Cow in a parade

[Little Cow]

Yep. That's right. I was asked to be in a parade with one of our cows. I have a lovely candidate. She was at our local fair for ten days and nothing much fazed her. She can be haltered in the field and led around our farm easily. She is friendly and gentle. She just had her first calf and it's time to wean so we will be bringing her in next week to prepare her and fenceline weaning her calf. We'll have about 30 days to take her for walks on the street, get her used to wearing a banner with our farm name, show her balloons, loud noises, strangers coming up to her, walk over painted lines on the street, etc....

One thing I am really wondering about is whether or not to bring just her or bring her calf along, too. We'll be training her calf to lead as well. She'll be in a little pen at the event for two days. Parade is the first morning. I think 30 days separation should be enough to wean the baby. I also wondered if leading two would be easier than one. Not sure about that, but I have seen cows and calves led together in shows (in Europe, I think). What if baby stayed in the trailer or pen while mama did the parade. Just so they could be together the rest of the time.

Does anyone have any idea how to hang a banner on a cow? We were thinking of a light strap in front of her chest and around her girth, like a saddle. We'd like our farm name and her breed printed on the banner.

Has anyone else done this? Any tips?

 

[chippie]

My husband led one of our Jersey cows in a parade in Houston a long time ago. He said never again. The cow was fine, the public was stupid.

I think that what you are thinking about would work. I would put a strap under her tail also ( between her hocks and pins). Have the belly strap sewn on the inside so that the banner can hang down. You can probably use velcro to hold it on.

If you are having a plastic banner made, line it on the inside with a fabric (like the fleece blankets) about 12 to 24 inches wide to keep the banner from slipping. You can glue it on.


Good luck! You know that you will have to post pictures : )

PS. I would leave the calf at home.

 

[Little Cow]

Thanks, Chippie! What was the public stupid about? I've done parades with horses and that went fine. I can bring treats for people to feed her when we're stopped. She loves her treats. This will be around St. Patrick's Day. The beer shouldn't be flowing that early, but....

After more thought, you're right about the calf. Weaning once is hard enough.

 

[chippie]

a-holes yelling rude remarks : (

I would not take treats for the public to feed her and be very careful about letting kids and adults pet her. Encourage people to pet her on her shoulder or side. So many people reach for an animal's face and most animals don't like it. You don't want her to start shaking her head trying to avoid being touched. People are very sue crazy and should she scare a child or accidently bump someone while stepping aside, you can end up in trouble. When we took our farm animals to our local living history festival, we were covered under the museum's event insurance. When my husband did the parade, he did not allow people to pet the cow.

I understand your wanting to share her, but you should think about your protection first. It's sad that things have come to this point. So many people are looking for an easy buck.

 

[Little Cow]

Thanks you for the advice. During the parade, I should be able to keep her in the center of the street. They had good crowd handling there last year.

I did let kids feed treats to our cows last year while they were in the pen as well as at the fair, but this is our first parade. Perhaps not, since there will be enough for her to think about. I had hand sanitizer on hand to clean with after kids fed treats. I had to pick carefully, though, because there are only so many treats she can have. I got our cows used to eating a certain number of treats per day before the events so it doesn't cause any issues.

The only problem I had was when people brought dogs in (they aren't allowed). Mama cow was worried about her baby. The organizers said they'll be more careful this year. I expect to see dogs on the sidelines during he parade, so I need to test her before then with strange dogs.

 

[Bigfoot]

I got run over on a horse in a parade about 15 years ago by a mini van. Trust me anything can happen.

 

[ffamom]

My vet told us no matter how calm we thought our cow was, he still recommended sedation. We trusted his experience and sedated her. All went well.

 

[chippie]

What about an update? How did things go?