Taming a Range Cow

Yes, those cows we bought just a little impulsively in February came right off the range. And, though you could tell they were used to having people around, they were not broken to stanchion, let alone milking, and nowhere near the sweet family milk cow- yet.

I began working with the herd queen, “Gracie” a matronly 6 year old cow with an

impressive set of horns. You could tell she was used to being boss and herd queen because she would push all other cows and animals out of her way, and she would condescendingly permit me to pet her.

Every day I tried to take some time to pet her and brush her. I quickly found she did NOT like to be curry combed, so stuck to scratching those hard to reach spots that a farmer friend taught me are along every cow’s back and neck. I find the easiest animals to work with are those that love to be pet and scratched. The ones who only love grain and treats are generally more skittish and flighty because they don’t really trust people, and only love the treat. But I couldn’t have treat trained her anyway- she didn’t really like any grain!

Finally, I got her to love petting to the point where she would walk up to me for a scratch! She would still sass me occasionally, but I would grab her horns, (they make great handles!) and toss them back so she would know that I am boss. One of the rules to training animals is to show the you are alpha, or else they will always test you! A handy trick for mastering an ornery goat or pushy ram, is to sweep their feet out from under them, throw them on their side, and sit on them till they submit (give up); if you do this they will behave perfectly- for awhile. But she is a 1,000lb animal, and I can’t do that… so for the first few weeks I tried to have a nice stick on hand in the case she got a little too pushy…

 

A few weeks later the hay ran out, and we were going to move the cows up to pasture. At first I thought “They are tame enough… I could probably wrangle them up there… they won’t be hard to catch… they would never test the hotwire…” But, upon hearing my speculations, Father firmly said “no” and reminded me that the last Dexters we put out there ran off through the 5 strands of barbwire, and took us on an entire neighborhood meet n’ greet, where we introduced ourselves with “Hi! Have you seen 5 black cows by any chance?”.  We finally caught them because they decided it was time to come home! With that humiliating memory fresh in our minds we decided to corral these cows for a little longer and try to get halters on them.

We were very glad we did so, because I learned that even a friendly cow will quickly turn tail, run off and get skittish on new pasture, and that no cow really wants a halter on. After a few tries, some UN-fruitful cow wrangling, and totally stressing the cows, Father was ready to call the cow experiment a failure and sell them ALL! But I reminded him that hunger tames the wildest beasts and they had only been penned a day.  Reluctantly, he decided to give them a little more time in the corral.

The next day I quietly walked out there with a handful of the tallest, greenest grass I could find and carefully tempted Gracie into the stall. Then I slowly set the bunch in the stanchion, making sure the headlock was open at it’s widest to accommodate her horns. To my complete amazement Gracie waltzed right in and without a second thought, and put her head right in the stanchion! I ran to get a scoop of dry cob (a Corn, Oat, Barley mix – the only grain she would eat), poured it into the trough, and  locked her in.

I sent Eddie to go get Mother while I brushed her and quietly talked to her so she would be used to people around. Mom was SO pleased to see her little cow in a stanchion (she is the one that loves Dexters) and I proudly showed how she would even let you touch her udder without stepping!

Then, working through the bars and making sure to stay clear of her horns, I slipped the halter over her nose and excitedly fastened it on (by the way, if you are shopping for a Dexter halter, they will normally fit a large calf halter like this or this). The final badge of a docile milk cow had been achieved.

Triumphantly we sent a picture (for evidence) to Father to show we had finally conquered the cow! He was glad we did, but not that he had to buy more hay to fully train her… However, judging that it was worth it, he did buy some more, and we picked up 20 bales of nice (overpriced) alfalfa hay.

3 weeks later she had a beautiful little black bull calf which we separated the next day so we could milk her in the morning. She was very easy to milk- though at first she would not “let down” for me. But with persistent, even milking, she has gotten into a nice routine, and now is giving a little over 2 gallons a day! On her 2nd night after freshening I took the girls to a  birthday party, and Mother, Father, and Matt were left to do the milking. Gracie would NOT come in to the stanchion for them! Strangers!  Finally, I got back and she walked right in for me and milking went smoothly. But, since then, I’ve been stuck with milking… but I really don’t mind! 😉 .

I made my first mint ice cream of the season last week and Mother may have finally

found a delicious yogurt recipe that actually works (this recipe is close to what she used, but we use the dehydrator to keep the milk warm for the 8 hours)! The Lord is blessing us with the fat of the land right now, and we must remember to do all things in moderation; or else with the homemade butter, cheese, ice cream, whipped cream… well… let’s just say farmers usually eat pretty well.

 

The Lord is good!

~Ann

Numbers 14:8
If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.