calm cattle

[MurraysMutts]

It also brings to mind the saying about dogs: There are no bad dogs, only bad owners.
Turns out it applies to cattle as well.

Agreed!

But to be fair..... u could NOT get very close.
I don't think he was ever closer than 100yds!!
Those two cows were the craziest things I've ran across in quite some time.

Up until he told me about it, I never knew there was such a crude way to move cattle. I'll never even consider such things.

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

Sometimes the oldies are goodies too.

We haven't had all the breeds (thank god) but we started with Herefords and Charolais x Herefords (just got a good deal when we were starting out).

-Herefords we had were always flighty so we sold out of them and didn't touch them again.
-British White was the only one we ever had that went after and injured my husband unprovoked. So never again with those and I just had a friend injured pretty severely by a BW.
-Red Angus cows we got were late maturing, not cycling until 20-24 months old. Like the last one was 18 months old so I scheduled the butcher but she stuck to AI the month before the date came up. We haven't gone back to them once selling out of them. Temperament didn't matter if they were that late maturing but they were all a little hot.
-Black Angus cow that we own is a fat pig but she's always bred easy, so she stays. She's the only Angus on the place. She's lazy mellow.
-Charolais make you aware that they are concerned when you mess with the calf and have never given us issues after we tag them. I can go out and scratch most of the Chars that we have. The rest will just move away but not be concerned about it.
-Murray greys and now the Shorthorns are fantastic, no issues other than too tame. We might get rid of the Chars if the Shorties keep it up.

Note: referring to the "cow IQ above" I think if they get too dang smart then sometimes they won't quite do what you want done, so not sure if that's a good thing.

EX: I've got one MG cow and her daughter that we have to put a halter on and pull through the alley to get into the chute. They won't go in the chute itself otherwise.

 

[Travlr]

The worst I've ever had was a Char/Angus and she never made it out of the corral after I brought her home. I knew right away she was dangerous. I saw a Limousin that had injured her spine and she was wanting to get to people if they were within sight, but I think that was more her pain than a bad attitude.
Several of my Brahman crosses were flighty, but not aggressive.
I've had some Hereford/Angus crosses that were wonderful and a couple that were bad actors. It's kind of strange but the ones that were cranky were the ones with symmetrical blaze faces. The brockle face animals were always fine.
I can't think of any purebreds that were bad actors. I loved my Lims and if I were to get back in the business (twenty years younger) I'd still go with (Homozygous for black/polled bull) Limousin or Brahmousin.
Smartest cow I ever had was a Gert.

 

[Ky hills]

Sometimes the oldies are goodies too.

We haven't had all the breeds (thank god) but we started with Herefords and Charolais x Herefords (just got a good deal when we were starting out).

-Herefords we had were always flighty so we sold out of them and didn't touch them again.
-British White was the only one we ever had that went after and injured my husband unprovoked. So never again with those and I just had a friend injured pretty severely by a BW.
-Red Angus cows we got were late maturing, not cycling until 20-24 months old. Like the last one was 18 months old so I scheduled the butcher but she stuck to AI the month before the date came up. We haven't gone back to them once selling out of them. Temperament didn't matter if they were that late maturing but they were all a little hot.
-Black Angus cow that we own is a fat pig but she's always bred easy, so she stays. She's the only Angus on the place. She's lazy mellow.
-Charolais make you aware that they are concerned when you mess with the calf and have never given us issues after we tag them. I can go out and scratch most of the Chars that we have. The rest will just move away but not be concerned about it.
-Murray greys and now the Shorthorns are fantastic, no issues other than too tame. We might get rid of the Chars if the Shorties keep it up.

Note: referring to the "cow IQ above" I think if they get too dang smart then sometimes they won't quite do what you want done, so not sure if that's a good thing.

EX: I've got one MG cow and her daughter that we have to put a halter on and pull through the alley to get into the chute. They won't go in the chute itself otherwise.

