# Heifer that goes thru fences



## Irene (Aug 30, 2016)

We have 9 acres and I decided to buy a couple of heifer calves to raise up and then sell (because I don't want to deal with a bull). I bought what I thought was a nice little angus cross and a beefmaster. They are now about 500-550 pounds and the black one has named herself...Houdini! I have 4 (or 5 in places) strand barbed wire fencing but she will duck her head down and pick her feet up and thru the fence she goes. Then she just stands or grazes on the other side. Shes not hungry...she does it for fun, I think.
A friend said she is a dairy cross( and she is looking like it) and that they are notorious for doing this. 
Should I go to the expense of running a hot wire along the fenceline or just take her to the sale barn? If I sell her, I may as well sell the other one because I don't know how she will do all alone.
What's your opinions??


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

You need a training yoke and a small area of electric fence to train the calf to stay in. Leave the yoke on the calf's neck to keep it from going through the wire fence....James

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/04/92/c8/0492c8f8b5b73d43ca761a41a217747a.jpg


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

My first thought was how tight are the wires on your fence? We have mostly electric or 8-wire post and batten fences but there are a couple that are only 4 wires and they are so tight that no calf will get through them. 
So look at the strength of your fence and definitely look at running electric around them. This weaner has learnt and will continue to try no matter what you do but electric will stop her. Also, the problem won't go away for future animals so it pays to get your fences in good order now.

Also, your friend is talking a load of rubbish. Dairy crosses are no more able to get through fences than any other breed and my best escapee was a pure bred Angus steer.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Empire (Jan 7, 2016)

I had an Angus steer that was an escape artist. He would go through 4 hot wires and never flinch. I could not break him of that habit so he left my farm. My wires aren't that far apart and he was making good ground, he was just a pain.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

Hot wire will probably help with your problem. Just make sure it is HOT. Your little girl has figured it out and will continue. I think everyone that has had cattle knows that there is one in every group that seems to be able to escape no matter what you do. On the other hand, I've kept cattle in with a simple two strand of hot wire on a rotational system. As long as the grass was greener within the strand, they stayed.


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## Irene (Aug 30, 2016)

Thanks! If I wanted to try the yoke, where would I get one? I've tried googling it but all I come up with is Ox yokes...is there another name for it?


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

A yoke is designed to prevent the cow from going between 2 wires. You make your own, since the chances are it will get lost sooner or later and thetreebranch re is no use throwing away money.

To make a one, select a y shaped tree branch and cut it off the tree. The single section below the fork needs to be long enough to barely drag the ground when the cow is going along grazing and not drag the ground when walking normally. Drive a nail through the wood so that it sticks about 2 inches out from the wood. The sharp end will not usually snag the wire and will release the wire when the cow backs up. The other 2 branches of the yoke should be long enough to stick above the cows neck 6 or 8 inches. The important part is fastening the yoke to the cow. Strings or a piece of leather or nylon straps is fastened across the cows neck between the two upright branches so that the cows' neck holds up the weight of the yoke. The wood for the yoke should be 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter, just not so big as to be too big a load for the cow. Getting it on the cow may well be a problem, you will have to deal with that. After a while the cow should forget about getting out, if not keep her until time to sell, then take the yoke off. Installing a yoke on a larger animal would be interesting. If a large bull has a case of the get outs, sell him.

COWS


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## CIW (Oct 2, 2007)

You can teach a calf to stop going through a fence with a single strand hot wire set up along the area where it gets out. Set the wire about 20" off the ground, and 6" inside the wire fence. 
Get a piece of light steel link chain and loop it snugly around its neck and tie with a light cord. I use a divided portion of bale string. That way if it gets caught on something, the string will break. Leave some chain hang down almost to the ground.
Each time that calf begins to put its head through the fence the chain will come in contact with the hot wire and give it a good shock. She'll learn pretty quick to stay away from the fence. After a few weeks you can shut the fencer off.
This works well on any size cattle.


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## slingshot (Jun 25, 2014)

I have some different advice... 

First make sure the fence is solid, also add hot wires that's all good advise. 

I would still sell that calf and buy a replacement same day. Others may disagree but I just wouldn't put up with an animal that won't stay in the fence.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

That is sometimes the reason a half grown animal is for sale at the auction. Something to keep on mind when you are buying. Maybe that animal is there because the seller could not contain it.


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## gundog10 (Dec 9, 2014)

I had two areas of fence where one of my calves was climbing through just as yours was. I used 2x4x5' field fencing, issue solved.


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## Hiro (Feb 14, 2016)

This was early winter. This calf intentionally walked through the fence 4 days in a row to rest right beside the driveway. When she was hungry she crawled through the two bottom wires flenching at each shock, nursed and climbed back through. It didn't continue and I have no idea why she decided it was a good idea to begin with. Last year, I had a calf that went through to lay in a field with the sheep for a week. When her mama called, she went back through, nursed and came back to the sheep field. I walked up to her, gave her CDT and BVR shot, smacked her on the fanny when I was done and she ran back to mama and never did it again.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

What about adding the wire fence stays. Like a big bobby pin you twist down over the fence wires. They hold the wire strands so they cant be pulled up down


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