Getting my cows today!!

[WildRoseBeef]

Does a steer have the same behavior problems?

What do you mean? Like that of a bull or what?

Edit: that brindle colouration is probably the neatest thing to see on a bovine. I like that dark-faced brindle, more because of the colour pattern than anything.

 

[LovinLife]

Does a steer have the same behavior problems?

What do you mean? Like that of a bull or what?

Edit: that brindle colouration is probably the neatest thing to see on a bovine. I like that dark-faced brindle, more because of the colour pattern than anything.

Yes, do they behave badly like a bull or since the testosterone has been mostly removed do they calm down?

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Lovinlife, I know that your post has kept you busy with questions, etc. But do you know how old your heifer and cow are? I just want to compare to my two Jersey steer that we have. Yours are much bigger. Everytime I look at your pictures, I just can't get over the variation in your herd. Sooooo cool!!

 

[LovinLife]

Lovinlife, I know that your post has kept you busy with questions, etc. But do you know how old your heifer and cow are? I just want to compare to my two Jersey steer that we have. Yours are much bigger. Everytime I look at your pictures, I just can't get over the variation in your herd. Sooooo cool!!

Eddie is 17 months old and stands about 40" tall, Sugar (white on face) stands about 38" tall and is 11 months old, and Honey (big girl, all brindle) stands about 45" tall and will be 2 yrs old on Christmas day.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Oh thanks! I feel better now. My little guys are only between 6-7 months old. Now I have something to look forward to as yours look great!

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Does a steer have the same behavior problems?

What do you mean? Like that of a bull or what?

Edit: that brindle colouration is probably the neatest thing to see on a bovine. I like that dark-faced brindle, more because of the colour pattern than anything.

Yes, do they behave badly like a bull or since the testosterone has been mostly removed do they calm down?

Steers are a lot calmer and more trustworthy than a bull is. They are even more so if a bull calf is castrated at a young age, like right after birth or a week to two months after birth. A bull cut after maturity will retain his physical bully characteristics, and from my experience some also retain their bullish behaviour, even if they can't breed. We had one staggy steer that only had one nut that needed to be cut and he still retained his bull-like behaviour: mounting the other steers, rubbing his head in the dirt, or even occasionally making himself get an erection, overall causing trouble in the herd and making the steers a bit more anxious and nervous than what was needed. Reason being was that he wasn't cut until he was like 12 or 14 months old. But we had another bull from another steer herd that we had cut when he was around the same age and he really quietened down, and didn't cause any trouble for the steers he was living with.

I've also noticed that some of the steers we had behaved like bulls for some odd reason even though they were castrated. I remember a number of years back we had a group of Angus steers that would rub their heads in the dirt making bull pits in the pasture and the corral, and be an overall pain in the rear for the rest of the steer herd. Had a few other cases like that.

But overall, 90% (or 95%) of the time a steer should and will be better behaved and less unpredictable than a bull or even a cow with a new calf because the sex hormones are removed or allowed to clean out of his system after getting castrated.

Note though, that if you cut a bull after reaching puberty (like if you decided to steer your new Jersey bull), he will still retain his physical bullish looks and may still act bully two to four weeks after getting castrated, because it does take at least two weeks for the testosterone to completely empty out of his system. He should calm down a bit after that time period has passed.

 

[PattySh]

I have 2 Jersey/Holsteins. A heifer and a steer. Tinkerbelle, the heifer is calmer and more trustworthy than the steer. We have handled her, lead trained her etc because she will be our milk cow (hopefully anyhow we just had her bred and am playing the waiting game). We didn't handle Red, the steer much as he is freezer beef this fall. He is similar age to your bull. He runs around more, is pushy, and I don't trust him. He'll run right at you and he doesn't seem to have any patience. No way can I walk in the pasture with a bucket of grain, bad enough I have to pop him with a hay bale to make him back off so I can feed it out. He's much bolder than she is. I castrated him at a month old or so but I wouldn't trust kids with him. He has also taken down the electric fence several times and gone wandering. Horse whip works good to use to direct him towards home. I have round pen panels and I will say they have come in very handy when I've had to contain him. He can jump a 4 foot fence, couldn't believe it until I saw it, he jumped right into the yard! Couldn't figure out how he was getting out as the gate was locked and fence intact. Early spring he was so bad he spent some serious time behind those panels! The minus without a bull tho is it took forever to catch Tinkerbelle in heat. Finally got her AIed at 22 mos. Red cannot escape the round pen panels and I have them attached to the side of the barn so he can come in and out of a stall. If he is in the pasture I don't let my 5 yr old grandson in there with him. I am always happy to get steers in the freezer, they've always been brats.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Patty, we've had steers like that too. So really it's all down to individual personality of a steer as far as how much you can trust him and how far you have to go to assert your dominance.

We've also had heifers before, and I also totally agree with you Patty. Heifers were totally more calmer and quieter than steers were, and the one heifer herd we got over 15 years ago we had less troubles with than with any other steer herd we've had before of after then.

It's a different story when there's a calf involved though, right after birth and during weaning.