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Racing Cows

A mate of mine at school came from Irish stock. His uncle in Northern Ireland used to tell him, if you get charged by a bull punch it on the nose.
 
A mate of mine at school came from Irish stock. His uncle in Northern Ireland used to tell him, if you get charged by a bull punch it on the nose.
It's risky, but it has been known to work.
 
A farmer told me that if ever his cows were bothering me I could hit them with my stick and they'd lose interest. There was a narrow path I walked along in between their field and the river and I wasn't entirely comfortable with them all rushing over to crowd round the fence and follow me. I was concerned that the fence would give way and I'd end up in the river. I had no intention of putting it to the test and just had to learn to trust the fence as it seemed preferable to provide a bit of entertainment for bored cows than be cruel to them. No way would I put the method to the test with bulls or sharks!

Sollywos x
 
A farmer told me that if ever his cows were bothering me I could hit them with my stick and they'd lose interest. There was a narrow path I walked along in between their field and the river and I wasn't entirely comfortable with them all rushing over to crowd round the fence and follow me. I was concerned that the fence would give way and I'd end up in the river. I had no intention of putting it to the test and just had to learn to trust the fence as it seemed preferable to provide a bit of entertainment for bored cows than be cruel to them. No way would I put the method to the test with bulls or sharks!

Sollywos x

Use the stick to hit farmers that follow you instead.
 
When I worked with cattle (dairy herd) I had a 'favourite cow'. She used to lick my hands and arms for the salt when I'd been working hard at the end of the day, and eat cow cubes off hand hand, like a horse.

I loved her. RIP my lovely Salad (yes, that was her name).
 
There was a young Researcher (outstanding in his Field)
:clap:
At first I was confused by this list, but then remembered something that people not knowing bovines, probably didn't know. Interesting to me is that farmers "feed" their cattle magnets (one only). The magnet (at least the ones I played with as a kid) is about 3-4 inches long, smooth cylindrical. It is injected (not exactly sure if injected or inserted is the right word) through a tube that is inserted into the cow's mouth to its stomach. The magnet stays there to attract any wire that the cow may eat. It protects the cow from a punctured stomach that would happen if the wire remained free floating in it.

Cattle don't intentionally eat wire, but you never know what they might come across when grazing.
This reminds me of Papillon. Only, the convicts used to have to, erm, re-insert their cylindrical objects every day. How come the cows avoid this unsavoury requirement?
 
:clap:

This reminds me of Papillon. Only, the convicts used to have to, erm, re-insert their cylindrical objects every day. How come the cows avoid this unsavoury requirement?
Cows have four stomachs so it is placed in the first one . They also regurgitate their food and chew the cud to further break it down to then pass through the next stomach. I have never really investigated bovine digestive process, but this would be why, I'm almost sure, the magnet stays in the first stomach.
 
Don't know why I didn't ask this before: is there ever so much metallic foreign matter stuck to the magnet in the first stomach that it becomes advisable to get it out?
 
Don't know why I didn't ask this before: is there ever so much metallic foreign matter stuck to the magnet in the first stomach that it becomes advisable to get it out?
I have no idea, myself.
 
Don't know why I didn't ask this before: is there ever so much metallic foreign matter stuck to the magnet in the first stomach that it becomes advisable to get it out?

Surgery is sometimes performed when accumulation of metal leads to hardware disease:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_disease

... but I can't find any mention of removing the magnet for maintenance / cleaning purposes short of the cow's exhibiting symptoms of illness or internal injury (which would require surgery).
 
Hate to say it but I suspect the life-span of a Dairy cow doesn't warrant (economically) the surgical removal of a magnet.
 
Hate to say it but I suspect the life-span of a Dairy cow doesn't warrant (economically) the surgical removal of a magnet.

Yep ... The Wikipedia article on hardware disease mentions slaughter as an option that is often the most economically justified choice.
 
That does seem likely. Poor cows! :(

From the article: "It [hardware disease] is very rarely reported in any other ruminants."
Does this indicate that deer are smarter than cows? Or just less complacent?

