Getting cattle into the pens

lanod2407

I am struggling to get my heifers into the pens in the yard when I need to dose / test them.

They got a couple of doses recently and didn't like it at all. Since then I've been putting some nuts into the trough in the yard every few days to get them back into the yard. They go for the nuts, but only when they're really sure that I'm not around - otherwise they'll just not go near it. When I do appear they run for the hills - burst through electric fence if they need to.

I've a test coming up - any ideas regarding how to get them used to being in the yard and not freaked out when I'm around again?

tanko

Maybe it's too late for this batch but you could use a pour on for fluke/worms.
More expensive but easier on man and beast.
As it gets closer to the test you could give them nuts every day so that they're more used to going to the yard.

Bullocks

If you could throw them a pinch of nuts every day(if not twice a day ) and dont leave until they are eating . Keep rattling the bucket so they know what's coming and eventually don't spill out the nuts until the last one is near the trough . When you have them in the pen lock them in for a few minutes and walk through them or talk to them until they calm down .
Nuts is like cocaine to cattle you will nearly get them jumping through hoops for a taste of them !
Are they cattle you bought in ?
If dosing or injecting in the crush I always start at the back so they don't see what happening to the others before it happens to themselves and it helps keep the ordeal short for them

lanod2407

I have them for a year - only 2 heifers just over 2 years old. Too jumpy and I'm probably not spending enough time with them.

restive

I get cattle into a pen on my own. The best way i find is to set up electric fence wire either side. I have it shaped like a funnel. Also I have my watertrough inside a shed so the have to pass through the pen everytime they drink.

_Brian

Mostly the key is spending time with them. I bring a shake of meal in a bucket and stand with them every day for as long as I can spare. They'll sniff and lick about but it does mostly work.

I said mostly as I had a heifer recently that we just couldn't calm, SE just wanted away from humans no matter what.

Over the winter I had her in a pen with two others, no matter how long I'd stay she would be glued to the back wall and never come forward. Out she'd be heading the opposite way as soon as we'd appear. Nothing could calm her nor stop her, the only positive was she wasn't angry just wanted away all the time.

When prices were good I threw her back into the mart as I just couldn't be dealing with her, felt a bit guilty but that's how I got her ! She was clean mad in the ring but had 4 or 5 lads bidding and I gout out well.

MfMan

lanod2407 wrote: »

I am struggling to get my heifers into the pens in the yard when I need to dose / test them.

They got a couple of doses recently and didn't like it at all. Since then I've been putting some nuts into the trough in the yard every few days to get them back into the yard. They go for the nuts, but only when they're really sure that I'm not around - otherwise they'll just not go near it. When I do appear they run for the hills - burst through electric fence if they need to.

I've a test coming up - any ideas regarding how to get them used to being in the yard and not freaked out when I'm around again?

Can you tie a long twine or cable, preferably dark-coloured, to the closing gates of the pen and pull them closed from a distance when they're in? (Are the gates swinging freely?)

This problem frequently exercises me - how to gather cautious cattle from a field into penning. Saw in today's Findo, in the inventions section, the man at the Tullamore show with the fence cable mounted on the ATV. Might be a feasible way of surrounding cattle with a cord while at a trough, they might be less nervous of a vehicle than a person walking around them.

lanod2407

MfMan wrote: »

Can you tie a long twine or cable, preferably dark-coloured, to the closing gates of the pen and pull them closed from a distance when they're in? (Are the gates swinging freely?)

Tried that a couple of times, but they stay away too long - think I'm gonna need to suck it up and just wait for them to arrive.

Aimead

MfMan wrote: »

Saw in today's Findo, in the inventions section, the man at the Tullamore show with the fence cable mounted on the ATV.

Seen that, but the problem is that if the cattle are domesticated enough not to go mad at the ATV then they are also domesticated enough that you shouldn’t need the ATV in the first place.

One tip that one farmer gave me is that you shouldn’t always use the same setup day to day. Some cattle can get spooked by deviation (such as when you are intending to dose them), so changing it up relatively frequently can help them settle for when you do need them in.

