Cows with attitude

[Anonymous]

I'm Now in my third year of slowly buiding a herd. most of my small herd of herefords are very nice to work...but I have two cows that are pretty high strung, what is the chance of them passing on "the attitude" to their calves. My thoughts are put up with them until I either want to shoot them or the herd is at a size I can feel good about culling them, many more acres than cattle. But I don't want to pass on the attitude...much of a chance of that?

[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

> I'm Now in my third year of slowly
> buiding a herd. most of my small
> herd of herefords are very nice to
> work...but I have two cows that
> are pretty high strung, what is
> the chance of them passing on
> "the attitude" to their
> calves. My thoughts are put up
> with them until I either want to
> shoot them or the herd is at a
> size I can feel good about culling
> them, many more acres than cattle.
> But I don't want to pass on the
> attitude...much of a chance of
> that? Attitude is inherited. I know a lot of people who have been hospitalized by cattle with "attitude". If you keep them, get a good dog, a good corral, and good health insurance.

[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

Cows will pass this trait on to calves. One nut in a herd can make fools out of others when you are gathering or working them. Sure is easier to work cows that are easy going.

 

[Anonymous]

I would get rid of them as soon as you can catch them. No matter how small the herd if you are fearful of a couple of cows get rid of them. You can make that up by keeping back a few extra calm heifers. Jake

[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

Attitude (disposition) is one of the most critical elemnts when dealing with cattle on foot. If the attitude is passed on to the offspring depends a lot on why they have the attitude in the first place. Cows that have been hooraed and cowboyed will have a dispostion problem that very well may not be passed on to the calves. If the cows have been handled quietly and calmly and the are nuts, they are an accident waiting to happen. Most any cow when put in a different circumstance then what they are used to will behave a little batty. If that shows itself as aggresive behavior, eat em or ship em. One real lunatic in a herd can cause them all to be just a little bit goofy. Also, the bull you use will have some bearing on the calves disposition. But a real nut case cow that panics when you get around them will affect their calves if for no other reason then they see momma being a nut. Whe the calves are weaned and seperated from the cows frequently the disposition changes. But, if you are afraid of them, get rid of them, period. There are too many good cows out there that can do what you want and not cause headaches. Even a polled 1200 cow that goes nuts can bang you up pretty bad if she can toss you then pound you. Voice of experience. She only did it once, never had shown any signs of it before. She got a wild her up her .... and took me on. She did make excellent hamburger.

dun

> I would get rid of them as soon as
> you can catch them. No matter how
> small the herd if you are fearful
> of a couple of cows get rid of
> them. You can make that up by
> keeping back a few extra calm
> heifers. Jake

 

[Anonymous]

Attitude is definitely passed on from generation to generation. As dun said, cows that have been handled badly will be flighty. They have long memories. But, it's not too hard to pick out the ones that come by their disposition through genetics. Some of the best advice we've ever received was "COD" = cull on disposition.

Do to the drought, we cut way back last year on our cow herd. We did keep one cow out of a line with questionable disposition. It was probably a mistake, but at least the disposition isn't mean, just a bit flightly. One thing that definitely came down through genetics is the tendency to stick her head through a fence whenever pressured. It's funny, because the granddam to this cow stuck her head through the J leg of a panel one day and we had to cut the leg to get her free. This trait has shown up in everyone of her offspring. Why do we keep her? She throws very nice calves, but we keep them strictly for meat and do not put them up for sale. If any of her offspring were mean, we would cull them right away and no longer breed that line.

COD

> Attitude (disposition) is one of
> the most critical elemnts when
> dealing with cattle on foot. If
> the attitude is passed on to the
> offspring depends a lot on why
> they have the attitude in the
> first place. Cows that have been
> hooraed and cowboyed will have a
> dispostion problem that very well
> may not be passed on to the
> calves. If the cows have been
> handled quietly and calmly and the
> are nuts, they are an accident
> waiting to happen. Most any cow
> when put in a different
> circumstance then what they are
> used to will behave a little
> batty. If that shows itself as
> aggresive behavior, eat em or ship
> em. One real lunatic in a herd can
> cause them all to be just a little
> bit goofy. Also, the bull you use
> will have some bearing on the
> calves disposition. But a real nut
> case cow that panics when you get
> around them will affect their
> calves if for no other reason then
> they see momma being a nut. Whe
> the calves are weaned and
> seperated from the cows frequently
> the disposition changes. But, if
> you are afraid of them, get rid of
> them, period. There are too many
> good cows out there that can do
> what you want and not cause
> headaches. Even a polled 1200 cow
> that goes nuts can bang you up
> pretty bad if she can toss you
> then pound you. Voice of
> experience. She only did it once,
> never had shown any signs of it
> before. She got a wild her up her
> .... and took me on. She did make
> excellent hamburger.

> dun

 

[Anonymous]

Attitude (temperament) is an inherited trait. Also, as social herd animals, one bad attitude animal will inadvertently "teach" some others to misbehave. Solution for attitude cattle: Study the individual and identify any problems. Cull to freezer. Replace your "show stick" with a .40 or .45 Semiautomatic handgun holstered just in case you have a dangerous encounter you can't escape from... If you don't take precautions, get more health/accident insurance and update yor Will.

[email protected]