PLEASE HELP! I bought an ornery cow...

[TheChickenLady]

We are new to cattle and after doing some research we decided to purchase a bred cow and calf combo; a few months back. We were SO excited to get them home!
The problem is that it has been a few months and we haven't been able to get her home. She is CRAZY;we cannot seem to get her to stay in a corral or trailer without her jumping over or out of them...

1st try: Previous owner got them into a small homemade corral about (4ft tall) and as soon as we tried to load her into the trailer she jumped on the corral and broke the wood and was pissed for days.

2nd try: A friend and myself got her into a horse trailer, as soon as week shut the door she went crazy flipped herself around and jumped out of the back of the trailer......with the door closed.

3rd try: Tonight we bought a 5ft tall heavy duty metal corral. We set it up in the pasture with some hay and grain in the corral. She was pretty stand-off-ish about going into the corral but did as soon as the baby went in, so we shut the door and once again she went CRAZY! She jumped over the stock panel and flipped the whole corral and bent a 12ft panel.

At this point, if she wasn't 3-4 months pregnant, I would just shoot her and stock up on beef in the freezer BUT she does give beautiful calves and she is a great mother....

If you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know I would really appreciate it!

 

[Snowhunter]

Honestly? Ship her to the auction and call it a hard lesson learned, or put her in the freezer, regardless of her pregnancy status.


Being new to cattleand having a cow thats obviously aggressive and willing to risk life and limb to get her way is NOT how you want to start out. There are plenty of cows out there who are much easier to deal with and much safer then risking your neck with one who is obviously dangerous.

 

[redtailgal]

I'm sorry but I gotta agree with snowhunter.

If you dont want to lose the calf, can she calve where she is, THEN go to the freezer?

You can bottle raise the baby.

I must say, if I had a cow acting that way, she would die a quick death, along with her offspring. NOt the sort of critter you want in a breeding program.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

We are new to cattle and after doing some research we decided to purchase a bred cow and calf combo; a few months back. We were SO excited to get them home!
The problem is that it has been a few months and we haven't been able to get her home. She is CRAZY;we cannot seem to get her to stay in a corral or trailer without her jumping over or out of them...

1st try: Previous owner got them into a small homemade corral about (4ft tall) and as soon as we tried to load her into the trailer she jumped on the corral and broke the wood and was pissed for days.

2nd try: A friend and myself got her into a horse trailer, as soon as week shut the door she went crazy flipped herself around and jumped out of the back of the trailer......with the door closed.

3rd try: Tonight we bought a 5ft tall heavy duty metal corral. We set it up in the pasture with some hay and grain in the corral. She was pretty stand-off-ish about going into the corral but did as soon as the baby went in, so we shut the door and once again she went CRAZY! She jumped over the stock panel and flipped the whole corral and bent a 12ft panel.

At this point, if she wasn't 3-4 months pregnant, I would just shoot her and stock up on beef in the freezer BUT she does give beautiful calves and she is a great mother ....



If you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know I would really appreciate it!

That's the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard!! Too many people get seriously injured or even killed by a cow like her: one that is aggressive towards humans but is kept because "she gives great calves and is a great mother." It's not worth your life to keep something like her, so PLEASE GET RID OF HER. Shoot her, sell her, fer gosh sakes do whatever you feel necessary to get rid of her, but I beg you, for the sake of your safety and others, DO NOT keep her!! There are other far better cows that raise beautiful calves and are great mothers, AND won't go beserk at the sight of a human for you to choose from!! A cow can be a great mother and let humans go near her and her calf while at the same time turn around and be really nasty towards a dog or coyote. Those are the kinds of cows to keep, not a crazy beast like the one you ended up with.

DOCILITY should be a VERY important trait to select for in addition to mothering ability and raising a good calf, not JUST mothering ability and capability of raising a nice calf! Take this as a hard lesson learned and PLEASE let her go. I'm really sorry you ended up with her. Did you buy her without seeing her first, or what?

