Pecking order

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Cowdirt

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Seems that my cows have gone crazy for the last couple of days. My herd has been together for years. I thought they had long since worked out that dominance thing. I look in the pasture and they are all in a huddle; then three or four will gang-up on one cow. They run her off and tell her to stand in the corner for a few days and "we'll let you know when to return". Won't be long until they pick out another and do the same thing. I guess they know what they're doing I sure don't. :)
 
Mine apparently had some kind of coup this spring. One of the older cows who was pretty laid back decided that she now has rank on most of the cows less than 4 years old. Lots of sparring and chasing for about a week before things settled down.
 
grannysoo":1n3onipp said:
talldog":1n3onipp said:
Women are all the same ----- You never know what they're thinkin !!!!!! :lol: :lol:

True. Very true....

:?: :shock: Do I hear the sound of eggshells crunching?............
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cmf1":1angh0lp said:
Sounds like my daughters Junior high, day in and day out.
Good grief ain't that the truth!!!!! I can't believe some of the stuff I hear them little snots pull on each other these days. I don't remember it being that bad when I was a kid, or even when my kids were in school but Grand daughter has some interesting stories.
I have a cow that enjoys the game of come here and I will lick you and love you then after a few licks and being nice she beats the hello out of her "victim".
 
CKC1586":3cxm9ot7 said:
cmf1":3cxm9ot7 said:
Sounds like my daughters Junior high, day in and day out.
Good grief ain't that the truth!!!!! I can't believe some of the stuff I hear them little snots pull on each other these days. I don't remember it being that bad when I was a kid, or even when my kids were in school but Grand daughter has some interesting stories.
I have a cow that enjoys the game of come here and I will lick you and love you then after a few licks and being nice she beats the hello out of her "victim".


This all sounds much like that tv show "Survivor" :lol2: . (social maneuvering)

My cows would exhibit this behavior every now and then too. I think someone on CT once mentioned that it might not only be a herd dominance thing but maybe also a cow being in heat.
 
One thing that I've noticed in my herd is that it's not the "biggest and baddest" (in my opinion at least)cow that comes out on top in this exercise. I guess my opinion of mean and bad ain't the same as that of the bovine order. Sometimes the bull gets tired of this nonsense and puts a stop to it. This time he just keeps grazing and lets them have at it.
 
Don't know if this applies, but I read something years ago on the herd behavior. Being the leader and being the dominant cow are two different things. The leader decides where the herd is going, the dominant one just beats others up. Being dominant takes alot of effort - spend time in the middle of the herd knocking others around while someone else provides the direction. Though in a small pasture, don't know how much leadership is needed any more. If my memory is wrong, I'd be interested to hear.
 
Had a bunch of cross braham cows all with long horns, they were always fighting when I fed them even though they had been together for years, after feeding them one evening I went back 30 minutes later and one lay dead with blood running out of her mouth i think they ganged up on her and killed her. I got tired of being in a sword fight every time I fed the cubes so I sold every horned cow on the place I have only mullies now. Actually I have gotten too slow to dodge the horns ain't fun no more. Awhile back neighbors Longhorn herd got on the place seemed like they all had six foot horn spans they were so gentle they would eat out your hand I led them off the place on foot with cubes ,sure had to watch when they swung their heads.
 
djinwa":1wnr4ev1 said:
Don't know if this applies, but I read something years ago on the herd behavior. Being the leader and being the dominant cow are two different things. The leader decides where the herd is going, the dominant one just beats others up. Being dominant takes alot of effort - spend time in the middle of the herd knocking others around while someone else provides the direction. Though in a small pasture, don't know how much leadership is needed any more. If my memory is wrong, I'd be interested to hear.

We have a small herd and small acreage but there is still a lead cow. She had twins this year and so we locked her and the twins in the corral the first couple of nights to try and ensure both calves got to nurse enough, or that she didn't lose track of one and coyotes get it, etc. The rest of the herd would graze a little while right outside the gate and then bed down. When I went outside in the morning to turn mom and twins out, they were all still there. They weren't going anywhere without their leader! This happened 2 or 3 nights in a row; after that we knew the twins were both being well cared for and just left the gate open.
 
I culled my two lead cows last year..I still do not know how the herd manages to figure out where they are going.. :lol2: Usually there are 3 or 4 different groups and they eventually end up all together for a while even if it is to come up for water. I guess they will figure out a new leader soon enough, I hope it isn't one I am planning on selling right away as a 3 in one though. I hope they choose a grain hoe ,it will make things easy for me when I call them up.. ;-)
 
I think my boss cows are prejudice. When the red and black angus are put together after the bulls are pulled, the leaders of each breed keep their herds apart. It's an odd sight to see.
 
Last year the boss cow calved late and was not real well afterward so we locked her up for a couple of weeks. When we let her out the cows ganged up on her ond got her down in the ditch. They would have killed her if we had not intervened.

She was never the boss again!!!!!!!!

...........................................she is now in the canine nutritional business.
 
3waycross":1wxpxx1w said:
Last year the boss cow calved late and was not real well afterward so we locked her up for a couple of weeks. When we let her out the cows ganged up on her ond got her down in the ditch. They would have killed her if we had not intervened.

She was never the boss again!!!!!!!!

...........................................she is now in the canine nutritional business.

3way, I guess in this case the old saying: "What goes around comes around" is applicable eh?
 
We raise red and black angus bulls for slaughter (small scale kosher operation, kind of unique). Anyways, I recently reintroduced a young bull that had been sick and had been separated from the others by a fence for a while. For the next 15 minutes or so all 5 bulls were swirling around in a circle trying to mount each other and moving all around the pasture, looked a black and red tornado, actually pretty fun to watch until they reconfigured their pecking order.
 
shloh1981":2dlsfoc1 said:
We raise red and black angus bulls for slaughter (small scale kosher operation, kind of unique). Anyways, I recently reintroduced a young bull that had been sick and had been separated from the others by a fence for a while. For the next 15 minutes or so all 5 bulls were swirling around in a circle trying to mount each other and moving all around the pasture, looked a black and red tornado, actually pretty fun to watch until they reconfigured their pecking order.


Why bulls instead of steers?
 
Good question, steers aren't considered kosher according to jewish law. Basically, kosher animals need to be unblemished and castration is considered to be a blemish.
 

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