the spring. He was 15.
I might go ahead and try to get a pair of younger steer for working. I just hate to give up.

[Author]

Posts