Post by karintom on Feb 2, 2009 0:38:03 GMT -5
Hello,
Newbies here. We've utilized wisdom from all of you a few times already, regarding two unrelated cows we've had about a month. This posting refers to the younger of the two, 18 months, we will try breeding her in a few months (unless we decide she's freezer material). We are in the process of trying to halter train her. At this point, we've got a halter on her, and leave it on her most of the time, as it's mostly a wrestling match to get the halter on her once it's off. My husband works with her about 3 times a week, leads her around, puts her in the milking stall (stall only, not a stanchion), brushes her, and tries to groom belly area, towards udder. He's having a few problems. First, any time he does get near her udder, she kicks. She get a good holler, sometimes a smack to the side when she kicks at him. She also tried kicking at him this evening when trying to put halter on- she pulled away, turned body around, and gave a good swing. In milking stall, there are times when she decides she's had enough, and though she is tied to a post with a lead, she tries to climb over or under the stall. In general, the leading part is going better, though the size and strength of my husband is part of it. I don't have the courage to try leading her around. And she's sometimes pushy. She tries to push you around with her nonexistent horns. Husband doesn't stand for it- yells and hits at her if she does it. She just scares me for this reason, so I'm not trying at this point.
So- what to do besides a good wallop for bad behavior, like kicking or head butt? I'm assuming giving her a hit is not going to make trusting, calm animal, but we need some advice on what to do instead. Are we expecting too much regarding behavior? Any advice on kicking or head butting in these beginning stages?
And I'm thinking the milking stall is inadequate for us for training purposes. Perhaps we need more of a stanchion type system to get her to be more confined so that we're not having issues with head butting or kicking?
We're so frustrated with this one... we're thinking she may end up in the freezer instead of giving us milk. Thoughts or suggestions?
Newbies here. We've utilized wisdom from all of you a few times already, regarding two unrelated cows we've had about a month. This posting refers to the younger of the two, 18 months, we will try breeding her in a few months (unless we decide she's freezer material). We are in the process of trying to halter train her. At this point, we've got a halter on her, and leave it on her most of the time, as it's mostly a wrestling match to get the halter on her once it's off. My husband works with her about 3 times a week, leads her around, puts her in the milking stall (stall only, not a stanchion), brushes her, and tries to groom belly area, towards udder. He's having a few problems. First, any time he does get near her udder, she kicks. She get a good holler, sometimes a smack to the side when she kicks at him. She also tried kicking at him this evening when trying to put halter on- she pulled away, turned body around, and gave a good swing. In milking stall, there are times when she decides she's had enough, and though she is tied to a post with a lead, she tries to climb over or under the stall. In general, the leading part is going better, though the size and strength of my husband is part of it. I don't have the courage to try leading her around. And she's sometimes pushy. She tries to push you around with her nonexistent horns. Husband doesn't stand for it- yells and hits at her if she does it. She just scares me for this reason, so I'm not trying at this point.
So- what to do besides a good wallop for bad behavior, like kicking or head butt? I'm assuming giving her a hit is not going to make trusting, calm animal, but we need some advice on what to do instead. Are we expecting too much regarding behavior? Any advice on kicking or head butting in these beginning stages?
And I'm thinking the milking stall is inadequate for us for training purposes. Perhaps we need more of a stanchion type system to get her to be more confined so that we're not having issues with head butting or kicking?
We're so frustrated with this one... we're thinking she may end up in the freezer instead of giving us milk. Thoughts or suggestions?