Lead Cow Behavior

[inyati13]

A heifer I recently turned into the paddock where my angus bull is pastured was in standing estrus yesterday morning. I watched for an hour. The boss cow was absolutely attempting to keep the others away from her. A couple cows slipped in and mounted the heifer but Big Bertha promptly thrashed them. Bertha goes 2000 pounds and most have seen her picture posted here. She used her head like a sword and her body like a shield to form a barrier to her heifer. The bull is 2 1/2 yrs old. He had his nose in the game but Bertha kept him at a distance. Bertha mounted the heifer a dozen times while I watched. I finally went and got my feed buckets and got Bertha into another Paddock. As soon as she was out of the picture, the bull was mounting the heifer on a regular interval. I watched for another hour and he was mounting her about every 10 minutes. The bull paid no attention to the other cows mounting the heifer. He just waited until he was ready and got on her. I went back about 3 hours later and the heifer's tail was being held out and their was clear mucus running from her vulva. She looked tired.

I was new to this behavior. Is Bertha so dominant that she will not allow her cows to be bred? I have a couple reasons to sell Bertha but this may be the most compelling.
This is Bertha on the right not the skunk tail

This is the bull

Another pic of Bertha

Heifer

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

It's time for Bertha to meet Wendy or Ronald or maybe even the King himself.

Bye bye Bertha.

 

[dun]

The lead cow is necessarrily the boss cow. In this case it's boss cow behaviour. When she goes to the great packing pack in the sky (hopefully soon) another cow or cows will step in and take her place. The boss cow leaving will lead to pecking order establishment. Our bu8lls have never entered into the pecking order deal, they are a world unto themselves. When we turned our young bull in this year the boss cow put him through a 5 strard barbed wire fence. 10 minutes later he was breeding one of the other cows and peace has reined ever since. Now he and the boss cow ignore each other.

 

[3waycross]

A couple things i see. #1 you are graining cattle that are already visibly fat(Bertha) #2 Bertha is fatter than the rest which tells me she is eating most of the grain.

Pu that with her other behaviours and i'd say she needs a ticket to town!

 

[dieselbeef]

theyre so fat how do they breed at at..wow. i ate the last hiefer round her that got that big after she was late late getting knocked up

 

[Taurus]

I would stop feeding them more grain before sell any cows but that's just me. They don't looks like they are eating grass enough.

 

[inyati13]

I would stop feeding them more grain before sell any cows but that's just me. They don't looks like they are eating grass enough.

They eat grass (fescue, orchard grass, timothy, bluegrass and more importantly for those nitrogen atoms to build protein and carbohydrate, white clover and red clover; not to mention scattered patches of cop clover). I feed very little grain/mixed feed. It is convenient to take pictures when I do feed mixed feed so I think it is easy to assume I feed a lot of grain. I have a system of managing my cows using movable feeders. The pictures are below. I built them out of heavy lumber and the skids are actual dimension 4x4s (not planed lumber). They were taken from an old barn that was built when lumber dimensions where actually what they said they were. They are built to hold under the weight of a cow. I have seen 2000 pound Bertha stand in them.

It would take me an hour to explain exactly how I control my cows. But of all the cattlemen I personally know, no one has better control than I do. I can bring my cows into central areas and from there do a multiple of end-uses with them. That is why I use feed. I admit as 3way says, Bertha gets all the bait she wants because she crowds out all the other cows. She is the ultimate intimidator. I can put my hands on any cow except for two. Every now and then I can touch one of those two. But there is one that is absolutely wild and I will probably sell her at some point.

There is no way with the forage I have available not to have fat cows. I have had the University of KY extension agent out for advice and the UK forage professors. They are all enamoried with the variety and density of my forage. THE POINT: MY COWS ARE FAT BECAUSE THAT IS THE PASTURE THEY ARE ON. I guess I could put them on 4 or 5 acres at a time but then when you turn them into the next 4 or 5 acres, they are still going to stay fat. I just need more cows per acre but it ain't going to happen overnight.
The feeder I use is mainly for loose mineral. I throw in some mixed feed (alfalfa pellets and molasses covered grains) to get them interested. I notice that after the more aggressive cows finish the calves and more timid cows come in and lick the loose mineral. The loose mineral that I am using now includes an antibiotic for pinkeye. I get my loose mineral at a feed mill where I trust the store manager to sell me what is recommended at that time of the season. What you see here is mostly loose mineral.

Taurus, this is the guy who runs the place

 

[wbvs58]

I like the look of Taurus.
Ken

 

[fitz]

I agree that in a group the boss cow will often times try to take over one in heat. But here, when things are ready and the time right the old Bull takes over and everyone else needs to step aside as he's all business.
Looks like a Heeler I had. One of the best dogs I ever owned. They seem to be a one person dog.

fitz

 

[Chris H]

You've mentioned before you only use feed to bait & work them. About the only thing I'd change is not mixing any grain with the mineral. If they need it, they should eat it. Some mineral mixes aren't as palatable as others and you have to mix salt with them. Most of the brands are well received, as long as they're fresh.

