I had 7 cows ( my original herd-being raising for about a year) consisiting of all young bulls/cows: 3 jersey, 2 dexter, 2 angus. I recently bought out ( 2 weeks ago ) another breeder who had 5 dexters. I want to breed the dexters. The issue I am having is 1 of the new dexters is a 2 year old heifer and she is a terror to feed. She will attack the feed bucket with her horns when I holding it, I have turned my back on her and she horned me and tore my pants. At times Ive dropped the feed bucket and she kept coming and i fought her off by pushing back against her horns. the strange thing is without the feed bucket in hand she is sweet as can be and eats treats out of my hand. i hate to get rid of her because dexters are hard to come by in my area especially a heifer. Is there something I can do to retrain her behavior and protect myself.
Young heifer from new heard, should she go?
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She has already learned that her horns are a weapon. Why only with the feed bucket?...could be she was teased with it. My suggestion would be to get her dehorned if she is otherwise a good representation of the breed and nice natured. Once dehorned she will lose that "edge" and may just quit it. A vet is your best option, it is bloody but they will numb it and then she will find out that she is unable to be aggressive with the horns. Had to do 2 of my older milk cows jersey/hol crosses that decided at several years old they were the bosses; they never bothered me but got real nasty with the other cows. Once dehorned you could evaluate her nature and see where to go from there. Maybe get a calf out of her and then ship her if she continues bad behavior. YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET HURT
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Feeding seems the biggest problem. Cows are greedy and aggressive when they think they are competing with other cows to get food.
An old rancher taught me how to deal with this problem. When I have this problem I peg them between the eyes with the butt of a bullwhip or a big pocketknife. (I don't use the whip part of the bullwhip for anything.) One pop between the eyes is always enough for my aggressive cows and bulls.
I also try to keep my head on a swivel when feeding so no aggressive cows or bulls can come up behind me.
Good luck!
An old rancher taught me how to deal with this problem. When I have this problem I peg them between the eyes with the butt of a bullwhip or a big pocketknife. (I don't use the whip part of the bullwhip for anything.) One pop between the eyes is always enough for my aggressive cows and bulls.
I also try to keep my head on a swivel when feeding so no aggressive cows or bulls can come up behind me.
Good luck!
Take her horns off before you lose an eye., or worse. I also am of the opinion that at this point she isn't that good, that a potential injury is worth keeping her. Whatever her problem is with the bucket, is a big problem. If she doesn't get better since you got after her with it, then get rid of the horns, or just get rid of her. If you have another Dexter female you still have the potential to raise more of them. You can't raise them if she puts you in the hospital, gives you a permanent disability or puts you 6 ft under.
OOOH , you are no match for a 1,000 pound cow , 
I raised Boer goats for 15 years and after all the horn removing . I am now into cows and they are Angus and British White and all are born polled, I had trouble with the horns getting stuck in the fence wire with the goats and also our big angry buck destroyed a pipe fence gate , after that I sold them as if I was knocked down, I would get stomped or worse ..... please don't take chances .
I raised Boer goats for 15 years and after all the horn removing . I am now into cows and they are Angus and British White and all are born polled,
I had trouble with the horns getting stuck in the fence wire with the goats and also our big angry buck destroyed a pipe fence gate , after that I sold them as if I was knocked down, I would get stomped or worse ..... please don't take chances .1 - 6 of 6 Posts
