raising a Black Angus beef calf?

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Hi all, This is super! I am new to the forum, if you haven't guessed. I live on a 40 rural acres, that will someday be mine $$$. I have been given a Black Angus calf. The farmer isn't fond of them. I have heard many scary stories from fence jumping to total distruction. My experience has only been with Holstein and Jersey. Any advise would be much appreciated.

-- Shau Marie Miller (shau@centurytel.net), January 10, 2001

Answers

This site was posted a little further up:

http://www.linkup.net/users/tank

These folks raise angus and can probably answer some questions for you. Good luck!

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), January 10, 2001.


I have a 2 year old angus bull who is very gentle .He is handled daily and was a bottle baby .I think that made the difference.

-- Patty (fodfarms@hotmail.com), January 10, 2001.

As cows fall out of my program they are replaced with black cows. I have a three-year old Angus bull. No real problems from any of them.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 11, 2001.

We have raised 6 Black Angus. We have 3 hefers right now and plan of breeding them this spring. We don't spend time trying to "tame" them--just feed and water them. But they come when we ring the dinner bell.They chase the dogs when they get in the pen... Someone "borrowed" our largest steer last spring and we haven't seen hide nor hair of him but they don't get out of the fence on their own!!!!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), January 11, 2001.

Hi, I have raised all sorts of breeds of cattle and even managed a 300 head cow calf operation. I doubt you will experience any major problems. There can and will be difficult calves in every breed. they can be gentled down but they will never be "pets " in the general since of the word. I would reccomend that when you go out to see the calf you cary a "treat" either a little bit of sweet feed or some calf feed that has molassas in it. Not too much just a little, maybe 1/2 a pound. this little bit of incentive will pay off big time when you need to gather him up to be worked or if he gets out. I can lead any of my cattle around with a empty bucket. (because they think they are getting something special) Just use the treat as a sorta reward and you shouldn't have any problems.

-- steve R (mtnman28@prodigy.net), January 11, 2001.


Temperments can vary greatly within the breed. Most of our cattle are gentle and easy to work with but every once in a while we get one that doesn't like to be "managed". These are the ones that won't go up the chute or cooperate to be chased through the door for sorting. I haven't particularily noticed that they are any harder on fences than our Jersey. We use electric fencing and if the fence isn't working, be it Jersey or Angus, they will leave. However, if they are content and have food and water they should be pretty good. The idea of treats is a good one. I use range cakes and alfalfa cubes as treats. Makes working with them a lot easier. Good luck and keep us posted!

-- Trisha-MN (Tank@linkup.net), January 11, 2001.

Thanks for all the replies! I am glad that you all confirmed my thought's. My husband was not sure we could keep her fenced.

The Neices call her Beauty, and that she is. I just don't want them to be too attached. I didn't figure on electric. That makes my life easier.

We spend time with her every day and she is a very docile calf. I think that perhaps our neighboring farmer's are scared of the unknown. Most raise holstein's and they were sure we would have trouble.

I will try the treats. Boy will my horse be jealious.

Thanks for all the input, all your tips are welcome and much needed. SM

-- Shau Marie in WI (shau@centurytel.net), January 11, 2001.


I always thought a spring pasture with Angus brood cows and their calves grazing it looked like a big dollar bill with lots of little dollar signs.

My thirteenth birthday present was a purebred but unregistered Angus springer--heifer about to have her first calf. She was always a pill to handle and many is the time she put me across a fence whether I'd planned to leave or not. She was 3 years old before she ever saw a human on foot in the open. They were always in a truck, on horseback or on the other side of a chute poking things into her. Definitely not a pet, wild and rank would describe her better. However, Raven was a genuine cash cow. Her first 4-5 calves were heifers which helped build our herd quickly. We used the best bulls we could find and consequently had a good market for our bulls among owners of commercial herds-this was before the days when AI was so common. My brother and I lost our pasture lease just before the freeze on cattle prices expired in '73 and had to sell our entire herd, nearly 40 cows and their spring calves, including 14 year old Raven. We'd had all the testing, TB, Bangs and pregnancy checks, done so we could guarantee healty bred cows to prospective buyers. Even old Raven had a heifer calf at her side and was bred back. My brother and I paid our bills then divided the proceeds. The cows helped pay for my college tuition and when I married a year later, my husband and I had a substantial nest egg between us. I still love an old black cow. Not the answer you looked for but I appreciate the chance to reminisce.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), January 17, 2001.


Marilyn, perhaps this was the answer i was looking for. Thank you for the thoughtful story. Shau Marie

-- Shau Marie (shau@centurytel.net), January 17, 2001.

Dear Shau Marie:

About one month ago we purchased a black angus bull. He had not ever had any people contact. He was taken from his mother, put on a trailer and delivered to our house. He had a make shift halter and lead on him. We had him delivered to our horse stall (approximately 12 x 12.) He was bonkers the way he acted. He actually climbed/jumped over our horse stall gates. He gave two grown, husky men quite a workout! We tied him to a very strong 4 x 4. We kept him there for a couple days. While he was tied on the short lead, we tried to feed him a couple cups of cow feed. It did have molasses in it. I talked to him off and on all day in a soft, calm voice. After a few hours I got brave enough to attempt petting his head. To make a long story short. We raised the horse fencing about 1 1/2 feet off the ground. He can no longer hike over it. (Unless he learned to fly overnight - as yet he has not!) Every day I would push grain under the fence to him and hay. As he ate I would reach through and at other times and pet him as he would let me. Eventually as time went on, he discovered he liked having under his chin scratched. So I pet and scratch. Then I got brave enough to go into the stall and clean. I kept my eye on him and took a rake with me and the wheel barrow to load the cow paddies. Go slow and don't jerk the wheel barrow - I made a motion that kind of got him riled up. Now I just go in and clean and pet him. We did have him neutered - now he's a steer. From what I hear they never really become pets and can still be dangerous - just like a horse with unusual sounds, quick motions, etc. In fact, from what I hear they're not as predictable or gentle. So just be aware of her size and the potential, go slow, we use the animals feed to control and move him about. Be kind, hopefully she will be kind back. But don't forget this animals size or completely trust her! Best of luck!

-- Sheila Lutz (glutz43@alltell.net), August 15, 2001.



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