That’s the average of how long it takes to teach an adult dairy cow to walk on the halter. Walk well enough that I, at eight months pregnant, can lead her down a half mile driveway, and back.
No, it’s not just that simple, I’ve been doing this for longer than I care to remember.
But, it is very possible—and that’s the part you need to remember!
Alan and I have trained hundreds of full grown, Jersey, Brown Swiss, and Holstein cows to walk on a rope halter, and stand tied.
Now for the hardest part…to write so you can go train your cow with similar success.
I’ve watched cows since I was 3 years old. Anticipating their movements is almost second nature. Here’s 12 basic guidelines.
Don’t start with a crazy one—she walks with her head up, always looking for a way out, and won’t be separate from the herd.
Your cow actually wants to cooperate—but it’s your job to explain and make her understand.
Cattle are prey animals, their instinct is to run/follow. Use this to your advantage.
Because cattle are prey animals, when you try to catch them, avoid targeting them. Don’t look at her or make eye contact. Don’t make her feel singled out. Hide your halter behind your back. Many a new cow has been caught on my knees and the very tip of the rope.
Because cattle are prey animals, they respond to your tone and attitude, if you’re nervous—she is afraid.
Cattle are animals of routine, changing things up confuses them, but if change is routine, they watch for your cue. (This can also make them cranky and impatient if they’re not used to change)
Poly rope halters wash, and are rarely over $10. Buy a couple.
Let her keep her halter on. While I’ve found many hung neatly in the tree after she took it off in the field, we’ve never had a cow get tangled up and hurt herself wearing a halter in the field.
Following Rule #8–Always have a knife available while training. While your cow is tied there may be occasion that you need to cut the halter because she’s twisted the rope up so much she’ll suffocate or flip—this is only while she’s tied.
Cows flip, and flop, and think they’re dying while you’re halter breaking. Especially Jerseys. They’ll be fine.
Dairy cows very rarely kick from behind—don’t be afraid of getting kicked.
Training younger is not always better. Taming, tying, yes. Leading—no. Wait til they’re 4-6 months old and can understand better.
Now. You’ve bought a cow and brought her home in the trailer. BEFORE you turn her out into a SMALL PEN, put her halter on. The adjustable lead part should go under her chin and be on her left side. She should have hay and water in the pen, and shade if it’s summer. Several hours later, go mess with her, get the end of the rope and see how she responds. (You may want a pair of leather gloves for this part)
She’ll probably pull and jerk like crazy. There’s a couple different techniques to handle the jerk and pull response.
Bridgette style. I lack physical strength to make a cow behave and usually wear flip flops. I keep the rope in two hands and my arms close to my body, when Bossy jerks, my arms are like bungee cords and give her the rope she wants. Quick as lightening I pull her back after she gets her head, and tease, tease, tease, until she breaks and lunges forward at or beside me. I move quickly to avoid getting smashed or stepped on in her blind rush and pull her head again, quickly, where I want her to go. If, she mulls up and won’t give to the rope, it’s a waiting game, eventually I win because I’m smarter and more patient. I may have to repeat the process multiple times and not lose patience or temper.
Alan Style. Moving Alan is like moving a brick wall. Alan doesn’t have bungee cord arms. Alan wears them out, sometimes dragging on the rope behind them. Because he’s a heavy brick wall, they get tired of dragging him pretty quickly. Then they decide it’s better to cooperate with the man than it is to fight him. Alan working cows is more patient than any other time. Sometimes it’s taken 3+ hours to get a new cow to the milking stand.
Enjoy these photos of a particularly difficult first halter lesson when we had excessive mud. Notice the last two pictures of her leading to the milk stand and standing on a slack rope less than 12 hours later.
Her jaw will swell after the first halter fight, it will
hurt worse than your sore hands, she’ll be easier the second time. Spend some time brushing her once you have her tied up. Tie her with the knot at head height so she won’t get her legs twisted in it. Let her spend time tied and fighting the tree/post instead of fighting you. Within 4 sessions she should begin relaxing while tied. Relaxing is eating, chewing her cud, and standing with a slack rope.
Tense and mad is tail switching, peeing, pooping, and never standing still.
Use your voice—calm and soothing to calm her, or strong from your core to discipline her.
Once your cow is trained to the point that she won’t run away from her, take her on a walk. Plan for a half mile one way. Wear your gloves and decent shoes/boots. Give yourself a couple hours for this exercise. Take your time, use your voice to compliment her when she takes a couple steps in the right direction. Force her to take a couple more. Then give her a break for a minute and go some more steps. Eventually she’ll lead a few steps willingly. She’ll also likely pitch a fit at some point, calmly wait her out and continue on your walk. Pay attention and learn to anticipate her moves. Ignore the dog barking as you walk past or the squirrel running across the driveway, only watch HER. If you freak out about the dog barking, she’ll totally lose it and freak out double! On the walk home you’ll feel like you’ve made incredible progress—and you have! You’re not done, but you’ve crossed the hardest part. Remember the steps and watch her, it will continue working and she’ll get more and more used to the process until she gets to the point you can walk out to the field in the dark and put a halter on her to go anywhere.
