It hasnt been done by choice or design but I can walk through my herd, bull pen or cows and rub just about every one of them. There is someone in those cattle every day. We dont use horses, dogs, or herd them at all. i can walk all 150 or so mommas anywhere I need them to go but only 1 time a day. If they catch on, I have to wait a day or so. I buy a lot of my top end cattle from Texas and they are skiddish at first. I guess there used to being in pastures as big as my whole farm. It takes a couple weeks but they calm down I think just because the others are calm. I will say that I have the lowest sick rate of any breeder i know. i can only attribute it to low stress. They are never hearded. A bucket is all I need, that includes my bulls too. Im not taking credit for making them so tame, it just happened. I enjoy being around my cattle. At the end of a long day, sun is setting, Just being out in my cows, rubbing on some, watching the growth, the pecking order, and seeing where I was to where I am now in terms of quality is what I get satisfaction from.
I have never had a person come look at cattle at my farm and not buy. 99% say the quality is the number one point but the calmness of the herd made there mind up for them. I can walk in my bull pen with 30-40 bulls and we can get close, rub a majority of them and they all seem to like that.
I know before I get ripped, they are not pets and are dangerous. You might call me crazy but I can read my herd bulls and boss cows personality just like a person. There are times I dont fool with them. It is also a combination of when I was ever crossed, A serious meeting with something I had in my hand and there head might have had something to do with it too. I have noticed that when a mature cow or bull allows you into there space AND are submissive, they lower there head almost to the ground as a way to say Im not aggressive and I just want attention. I know this for a fact bc my herd bulls and boss cows all do it at times. Im not saying this is true for every herd but it happens in mine. There are people that will think im nuts but my cattle for the most part are like pets. They do there job and i take care of them. My situation is different from most bc we are always in those cattle. My thought process probably couldnt work in Texas or where there isnt much interaction with the cattle other than to move, sort, or vaccinate. I think being around them just bc and not to work them also plays a role. If everytime you saw someone they made u do something, you might run or not be to freindly too. A dead tree has fallen accross a fence a time or two in the last 7 years. I dont even need feed, they follow me and its like watching a cowdrive only i am walking and leading the herd.
Please know I am not advising doing to your herd what my herd has turned into but them being very gentle has never let someone looking at cattle walk away without buying something. I have even got in a ring with my bulls at a sale even when they are all pissed off and rubbed on them. not saying its right but they are all pretty gentle.