Head Butting and Pushing

[SPJ]

I'm going to bring one of my cows home from another pasture. She is due at the end of January. Every time I bring her home for at least 30 minutes her and the other cows head but and push each other. She definitely takes on any cow in the pasture and they seem to line up for her. My questions are -

Is this normal?
Could this affect the calf?
Would putting her in a pin for awhile be better than letting her in the pasture with other cows?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[cow pollinater]

It's normal. If they're hay broke you can ease it by dumping feed out right after you unload her but they'll always figure out who's who in pretty short order.

 

[Isomade]

It's normal. If they're hay broke you can ease it by dumping feed out right after you unload her but they'll always figure out who's who in pretty short order.

:nod: there is a pecking order in every herd. If you remove one for any length of time they will try each other all over again. I ain't never seen it hurt anything.

 

[Bigfoot]

The guy on that Alaskan frontier show shoots them and eats them for that.

 

[snake67]

The guy on that Alaskan frontier show shoots them and eats them for that.

Guess he would be shooting almost everyone of them sooner or later then wouldn't he?

Bez

 

[A.J.]

It wouldn't hurt to have her penned up for a day or two so they can nose each other before you turn her in with the rest. They'll always have to re-establish the pecking order though no matter how you do it. I always like to turn em out early in the day, so they're not as likely to be running each other around and butting each other in the dark which could make it more likely for one of em to get injured. If I can, I also like to try to turn em out when the other cows aren't right around that way the new ones can walk the place some on their own and not have all the others right there to gang up on them as soon as they are turned out.

 

[regolith]

Normal, rare to cause injury.
Best options are to let them interact across a fence then let them in together when moving them to new grass or feeding them - so they focus on the food more than the stranger. Even with those precautions they'll still fight.

I've been drafting and mixing heavily pregnant cows for years and can't give any example where the calf has been injured as a result.

 

[gonzo]

ISO said it right ( pecking order) chicken, pigs , cows even horses they all doit at times . Chickens get right brutal about it. If bovine got that bad it could get expensive. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERY ONE :clap:

 

[Deepsouth]

I thought this was going to be a thread about marriage. :?

 

[SPJ]

Thanks for your comments. I brought Molly home this morning and put her in the pen until this evening. When I went to feed them I opened the pen up. Grace and Kelly went right after Molly. They fought for a few minutes and I kept putting feed in the feeders. All of a sudden Molly breaks and runs. The other two lose interest and everybody just starts eating. I have included a picture of Molly and her first two calves. What do ya'll think? Also what breed do you think she is? Thanks, Phil

 

[gonzo]

red angus shorthorn cross how'd I do ? :tiphat: mabey just short horn can't see her melon so it's hard to tell.(that's my story and I'm stikin to it ) :mrgreen:

 

[SPJ]

Gonzo - She was given to me for letting a guy run his cattle on my place. He bought her at an auction three years ago for $130.00. She got me started in the cow business. I really do not have a clue what kind of cow she is. Thanks, Phil

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Old fashion shorthorn.

 

[longhorntractor]

I am going through the same thing right now. I dropped off two new angus heifers a couple of nights ago. I put them in a pen with four of my most gentle cows (Herefords). Within 5 minutes they were pushing each other around. When we put them all back together they had a few more pushing contests. For the most part it had been no big deal.