ETA: If the calf's a heifer, I would really reconsider keeping the heifer as a replacement. Docility or lack-there-of can be and is often genetically linked, and I would hate to hear about you having to deal with a heifer that has grown nearly as crazy as her mom. Raise her as a bottle calf, then raise her for the freezer. Nothing wrong with raising a heifer for meat. In the mean time, look around for another, BETTER cow.

BTW, what breed is crazy old girl anyway?

 

[kstaven]

first off!

Sorry about the none to eloquent reply above. Please don't take offense. Some here are a little more blunt than others, but they mean well, and personal safety with farm animals is a huge part of farming. Most of us here at some point have had an aggressive animal to deal with and it is all too true that aggression tends to follow family lines. Many of us have had friends or family seriously injured by an animal like you are describing and the last thing we want to see is another get hurt.

Quality stock is bred for characteristics that include temperment. The seller needs a serious kick in the butt for unloading this animal on anyone.

Personally I would make steak before some one gets seriously hurt or killed.

 

[jhm47]

There are dozens of studies that show that cattle that behave this way often grow much more slowly than more docile animals. They also do not breed as well, and almost always pass this trait on to their offspring. In addition, their meat is less marbled, tougher, and sometimes has a poor taste due to the lactic acid produced before slaughter. Then, there is the possibility of someone getting injured or killed. I work with thousands of cattle each year, and have seen many a cow like this one. The owners always say, "but she raises such a nice calf". Then, the next year, I see the same cow, her daughter, and possibly some of her other offspring doing the same thing as the one you describe.

There is an easy solution for your problem cow. Sell her for slaughter. Don't dump your mistake off on someone else by selling her as a breeding animal. The life you save may be your own.

 

[Cricket]

I agree with all the above--it's definitely not worth it! Don't know what kind she is or how old, or if you do your own slaughtering, but I would have her butchered right where she is. A butcher will be able to tell what cuts are worth saving and what would make good hamburg. Even if the calf is born 'sane', if she's raised by a crazy mom she'll probably pick up a lot of the bad stuff.

It's not you, it's the cow! (It is supposed to be a FUN learning experience!) Best of luck!

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

For your first cattle experience for sure temperament is everything. I would never keep a cow that bad regardless, but some set ups would make the handling of her easier and she could safely be moved out to the sale yard. In this case I think the best thing to do is tell the previous owner that your not satisfied and back out. Not sure if you will get your money back but since he is unable to deliver the good it seems reasonable to me. While it's not his job to take her right to your place it is generally practice that the loading and leaving is teamwork between the buyer and seller. This has not worked out in your case so again I think the cow and her calf are still his.

I do hope he reconsiders selling her, and at least he should be more upfront about her state of mind. Personally since he does not have the equipment to handle this gal safely he should cull her right there.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

I know I came off a bit blunt and "less eloquent" than the others, but someone had to state the obvious. It's just not right to buy an animal without seeing it first, seeing not only what it looks like but also its behaviour around people. It's CRUCIAL for a newbie cattle owner to have good temperamental or docile cattle because they incidence of injury or death from raising cattle that they cannot handle as a result of their bad and dangerous behaviour is much higher than with raising docile, easy-to-work cattle. It's not only dangerous for newbies, but for veteran cattlemen as well. There was a really interesting article I had read in the cattle magazine I get regularly a while back that has an article about aggressive cows. It's an article that is worth sharing on this thread and for everyone, including the OP, to consider when purchasing/raising cattle: Why Do We Tolerate Aggressive Cows?

I really hate to hear about newbie cattle owners ending up with someone else's cull cow. That is just not right, and certainly not fair. And even if the OP got a cow of the breed that is supposed to be docile, it should be noted that there's always going to be crazies in every breed, but more so in those breeds that are typically infamous for their high-headedness than others. I really hope the OP gets rid of that cow soon....she could make good hamburger, better than selling her to another unsuspecting victim who may get worse than just a few bent cattle panels and gates...

 

[Royd Wood]

Hey Chickenlady

Got to agree and think you should look for another cow to start with. Just not worth the aggro.
Hope its not too late to get out of the deal and you can always argue that the deal was for cow / calf not a crazy nut job.
Good luck and keep us posted