Never had any British Whites white Parks etc. Was sitting at a stockyards one day and overheard a buyer telling the person next to him that White Parks were bad aggressive. There's not too many around here but since then, I've noticed that most of them I've seen run through the ring are pretty aggressive.

 

[redcowsrule33]

I had a single hereford with horns one time in a herd of polled herefords. And she would absolutely clear her way into the tank through the herd by using her horns as weapons. Finally one day I caught "Horns" at the wrong place at the right time and got her in the trailer. As I hauled her down the drive, I could have sworn that I heard lots of cows in the herd "clapping" as I departed !!

I have a Simmental like that. She is good to people but her herd mates hate her. Except for one who apparently decided they had enough because she will run from that one. Would've liked to see that argument. She sticks around because she raises a great calf every year. Will never have another horned one.

 

[CJ John]

I have a Simmental like that. She is good to people but her herd mates hate her. Except for one who apparently decided they had enough because she will run from that one. Would've liked to see that argument. She sticks around because she raises a great calf every year. Will never have another horned one.

Same here ! No more HORNS !!

 

[Dave]

Salers made a brief bit of popularity here in the desert. But it didn't last long as they can teach the elk how to run and jump. And living out 6 months out of the year way too many of them decided that they didn't care much for people. Fight or flight and you were never sure which it was going to be.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

ALL horned cows can be aggressive when they want to be. They ALL know how to use those horns. There is good and bad in just about all breeds if you talk to enough people. Everyone remembers "that problem child"!
"Generally" Herefords are extremely docile. B & R Angus can be a little hotter.
Charolais & Limousin USED to be real bad, but they started breeding for less aggressive temperaments and have improved greatly.
The smaller the breed, generally the more aggressive they are. Same with dogs, horses, etc.
And, of course, Simmentals are sweethearts!!! I'm sure lots of you have an experience or two that you will disagree, but the breed is generally docile. Just ask me!!! LOL

 

[Warren Allison]

This is Triple Aught, one of the top bucking bulls on the PBR circuit, with his owner's daughter. In horses, dogs, cattle, and even people, their demeanor is more about how they are handled, or treated, than breed.

 

[Warren Allison]

Triple Aught is ranked #20 in the word right now, with an average score per ride of 43.75 out of a possible 50. These numbers will change soon, as his buck off percentage is 100%.
Here is the same bull at work on his job.

 

[Ky hills]

Handling and management definitely affects disposition, but I believe there is a genetic predisposition in some animals regardless of how they are handled.
Like has been said the early Charolais here in the US had a bad reputation. Heard stories of bulls turning over vehicles. All of the Charolais bulls I had very very docile and easy going. Had a couple cows that were in seek and destroy mode for a couple weeks after calving. Had flighty cow that would run the other way but not at anybody. Pretty much the rest were easy going, more so than the Herefords we have now.
The most docile easy going bull I've ever had was none other than my one and only red Limousin. Had some purchased Limousin stocker calves that run the spectrum from docile to crazy idiots.
The meanest beef breed bull I've ever had was a registered purebred black Simmental. Whether his was genetic or management from the breeder I don't know but he was dangerously aggressive. My second Simmental was much better disposition, and his calves seem much calmer too. There was night and day difference in the disposition of those two bulls. There could be a genetic component in them because one of the bull calves from the aforementioned black Simmental bull was turning out to be just him even before a year old.
Also our vet commented that he worked some calves for a client that had used Angus, Hereford and a Simmental bull.
He said the Angus bull was the least docile of the 3, but that the Simmental calves were pretty much all aggressive, while the Angus and Hereford sired calves were pretty much average what you would expect calves to act like.
I know there are some Angus lines that I don't want anything to do with especially up close in a pedigree.
I like EXT cattle but they can be handfuls.
004, and Objective are 2 I don't want to see in a pedigree. I think every one of both of those I've seen come through a sale ring have been cattle I would not want regardless of how good they looked.
The first registered Angus female I ever had was a first calf heifer by VDAR Lucy's Boy, and her young bull calf by Sitz Traveler 8180. Lucy's Boy unbeknownst to me at the time had earned a bad reputation for descendants being crazy, but that heifer seemed average to me, not a pet by any stretch, but not flighty or aggressive. Her bull calf was quite a bit different he was starting to put on a good show of aggressive behavior shortly after weaning and I didn't follow through with keeping him for a bull as I had hoped to
His sire 8180 is also the sire of 004 and Final Answer, so combined with the Lucy's Boy genetics he was a powder keg.
I had two registered Final Answer daughters one was bred very similar to the Connealy Capitalist bull, the way I had it figured she was a 3/4 sister to him if there is such a description. She was big nice looking cow, a little flighty but not too bad, her calves regardless of what they were by were crazy wild.
The other FA daughter was out of a daughter of Net Worth. Knowing his reputation I figured she would be a problem, but she wasn't, nor were her calves, at least during the time e I had them.
I think the genetic component must suppress in some individuals and manifest in others.
I retained some daughters from a Hereford bull, and he himself was kinda flighty around other people, but with me and my wife he was fairly calm and manageable. I'd say 30 percent of his daughters inherited the skittishness from him and I've almost got them all culled out by now.

