G 6 aggressive unmanageable cow

[sas778]

I bought a cow sight-unseen from hundreds of miles away about 2 months ago. She is a milking devon and was promised to be a well-mannered cow, halter-broken, used to being tied and hand-milked daily, etc. I bought her dry. She is due to calve this month.

When she got here, she was posturing very aggressively with her head, swinging her horns at me and charging me, although she never came terribly close when she did run at me. I did not want to take her horns off because it is such a breed thing for them to have horns, but I felt very unsafe around her and so I had the vet cut them off (with sedative, nerve block, etc). The vet did a beautiful job and they are healing well.

Last night she got out of her pasture and went a couple of miles. I was lucky enough that she ended up on the property of a really helpful guy who has western-style horses and does team-roping instead of on a McMansion lawn, which is the norm around here. We finally caught her after exhausting her with a 4-wheeler and then being lucky enough to have her get stuck in the woods. She was very resistant to me getting the rope on the halter and then tried to break away after she was tied to a tree. We trailered her home and I locked her up in the run-in shed in case she tries to bust through the fence again. The run-in shed is pretty secure (about 9x12 feet) and she has hay and water in there.

When she was in the run-in shed and I was on the other side of the gate across the opening, she tried to charge me a couple of times. She was in the back and then put her head down close to the ground and came running at the gate. Throughout the whole ordeal today, she also did a lot of head swinging at me that would have injured me with her horns if she had still had them. I am very, very glad that the horns are gone. She seems to not know that she doesn't have them anymore.

Then there's the mastitis. My vet says that it looks like she has had mastitis in all 4 quarters and that there are signs of old staph abcesses and doesn't know if she will make any milk at all. The people I bought her from said nothing about there being any mastitis. The vet treated her with antibiotics. We'll see if she makes any milk.

I really should have not bought a cow sight-unseen, but I wanted a milking devon for a variety of reasons and they are extremely hard to find.

My question is what should I do now? Should I just beef her, after she has her calf? Should I even try to keep her around and milk her? I have a two-year old, who the cow has also tried to charge (with a fence in between them) and I am 7 months pregnant and I don't want anybody getting hurt. I just want a nice well-behaved family cow that is a dual-purpose breed and will perform on a grain-free diet. I hate to give up on her, but I don't want to sink more money, time, and stress into her if this is a hopeless case.

[rainyclayday]

Ugh, sorry for your troubles. I know that some people might come on and say you can work with her, she might get better, etc. But if it were me, I would get rid of her without another moment's thought and get a nice gentle dairy cow.

I guess it depends on how determined you are to keep a milking devon, specifically this one. It seems like the previous owners were less than honest for sure.

I wish you the best of luck in your decision. Stay safe.

[Claire]

With her extreme aggression that hasn't abated with 2 months of having her and dehorning, potentially serious udder issues, and small children/baby on the way I'd let her have the calf, raise it, and beef her in a few months IF you can safely work around her to feed/water/clean the barn. If not I'd ship her out now. In no way, shape, or form would I recommend trying to milk her in your situation.

Do you have anyone cow savvy who can come around when she's calving to be sure she can feed the calf? If you get a heifer it may be worth it to keep her and raise her up to be your future milk cow, giving you lots of time to train and gentle her (you could wean her at 4-6 months when you ship the cow off).

[melwynnd]

It sounds like your cow is trying to be "boss" and has figured out you are intimidated. Unfortunately your circumstances make it harder to fix this, but it isn't over yet!

Now........ Carry a riding crop with you and WHACK her on the nose HARD when she makes any agressive move toward you. I usually kick them in the nose, but your balance is compromised. I would get a halter on her and leave her tied up for a day or so. She'll learn to respect the rope. Then leave it on with a long leadrope trailing. This will reinforce the rope respect because she'll step on it and learn not to pull. It will also teach her you can catch and control her whenever YOU want.

As for the mastitis.... Don't give up before the opera starts. She may respond very well to the antibiotics. The only way to know is let her calve and see. You might want to look for another calf in case she does freshen with mastitis. A newborn won't be able to drain her like an older calf and you'll need to keep that udder empty to help get rid of the infection.