Generally any cattle that I’ve been feeding I’ve always tried to get them used to getting petted or their ears tugged – when they get that used to a person they’d follow them anywhere.

bogman_bass

I find the trick is that the trough is far enough away from the gate that the last couple arent left standing outside. if that happens they'll turn in a heart beat.

i have one pen that I have to open the far gate and let then onto a lane befor somebody closes the back gate then I can turn them back the way they came and close the lane gate behind them if that makes sense

Jimlh86

restive wrote: »

I get cattle into a pen on my own. The best way i find is to set up electric fence wire either side. I have it shaped like a funnel. Also I have my watertrough inside a shed so the have to pass through the pen everytime they drink.

+1 on this I don't even have it hooked up. The main thing I suppose is spending time with them. The father can call them in most of the time

patsy_mccabe

I always try and trick them into coming in. I run them by the shed so they think they are going past it and then turn them back sharply in the gate, if that makes sense. If cattle are turned back the way they came they think they are getting away.

Parishlad

Could u put a few quieter cattle in with them. If they were with cattle that readily go to the trough for nuts it might help settle them......or at least get them in while u are still there.

Miname

Parishlad wrote: »

Could u put a few quieter cattle in with them. If they were with cattle that readily go to the trough for nuts it might help settle them......or at least get them in while u are still there.

I'd say they ll just drive the rest wild. I've a cow at home that is just borderline on temperament. I was bringing other ones in to calve this evening and she caused more hassle than I can tolerate. She's out the door in April when her calf is reared.

mf240

Patience. Nuts every day. No shouting . No sticks. No dog.

If one or two dont come in, dont go running after them, they will come in tommorow or the next day.

CloughCasey1

I walk through all cattle morning and evening. Not just drive up through them as then all they are used to is tractor/jeep. As Bullocks says a small amount of nuts every day. Also let them sniff your hand. The more they sniff ya the the more they recognise ya. Cattle investigate everything with tip of their nose and plough on if they sense it's safe.

keep going

....first thing is to give yourself time to drive them in,when you walk in the field don't walk towards them walk to the corner diagionlly away from where you want them to go then slowly walk towards them postioning yourself so that the route to the exit is the only way away from you,let them react to you and change your postion accordingly,if they do go on you don't run,its all about keeping the heartrate down,just repeat again.few years ago came across this women called temple grandis and based a lot of the way I handle cattle on her philosphies.google the women who thinks like a cow.a couple of years ago a neighbour left a few heifers out of the house and they boltedwent through two farms in two days before they got to mine ,watched as they went through most of the wires in my place with them trying to round them up.sent the neighbours away saying I had to milk saying not to come back until two tomorrow as I was away.gathered them the next morning and you should have seen the look on their faces when I landed back in the yard with them.the thing I think a lot of people miss is cattle will know where to go if you send them the right signal

MfMan

lanod2407 wrote: »

Tried that a couple of times, but they stay away too long - think I'm gonna need to suck it up and just wait for them to arrive.

Knew of a man who had a beast stray into another's property, (field with a pen). He spent most of 3 days hiding behind a tree with a string tied to the closing gate waiting for the errant animal to come into the pen with the others! Some patience.

Had a giddy bullock last year, eventually managed to coax him into the pen for nuts with the rest. Just as soon as he was in, a man with a hi-viz vest sailed down the road on a bike, spooking the beast who caught sight of him. Could never get him in again. Oddly enough, after a winter in the shed, he calmed down greatly and made into a good and easily-handled bullock in time.

Farmer Pudsey

Some Nuts nowadays are vuirtually tasteless. Seen this when i ran out of ration suddenly and had to buy a few bags to tide over finishing cattle. When you put nuts instead in front of the cattle instead of the ration they would look up at you as if to say WTF is this sh!te.

Try a weanling crunch it also takes them longer to eat same. Barley is very good as well. It also takes them longer to clean the trough.