Post by Tamara on Feb 8, 2017 21:37:06 GMT -5
I am so disheartened and puzzled about Nimue's issue with kicking She has been doing it since she was little, but for no apparent reason. It got worse as she reached around 6 months old - at that time I tried working with her each day with the 'glove on a stick' method but several weeks later I had made no progress and felt that I was only instilling a kicking response in her rather than the opposite, so I decided to just leave her be and work on building general trust and a good manners. I thought with time and maturity she would get over it.
She's now going on 14 months old, my bull Fred has returned from his lease and I hope to get her bred soon. My plan is to sell her once she is bred so I decided it's time to start her training again.
Time did not help the kicking and I feel like I've made barely any progress in stopping it over the last couple of weeks She will kick in response to touching around her lower flank, udder, inner thighs and sometimes her back legs. They are not warning kicks or swipes, but well-aimed hard kicks.
The only improvement is that she now seems to enjoy scratches around her tailhead (which she used to hate) and if I am careful, start at her butt and maintain steady pressure, I can usually stroke down her back legs.
Every time I think I've made progress, the next day she's back to kicking. Eg. the other day she let me scratch her udder and inner thighs without kicking! The next day... scratching resulted in a kicking fit and she would only accept the curry comb, and her udder was totally off-limits.
I work with her in the stanchion, with a leg rope on, but she is very flexible and she can still kick sideways, as the big purple-yellow bruise on my hip proves :\
Starting in the areas she likes being brushed and working my way down doesn't help.
I can't figure it out. She is so friendly in every other way. She loves neck scratches and kisses on the nose, sleeps with her head in my lap, I can halter her, she walks straight into the stanchion on her own. I knew when I bought her that one day I would either use her a house cow myself or sell her as one, so from day 1 I worked on making her as quiet and friendly as possible. As a calf I'd touch her all over, hold her head, rub down her legs etc. It worked great for the most part but before long the kicking started. She also always hated her mum licking her rump or back legs while nursing so she'd kick.
I know what it ISN'T caused by:
It's not fear... she isn't afraid of me, the stanchion, the glove-on-a-stick, or the curry comb. She doesn't show any fear response or poo or pee.
It's not because she's generally aggressive. She can be a little bratty as most young heifers are - sometimes she tries to headbutt but it's in a playful manner and I always tell her off and she stops. She's a pain to lead but we're working on that and again, it's just her being bratty. She stands tied near the stanchion while I milk without objection.
It's not overly sensitive skin because she seems to prefer firmer pressure and scratches over light touching.
I will keep persisting but I feel terrible about it, like I went horribly wrong at some point and somehow caused this habit. I'm also afraid that I will never be able to sell her as a house cow like her mother. Personally I would never work with her without a leg rope on and honestly at this point I would not consider milking her.
She's now going on 14 months old, my bull Fred has returned from his lease and I hope to get her bred soon. My plan is to sell her once she is bred so I decided it's time to start her training again.
Time did not help the kicking and I feel like I've made barely any progress in stopping it over the last couple of weeks She will kick in response to touching around her lower flank, udder, inner thighs and sometimes her back legs. They are not warning kicks or swipes, but well-aimed hard kicks.
The only improvement is that she now seems to enjoy scratches around her tailhead (which she used to hate) and if I am careful, start at her butt and maintain steady pressure, I can usually stroke down her back legs.
Every time I think I've made progress, the next day she's back to kicking. Eg. the other day she let me scratch her udder and inner thighs without kicking! The next day... scratching resulted in a kicking fit and she would only accept the curry comb, and her udder was totally off-limits.
I work with her in the stanchion, with a leg rope on, but she is very flexible and she can still kick sideways, as the big purple-yellow bruise on my hip proves :\
Starting in the areas she likes being brushed and working my way down doesn't help.
I can't figure it out. She is so friendly in every other way. She loves neck scratches and kisses on the nose, sleeps with her head in my lap, I can halter her, she walks straight into the stanchion on her own. I knew when I bought her that one day I would either use her a house cow myself or sell her as one, so from day 1 I worked on making her as quiet and friendly as possible. As a calf I'd touch her all over, hold her head, rub down her legs etc. It worked great for the most part but before long the kicking started. She also always hated her mum licking her rump or back legs while nursing so she'd kick.
I know what it ISN'T caused by:
It's not fear... she isn't afraid of me, the stanchion, the glove-on-a-stick, or the curry comb. She doesn't show any fear response or poo or pee.
It's not because she's generally aggressive. She can be a little bratty as most young heifers are - sometimes she tries to headbutt but it's in a playful manner and I always tell her off and she stops. She's a pain to lead but we're working on that and again, it's just her being bratty. She stands tied near the stanchion while I milk without objection.
It's not overly sensitive skin because she seems to prefer firmer pressure and scratches over light touching.
I will keep persisting but I feel terrible about it, like I went horribly wrong at some point and somehow caused this habit. I'm also afraid that I will never be able to sell her as a house cow like her mother. Personally I would never work with her without a leg rope on and honestly at this point I would not consider milking her.