run away dexter - help and advise needed please

nicky · Post by **nicky** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:20 pm

please can anyone offer any advise? i am new to cattle keeping and so far am finding it quite traumatic. i have lots of experiense in livestock in general but have never owned cattle until now when after lots of advice and reserch we decieded to get dexters.we purchased 3 14 month old steers to fatten for the freezer and i was told they were quiet and easy to handle. When we got them home we left them shut in to recover from moving them. but as soon as they were let out one of them jumped straight out of the field over a 4ft 6 fence and disappeared! we enlisted the help of a farming neighbour who helped track him down but as the steer appeared traumatised it was decieded best to let him calm down so we left him. however fences prove no problem for him and later that night he was sited over 2 miles away! The problem is this chap doesnt appear to like other cattle for company or people for that matter. he has been sited several times but as soon as anyone gets too close he takes flight and jumps out of any field he is in to get away. he also will not make for any other cattle and has passed through several herds on his travels. does anyone have any ideas to find and catch him. we have tried leaving cow cake out for him but as he is never in the same field two days running we never know where to leave it. it has been sugested we use a halter broken cow to lead him but we need to find him first! can anyone help?

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:27 am

Maybe a tranquiliser gun would be useful. Once you'd put out an all-points bulletin for him. School children are great for noticing a stray animal. Especially if a reward was offered. :D

Its rather awlful for you though. We had two animals (brother and sister) who were very flighty as well. But at least they stayed on our farm (mostly). The female decided the neighbour's bull was more her preference than our bull.

Louisa Gidney · Post by **Louisa Gidney** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:20 pm

Ask the people you bought him from whether they still have his mother, as he will still probably go to her. One of my oxen was very similar but couldn't bear to be parted from Mum, even when about 10 years old. Gates, fences, hedges, ditches were no obstacle but he was quiet as a mouse with his Mum.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:33 pm

I agree with Louisa that you should contact the people you bought him from. Any decent seller to newcomers to cattle ought to be offering some help if needed. And it certainly sounds as if you need help. Good luck.

nicky · Post by **nicky** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:19 pm

thanks for all that. I have contacted the previous owner and he is not interested in helping me. he does still have the mother and i asked him if they were weaned before i had them because they were still running with the herd including their mothers when we went to see them first.
i expect i need to ask the vet about a tranquilizer gun do i? but first track down the prey!

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:13 am

Even though your beast has run through several fences etc and does not seem to want cattle company he will be a very strange beast indeed if he does not finally settle in a group of other cattle. Obviously his mother would have been first choice but other groups of cows may provide the answer if he lands amongst them, and if the owner is willing to cooperate. If that does happen, try not to be in too much of a hurry if he looks like staying in a group but let him be brought in when they are being taken in for handling. You will need to be tactful with other cattle owners involved since they may not view a stray entering their herd with much joy, but at the end of the day if he has got there he may as well stay for a short time.
Tranquiliser guns are few and far between and not very many vets have access to one. Your own vet may know if one is available. If he can be got into shed or secure penning it might be wise to get your vet to tranquilise him before shifting him, and put him in a shed with company when you get him home.

Total last resort might be to have a marksman take him out with a rifle, I have once had to have that done with a limousin cross cow far too dangerous to approach.

Duncan

moomin · Post by **moomin** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:39 am

Dear Nicky,
What part of the country do you live in? I think you need to enlist the help of some other Dexter owners in your area. Dexters recognise one another like no other breed and will follow another Dexter once they spot it. You need a tame "rescue" cow to help you when you find him and lead him into a shed then follow Duncans advice and tranquilise him before you move him. He is probably a very frightened beast and I am sure you will find him in another herd somewhere.
I think it is totally irresponsible to sell an animal like that and very unreasonable not to help when things go wrong.

