inyati13
Well-known member
Remember the picture of a tail I thought got frozen off. Aaron made a good suggestion that it probably got stepped on.
Well, I have noticed 3 cows with all or part of their tassels missing. I had seen it before and just thought the hair had shed out. I looked at the tip of the tail on each and there is a couple caudal vertebra showing where the tassel has slipped off the bone.
Here is what I think has happened: The cows lay on the surface of the hay put down area in the winter. The surface is almost like concrete now where the mine waste limerock has set-up. We had a series of storms starting in Mid January and continuing into March. The storms started with rain, the rain turned into an ice storm, and ended in snow and blowing bitter cold with wind chills well below Zero. The tail gets in the water then the ice. It becomes frozen to the hard solid surface. The cows and calves stay down until the tassel is solidly cemented by ice to the surface. When they get up, it pulls the tassel off the tip of their tail.
Well, I have noticed 3 cows with all or part of their tassels missing. I had seen it before and just thought the hair had shed out. I looked at the tip of the tail on each and there is a couple caudal vertebra showing where the tassel has slipped off the bone.
Here is what I think has happened: The cows lay on the surface of the hay put down area in the winter. The surface is almost like concrete now where the mine waste limerock has set-up. We had a series of storms starting in Mid January and continuing into March. The storms started with rain, the rain turned into an ice storm, and ended in snow and blowing bitter cold with wind chills well below Zero. The tail gets in the water then the ice. It becomes frozen to the hard solid surface. The cows and calves stay down until the tassel is solidly cemented by ice to the surface. When they get up, it pulls the tassel off the tip of their tail.