BTW, I once heard an interview with an ornithologist who complained that the birds he netted for banding were sometimes eaten by deer. Deer have their place, but they are certainly not Bambi!
 
That does seem likely. Poor cows! :(

From the article: "It [hardware disease] is very rarely reported in any other ruminants."
Does this indicate that deer are smarter than cows? Or just less complacent?

Probably deer are more fussy eaters, although I'm not sure who would be reporting hardware disease in non-bovine ruminants and on what scale.
Incidentally, we kept some farm pigs in the 1960s and they would get 'slops' delivered, which was left-over food collected from the local Schools.
This practice stopped when it was decided that left-overs shouldn't enter the food chain ie what was fit for human consumption wasn't fit for animal consumption. Point was that in the bottom of the troughs after the pigs had finished were the odd knives and forks and an surprising amount of broken glass - none ingested and all carefully licked clean.
 
... From the article: "It [hardware disease] is very rarely reported in any other ruminants."
Does this indicate that deer are smarter than cows? Or just less complacent? ...
Probably deer are more fussy eaters ...

According to the hardware disease article (cited above) the key fact is that cows are relatively sloppy and indisriminate eaters:

Cattle commonly swallow foreign objects, because they do not use their lips to discriminate between materials and they do not completely chew their feed before swallowing. ...
 
That does seem likely. Poor cows! :(

From the article: "It [hardware disease] is very rarely reported in any other ruminants."
Does this indicate that deer are smarter than cows? Or just less complacent?!
I don't know about domesticated deer (those raised by people), but I wonder if it (meaning metal objects such as pieces of fencing) is not something that wild deer are exposed to as often as domesticated cattle.
 
Cows are quirky critters. Certainly with the local ones you never quite know what they'll do when you and your dog follow the footpath through their field. Ignore you completely? Watch you while contemplatively chewing the cud? Gravitate inquisitively toward you? Follow you across part of or the entirely of the field? Bounce and run around you like overgrown calves? Thankfully, if they get a little much, it just takes a step forward, a hand out and a firm voice to get them to calm down and back off. Even more thankfully, the big red-brown bull that's often around in the warmer months is so placid and easy-going I'm not sure much of anything could get a reaction out of him.

Their responsiveness certainly came in handy the time, walking along the road with Tigger, I spotted an especially motley and characterful herd - shaggy coats, a range of colours, a random assortment of horns - heading along a lane that would bring them to the road with no trace of accompanying humans. I don't know how anyone else might have reacted, but Tigs and I rushed to the lane to block them off. They stopped, shifted around a bit, one got just a little headstrong, but then they turned and headed back down the lane. The farmer who owned them was grateful, and it turns out they'd exploited a weakness in the hedgerow to get out of their field. They're smarter than they might seem!
 
I am very fond of cows, and a big enemy of the anti-cow.

Sollywos has a good point; Cows are unlikley to hurt you if not with calves or a bull.

They are very curious, and do not like dogs.

Anyone taking a dog into a field with cows is asking for it.
 
They are very curious, and do not like dogs.

Anyone taking a dog into a field with cows is asking for it.

I think that's a little harsh; by that logic, Tigger and I should have been pounded into the loam years ago, but we're still fine. It depends on the cows, the dog, and the person. Caution is certainly advisable, though - if in doubt, don't go in.
 
Our dog Dolly is always on a lead and would jump at her own shadow. She would not pose a threat to a cow.

In fact, my wife's eldest has a great little video of her Welsh Terrier, on a lead, walking past a field full of cows. She is like a cow whisperer, with all the cows following her (Rusty on a long lead). Eventually, one cow being nose to nose with Rusty.
 
I don't know that cows don't like dogs. We used collies and German shepherds to herd the cattle. The cattle were not afraid of them. The cattle might be relaxing in the field and try to ignore the dog who was trying to get them moving, but I did not see fear nor dislike. It was more like 'oh here comes the yappy one who thinks he's the boss'. Usually the cattle would only get going once the lead cow got moving.
 
Herd of cows on the A2 in Kent.

Short video.

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