Do you have help with milking?

Sherry

[briarrose]

I've delt with a lot of unruly cows but after 2 months they should be eating out of your hands. If your personel situation were different and you needed some ideas on how to handle her fine. BUT, with a 2 yr old child, you very pregnant yourself and her already showing she can get out of a fence, I think I would "move her along".

I'm not real familiar with M. Devons, but a cow is a cow is a cow and some just aren't meant to be good milk cows. It sounds like the sellers told you everything you wanted to hear and got rid of her fast. It's sad that they have put you in this perdicament, but it happens everyday unfortunatly.

Your safty and the safty of your family should always come first. Good luck and stay SAFE!

Kristy

[cccjerseys]

Hey, Maybe she needs to borrow Lesli's Hat? ;D ;D

Sorry, just trying to make lite of a bad situation, PLEASE PLEASE be safe.
Shirla

[ellie]

Maybe she'll give you a lovely heifer calf and then you can eat mom?

I wouldn't give up on her till you at least see how she milks. Do you put her in the stanchion everyday?

FWIW, I know of a herd of beautiful grass fed Milking Devons in NC. They are being raised by folks who simply want to see the breed survive.

[sas778]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

Even if we do decide to beef her, we can't until the 21st because of the meat withdrawal of the drugs that the vet gave her for the dehorning. I should do what I can to try to make her submissive and behaved between now and then, and if I can get her straightened out and she actually makes some milk that would be wonderful. What are your suggestions for modifying her behavior?

I currently have her locked up in the run-in shed with hay and water.

I hope that she doesn't become even more aggressive when her calf is born. Any tips on preparing for that?

[berriesncream]

Wow. I really do feel you pain and disappointment about being (mostly probably) mislead by her previous owners and hoping to get a good dual-purpose milker, but I'd get rid of her in a hurry. No more chances. I have two little ones (1 and 6) and would not feel at all safe with an agressive cow who breaks through fences around. My husband recently how to get a "wild" Hereford heifer to milk her calf (who she was kicking in the head each time it tried to nurse). He had her in a stall and had to rope her and tie her legs to the posts to get her to let it nurse for almost a week and she frequently charged the fence at him. My 6 year old was not allowed near the barn during that orderal. Luckily, it was over in a week and she went back to my dad's pasture. Unforuntely (as I'm sure you know), a farm CAN be a dangerous place for a child, and, though I love farming, I'm not willing to take an chances with my babies. Luckily, this girl's dual purpose so she should make some good eating at least.

There are good, gentle cows out there for you. Where are you? Maybe someone here can help you find one when you're ready.

Blessings (and congrats on the new baby on the way!)
~Amanda

[Heidi]

I'd keep her tied for as long as necessary and keep any child away from her. (I confidently say my Jersey would kill a child if given the chance, but she is fine with adults). Your pregnancy makes this a whole different ball game though unfortunately. Given that you've come this far, I'd keep her until she calves, and then decide about her long term future on your property. Use your own commonsense as a mum, if you feel really bad about keeping her, move her on, if you think you can manage around her until she's given you a beautiful heiffer (positive thinking positive thinking) then do it.
Bye
H.

[BlueFeathers]

We bought a cow that had a 30 foot drag rope. She hadn't ever been around anyone but the farmer who milked with a machine. We had month to work with her before she calved. We got her to where she would tolerate us, but not kids. we brushed her a lot in the stanchion, touched her all over (in the stanchion) & spent a lot of time carrying a big stick which connected with her nose often.

Take a 2x2 and cut it as if to split it lengthwise, but only cut about half it's length. It makes a frightful sharp noise when you smack her nose, much louder than just a stick & gets her attention most promptly without undue harm.

One trick I read somewhere here I think was to use a brush on the end of a pole (like a push broom) to get her to like brushing when you can't get near her. MOst cows do LOVE brushing. We got one cow we milked to quit peeing & pooping in the stanchion with lots of brushing that would cease with bad behavior (we had a machine to milk there).