 

[GoWyo]

When a simmental lets their lower eyelid droop and show a bunch more white eyeball, look out. Have been around a few that were nasty. I don't know what their bloodlines were. The vast majority I have been around though seem to have generally good dispositions.

 

[Texas Ranch Hand]

ALL horned cows can be aggressive when they want to be. They ALL know how to use those horns. There is good and bad in just about all breeds if you talk to enough people. Everyone remembers "that problem child"!
"Generally" Herefords are extremely docile. B & R Angus can be a little hotter.
Charolais & Limousin USED to be real bad, but they started breeding for less aggressive temperaments and have improved greatly.
The smaller the breed, generally the more aggressive they are. Same with dogs, horses, etc.
And, of course, Simmentals are sweethearts!!! I'm sure lots of you have an experience or two that you will disagree, but the breed is generally docile. Just ask me!!! LOL

Small dogs, horses and people

 

[Ky hills]

Small dogs, horses and people

Hey now

 

[lithuanian farmer]

Had very various experiences and not breed specific. We spend quite alot of time around our cattle. They see us everyday at least once, but usually it's twice a day. Would expect them be dog gentle, but even if we cull for their character there appears a nutjob once in a while. In 20 years of farming had several mad specimens. One was belgian bluex dairy heifer. Twin as well and been raised on halter. Her brother was dog gentle. Then 7/8 lim bull, which tried to attack when we needed to sell him. The last two were recent ones. One is a weanling. She is 75% sim, been very skittish since the first days. Will always jump up and ran away when we walk around the herd. Completely different behaviour from others. Her dam is dog gentle. Will sell her soon, while she hasn't done any harm. The other heifer was a real nuttjob. Tried to clear the pen with closed doors. Jumped over the hot wire when we tried to pen her group for selling and she influenced one of the younger herdmates to be almost even worse than her. Managed to sell her from the second time only when closed her group in the shed. Was a really when we loaded her into the truck. She was behaving just like that sim, so that one had two weeks left at our place until she is sold with weanling bulls. That one was out of 7/8 lim cow and sired by piedmontese x limx bull. The sire was good tempered, dam is doing well at 8 years age and both lines never been problematic, so no idea where that one got her attitude from.
Cows never get the second chance if they show any real aggression at the calving.

 

[gcreekrch]

I have a Simmental like that. She is good to people but her herd mates hate her. Except for one who apparently decided they had enough because she will run from that one. Would've liked to see that argument. She sticks around because she raises a great calf every year. Will never have another horned one.

Horns don't stay on here.