I wonder if Big Bertha has developed a hormonal problem? Does she have a calf on her right now?

 

[ousoonerfan22]

We have a couple of cows that think they're a bull when a cow is in heat but they have never intimidated the bull. Just a few days ago a cow was in with the bull staying near her and when a cow would try to ride her he would butt the heck out of them like he does the bull calves when they try to ride the cow.

 

[inyati13]

You've mentioned before you only use feed to bait & work them. About the only thing I'd change is not mixing any grain with the mineral. If they need it, they should eat it. Some mineral mixes aren't as palatable as others and you have to mix salt with them. Most of the brands are well received, as long as they're fresh.

I wonder if Big Bertha has developed a hormonal problem? Does she have a calf on her right now?

Chris, you got something to say. In fact, she lost her calf, born dead at the end of April. She had a false heat 15 days later. And came back in heat 20 days later during which I think she got bred. What do you think this may have done to her?

 

[inyati13]

I agree that in a group the boss cow will often times try to take over one in heat. But here, when things are ready and the time right the old Bull takes over and everyone else needs to step aside as he's all business.
Looks like a Heeler I had. One of the best dogs I ever owned. They seem to be a one person dog.

fitz

fitz, he is always at my side. I truly love him. Yes, he is bonded to me only. No one else can control him. I can stop him in his tracks with a forceful command. There is no equal on earth than the devotion of a dog. Really. I don't know of anything that compares to it.

 

[Chris H]

You've mentioned before you only use feed to bait & work them. About the only thing I'd change is not mixing any grain with the mineral. If they need it, they should eat it. Some mineral mixes aren't as palatable as others and you have to mix salt with them. Most of the brands are well received, as long as they're fresh.

I wonder if Big Bertha has developed a hormonal problem? Does she have a calf on her right now?

Chris, you got something to say. In fact, she lost her calf, born dead at the end of April. She had a false heat 15 days later. And came back in heat 20 days later during which I think she got bred. What do you think this may have done to her?

If she's bred, she probably doesn't have a hormone problem. But she's going to be really fat when she calves next year, maybe too fat for a healthy delivery. I'd probably just ship her now and bring in a few more heifers or cows like that heifer you showed here.

Have you ever thought of going to fall calving and taking the calves through a whole year to use up your excess pasture? They'd be ready to finish as yearlings in the fall.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Bertha goes 2000 pounds and most have seen her picture posted here.

Time to cash in.

 

[inyati13]

You've mentioned before you only use feed to bait & work them. About the only thing I'd change is not mixing any grain with the mineral. If they need it, they should eat it. Some mineral mixes aren't as palatable as others and you have to mix salt with them. Most of the brands are well received, as long as they're fresh.

I wonder if Big Bertha has developed a hormonal problem? Does she have a calf on her right now?

Chris, you got something to say. In fact, she lost her calf, born dead at the end of April. She had a false heat 15 days later. And came back in heat 20 days later during which I think she got bred. What do you think this may have done to her?

If she's bred, she probably doesn't have a hormone problem. But she's going to be really fat when she calves next year, maybe too fat for a healthy delivery. I'd probably just ship her now and bring in a few more heifers or cows like that heifer you showed here.

Have you ever thought of going to fall calving and taking the calves through a whole year to use up your excess pasture? They'd be ready to finish as yearlings in the fall.

I have 3 cows that calve in the fall. I am still retaining them on pasture (weaned). I plan to sell Bertha. I will miss her. She has a lot of character. I like a woman with character, don't you?

 

[3waycross]

I have 3 cows that calve in the fall. I am still retaining them on pasture (weaned). I plan to sell Bertha. I will miss her. She has a lot of character.
I like a woman with character, don't you?[/quote]


Not really. I actually like em a little trashy and kinda big butted......... :cowboy: ........but to each his own! :tiphat:

 

[Chris H]

I have 3 cows that calve in the fall. I am still retaining them on pasture (weaned). I plan to sell Bertha. I will miss her. She has a lot of character. I like a woman with character, don't you?

Hahaha, I AM a woman with character!

 

[inyati13]

I have 3 cows that calve in the fall. I am still retaining them on pasture (weaned). I plan to sell Bertha. I will miss her. She has a lot of character.
I like a woman with character, don't you?[/quote]


Not really. I actually like em a little trashy and kinda big butted......... :cowboy: ........but to each his own! :tiphat:

That is really funny. I laughed so hard.

 

[inyati13]

I have 3 cows that calve in the fall. I am still retaining them on pasture (weaned). I plan to sell Bertha. I will miss her. She has a lot of character. I like a woman with character, don't you?

Hahaha, I AM a woman with character!

I should have caught that but I didn't. Hope it made you smile!