I think if you even consider keeping her for milking, you should factor a milking machine into your costs. But if you don't already have one, I would think the money would be better spent on a new cow.

Our aggressive cow calved on June 1st. After she charged our 10year old son in the pasture, she left on June 10. He was not anywhere near her or her calf. Our experience is that aggressive cows only get worse with calving. I would suggest someone else may need to care for her after calving, the safety of you and yours is paramount.

I do hope she gives you a heifer for your trouble.

That's the best I have to suggest,
Aloria

[sas778]

She had a heifer calf overnight!!! Yeah!! Adorable beautiful calf! Surprisingly, the cow seems much calmer. I was gearing up for her to go really crazy when her calf was born but she seems to have mellowed out some instead. Maybe the terrible behavior over the past week has been pre-calving orneriness.

I tied her up in the run-in shed--she was pretty calm about it and didn't do any charging or aggressive moves at all. I got one teat washed off and dried. She is a kicker, though. Ugh. I couldn't get the other three teats cleaned. The calf has not nursed and I'm worried about that. The calf is standing up and walking around and touched it's nose to the teat several times, with my help. The cow is perfectly calm when the calf touches her udder and teats. Now I'm off to figure out how to make her behave herself for me milking her.

[sas778]

Thanks for the tip on brushing. I'm wondering if she really meant to bust out of the fence or if she just broke the boards by trying to rub her winter coat off. She has a really thick winter coat that is in the process of coming off. Maybe I'll try brushing her this afternoon. What kind of brush do cows like?

[Tammy]

Wonderful news and congratulations on the heifer calf! I have had heifers that calmed down greatly after calving. Here's hoping your girl does the same!

Tammy

[throwback]

If you can, make sure she has free-choice minerals available, it can make a huge difference on her demeanor. Congrats on the new baby!

[Deleted]

I understand completely! We had this same situation (except I wasn't pregnant) a couple of months ago with a Jersey/Holstein. She calved and was still ornery and even had a rodeo (no horns, thank goodness!) with my husband. She tossed him in the air repeatedly with her head.

We persisted, and now she is perfectly obedient. She trots into the milking stall on her own, stands while we milk, no kicking at all, and even waits to do her business until she is out of the milking stall. She is not sweet or affectionate like our jersey, but I'm thrilled that she obeys us!

We just followed everyone's excellent advice on here to train her. We disciplined her with a whack to the nose every time she disobeyed or was aggressive. We left her in the milking stall for about two weeks, because we couldn't even get her in an out of it without a rodeo. We just kind of mucked out around her, and gave her food and water in there. We bottle fed her calf. I'd go out and currycomb her several times a day, from the next stall, so I was safe. When she seemed ready, we moved her outside, but kept her tied to a post on a longish rope for a month or so, until she was used to going in and out with no shenanigans. Now she does it on her own, and she even loves being currycombed. But she is still just kind of standoffish and ornery. She never acts aggressive, though, as she knows she will get a bonk on the nose.

Ask plenty of questions as you have them, everyone here is so helpful and wise! I would have beefed my wild cow if it weren't for them.

We're pulling for you! Be safe, though! No cow is worth an accident!

Love,
Amy

P.S. My cow would charge the fence with my little ones on the other side, too. But she has gotten over it. She just ignores them now. My jersey loves them and wants to lick them to death, but they know to stay away from our Jersey/Holstein. And my little ones, 6 and under, aren't allowed in the pasture without mom or dad, so we don't have to worry.

[crowinghen]

Congratulations on the heifer! My cows lOVE the rubber currycomb!! They will all come running, and when I am brushing one, sometimes the others try to buml her outta the way. Yesterday one bumped me to hurry up, and she got a whack on the nose... then later after a proper amount of time, after being patient, she got a brushing. that's how much they love it
glad you got a heifer for your troubles!
Susie

[parndt]

Yay!!!! My cow also mellowed considerably after she calved. I hope she works out to be the best milk cow!