In my experience cows are peculiar animals. What do you mean by that you might ask. Over the years we’ve owned just about every kind of farm animal from bison to banties and none with a personality quite like cows.
If you buy a horse you expect it will perform for you, like it did the previous owner. And as long as your level or riding is the same as the previous owner that is generally the case. With cows, not so much. There is an element of trust that has to be achieved before they will allow you to brush, touch, halter or any other tasks they allowed the person who raised them, or previous owner. Sometimes they lash out, not out of aggression, but more offensive because they do not know you or what you are capable of
I remember some 18 years ago we met a gentleman who was dissolving his complete fold of registered, bred Highlands. We bought 6 ranging in age from 1 to 6 years.
When we went to pick them out (he was one state away) we walked through his crowded paddock where he had brought them all for us to see. We walked with him through these majestic animals and was in awe how gentle they were with him (and us) walking and brushing in such close quarters. We picked the 6 we wanted and after gathering their registration papers and information on each we headed home.
We were new to purchasing adult bovines but just expected what we loaded in the trailer that day is what we would see when we greeted them the next morning.
This was not the case………
A Walk in The Woods
We turned them out in one of our wooded pastures not being used when we arrived home that evening.
The next morning we took a walk through the woods to visit our new highland ladies. They did not try to run as we talked and approached them. When I was within about 5 feet of the one in front she flat out tried to ram me. I deflected her horns with my arm and took refuge behind a tree. I never thought I could move that fast.
Had I not been in the woods where I could get behind a tree the outcome might not have been so good.
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I want to add straight away, if a cow does not come around and is clearly aggressive she will not stay on our farm. They do not have to like me, not all cows like to be touched, they are individuals, but they do have to respect me. They can back away but they can not advance or threaten in any way, especially with their horns.
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Was it Aggression
Long story short, two days later she had her calf. She wasn’t being mean or aggressive, she was letting me know she had precious cargo on the way and she did not trust me.
It took a while but we gained her trust and respect (and she gained ours :). After some time, patience and treats as rewards, she turned out to be just as sweet as she was the day we went to see her at the only home she had ever known. She eventually figured out we were not a threat and we were in fact her superior.
It took longer with this group because we had turned them out on several acres prior to getting to know them.
Gaining their trust
What we have implemented from the experience on that day is we take the full 30 day quarantine period to get to know them and gain their trust.
No one gets turned out in a large area until we have formed some sort of trust and bond with them. If at all possible we separate them from each other if we purchase more than one, so they need to depend on us without the back up of their bovine friends.
We are not “cow experts” by no means. We just do what works for us in our years of having cattle. We have a system that we go through with every new arrival that lets us evaluate their temperament during their 30 days of quarantine/isolation period, and it seems to be working.