Cattle Crossing...help!!!

[wauchope]

A paved road was built beside my yard ,which is great for dust control,however I now have the problem with cattle crossing the paved road! There are some that simiply refuse to cross ,one refused even with her new born calf on the other side.

does anyone have an idea to solve the problem?

I have tried straw however this is impractical due to traffic

I am wondering if painting a section of the road might work ?
any ideas other than trucking or selling the cows

[farmers_son]

They get used to the pavement after a few times. At first they would not even cross, now they move down the middle of the highway like it was nobodys business.

[farmers_son]

Have you tried my favorite coaxing method which is a pail of grain or hay on the back of a pickup if they are hungry enough. I have herded my cattle down a paved road manytimes, on one occasion all the calves turned back and the cows kept on truckin' home !!! When they got here the rodeo started of course when they realized that the calves hadn't followed !!!

[wauchope]

I have tried grain to no avail

and if a cow will not cross for her calf then I'm afraid time is not on my side,the cow abandoned her calf and came home after staying at the side of the road all night leaving her calf a mile and 1/2 away

I have crossed a herd but there are always some that have to be trucked across

[wauchope]

years ago I had a problem with cows not wanting go into a new pasture even though it was lush, and lots of water available. They would always come back home, across the field and wait at the gate for me to let them back into their regular pasture but they always brought their calves along !
Sure is strange that the cow wouldn't stick with her calf.

[cattleman2]

Try loading the cow and then letting her off on the road, so that she has to walk on it to get into her field at least a little bit. She would have no where to go but on the road.
What about setting up some panels beside the road at the approach you are running them out of. That way if one or two don't want to cross, you have them "trapped" in a stronger enviroment then a wire gate, etc. and maybe be able to force her across.
I also have known a few guys with horses to rope the cow in the field and semi-break her to the rope and basically lead her across with some assitance if necessary...

[wauchope]

I have thought of theses ideas especially the roping one but I'm am talking about as many as 7 that have refused to cross at one time while watching the rest of the herd move along.Some will walk right down the middle with no problems,very strange indeed
The panels might work but I'm a little short of help to do that one

how about painting a section of the paved road?

[WoolyBear]

Its too bad that it wasn't just a grid road, or something simple. A fellow we knew (but on a minor paved grid road) had a similar problem that he solved by rolling out a straw bale. Then theres the mess to clean up afterwards, but I wonder if just a couple of small squares would work?

[whiteface]

I think if the cows were so stubborn or nervous enough to leave their calves or not cross a rolled straw bale, they would simply not get out of a trailer if their only option was landing on the road. I've just seen some pretty stubborn cows, sorry you're haveing so much trouble with them...
I WISH I had your problem, with enough land and cows to graze on a pasture "across the street!" Have a good night all!!

[spur]

We have the best luck by making sure that where we attempt to cross is off an approach so that the white line is broken, and preferably the center line is broken as well. They don't like the painted lines, or the feel of the pavement underfoot. If we have an animal that won't cross, we find we have the best luck bringing the whole works back again, as the animal left behind is happy to join up and hopefully go with the herd on the second try. Safety in numbers, I guess. We have done the rope 'em and drag 'em thing, but pavement is like ice for horses, so its a dangerous situation for all concerned. It beats chasing a single animal up and down the ditch, and the animals get used to crossing, so each time is easier.

[spur]

It sounds to me like loading up the herd and hauling them even if it isn't far might be the most sensible and safest option.

[ALLFARMER]

Hire on the guys chasing the horses into Calgary, they have experience! You don't have any bridges around right?