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:33 am

Most Vets will not have a tranquilizer gun, but some, like mine have a blow dart which is very successfull at a range of up to 10 metres. Good luck.

mindenho · Post by **mindenho** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:59 am

Maybe the previous owner should be named and shamed so other people will know not to buy stock from him. I think it very unreasonable to be so unhelpful. When helping a friend round up a couple of wild Redpolls that had esacpaed I offered to take one of my Dexters but they too kept diosappearing but did eventually, after 5 weeks end up with a herd of cattle about 2 miles away. So there is hope for you yet Nicky!

Louisa Gidney · Post by **Louisa Gidney** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:11 am

Please don't let this experience put you off Dexters. I'm sure we've all had some sort of baptism of fire with our livestock that we can eventually look back on and laugh at, however horrendous it was at the time. Focus your thoughts on the first fillet steak for Sunday brunch. Nothing you can ever buy in the shops is ever going to taste as good as the first steak from this beast.

groubearfarm · Post by **groubearfarm** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:24 pm

A neighbours runaway heifer(not a dexter) thought she was a sheep for at least a fortnight, she content with them, then we noticed her looking at our Dexters across the river and sure enough one day she hopped across and joined them. We then started feeding our girls and her in the field and gradually got the food trough into our adjacent barn and one day cornered her. (with numerous hurdles and a trailor) It took possibly a month, but by this time she had settled down and decided grub was more important. With time and sense and a helpful neighbour I am sure you will win through, Dexters can be so and sos but they are individuals and thats why we love them!!. I hope this experence doesn't put you off the little darlings!! Fiona

ann · Post by **ann** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:47 pm

Re name and shame suggestion, I am inclined to agree with this suggestion, because we sell our animals 90% of the time to first time buyers whom I personally, want them to enjoy the animals they have bought from me, mine go with an after sales help line.

One problem with dexters steers is I guess that they don't get quite the attention the heifers get and unless they are well weaned and at least people friendly they can be quite flighty.

I have high hedges but have a lot of electic fences on the farm and one lady brought a heifer one year to one of my bulls and it went through nearly every hedge and fence on the farm until it came up against one it couldn't get through.

Needless to say I never had it back again. Its pal just put her head down and grazed, and these two had lived together.

Hopefully your dexter will settle down with a herd that are about to be brought in.

Good luck

Ann

oliver1921 · Post by **oliver1921** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 4:05 pm

I really do sympathise with you, in my days before Dexters we had problems with other breeds doing similar things and as already mentioned i am sure you will find a good neighbor.

Certainly the seller should be named and shamed - this person is not fit to sell cattle and especialy when you are selling to an inexperienced handler you must have a morale responsibility to support them. I frequently called the lady who sold us our first Dexters - partly to keep her informed but to also ask for advise about the idiosyncracies of the breed. We have subsequently bought two more groups of breeding stock from her - this vendor must be very short sighted or plain stupid - name and shame!

Jo Kemp · Post by **Jo Kemp** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:21 pm

It beggers belief that anyone would sell cattle and then simply turn away! The steer will obviously not respond to total strangers and his dam would be ideal to bring him in. The field advisor is the first port of call if former owner continues to hide and (s)he will be able to call on other locals perhaps.
As you have bought 3 he could go down the road early - it is no fun at all to have this worry.
I bought a couple of steers which went through a gateway left conveniently open by someone. Fortunately I had been getting to know them (they were inside for a few weeks) and a bucket worked.
Best wishes ... where are you? Jo

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:13 pm

Are you able to let us know where, approximately, you live? If you are in the North Yorkshire region, I will happily help you with a couple of well-behaved dexter heifers as bait! I had to do this when removing a group of our steers from a conservation grazing site, once. One of them decided that he wanted to "live wild" in the trees, and was impossible to round up until the heifer came along. Within half an hour of meeting her and letting her run loose with him, I was able to lead the heifer into a pen with him following, and I was on crutches at the time!
As stated by others, in the absence of the steers mother, another dexter will hopefully work. This poor boy is totally stressed out and just needs time to settle.
When I first started with dexters, I intended to start with a few steers, but was advised not to. Wise words indeed, that I repeat to others, because unless you are really used to cattle, boys will be boys and are generally not as well handled as breeding stock.
Good Luck, it will get better!