aggresive she-cow

[Roscommon Acres]

And after you get her dehorned, carry a stick!! Cattle are herd dominant by hitting others
with their heads. The MOST pushy cow, gets first pick of the food, so being dominant in
the herd is IMPORTANT. Even with no horns, you may have to teach your cattle to
"respect your personal space" and NOT rub on you EVER.

Question here. I have small cattle (Dexters) and they are the sweetest things. Dehorned for all the above reasons, but I've never thought anything of them rubbing on me. The dominant one will sometimes sneak in a little shove but I say hey and she backs up. The submissive one will gently rub her neck up and down the side of my leg and right now with her buddy visiting a bull at another farm, she is almost like a cat every time I enter the pasture.

Is the rubbing itself a dominant behavior I should stop, or is it one of those things that can mean other things? I've always just thought it meant, "Hi! I missed you!" and my only "rule" so far has been that they can't move me. I've been answering it with lots of rubbing and petting of my own and scratches all along their back and flank.

(These are intended as family milk cows, not beef, so they get lots and lots of attention.)

 

[redtailgal]

Around here there is one rule the livestock must abide by..........I can touch them whenever and however I want, and they may not touch me unless invited. No exceptions. I dont care how sweet they are.

1200 pounds of sweetness can kill you just as dead as 1200 pounds of aggression.

Calves should understand that the humans are bigger, badder and stronger from the get go, and they should NEVER be allowed to realize when they are bigger, badder and stronger.

I'm with Greybeard, not a fan of hotshots, they often make a situation worse because they are not used properly.

Get you a stout stick, and teach them early to move away from the stick. Be as gentle as possible and a firm as needed.

As for the mean heifer.........she'd be dead. Not a trait I'd want bred into the herd, not something I want to use as a sentimental hayburner, just dead and in my freezer. She'll likely get worse once she is bred, and her mannerisms will be genetically carried over to her calves, as well as certain attitudes TAUGHT to her calves as well. Honestly, if she'd tried to hit me, she'd be lucky to make it to the slaughter pen, I'd probably shoot her myself. She'd be Dead, Jim.

To many good cattle out there to worry over snotty beef.

 

[Roscommon Acres]

Around here there is one rule the livestock must abide by..........I can touch them whenever and however I want, and they may not touch me unless invited. No exceptions. I dont care how sweet they are.

1200 pounds of sweetness can kill you just as dead as 1200 pounds of aggression.

Calves should understand that the humans are bigger, badder and stronger from the get go, and they should NEVER be allowed to realize when they are bigger, badder and stronger.

I'm with Greybeard, not a fan of hotshots, they often make a situation worse because they are not used properly.

Get you a stout stick, and teach them early to move away from the stick. Be as gentle as possible and a firm as needed.

As for the mean heifer.........she'd be dead. Not a trait I'd want bred into the herd, not something I want to use as a sentimental hayburner, just dead and in my freezer. She'll likely get worse once she is bred, and her mannerisms will be genetically carried over to her calves, as well as certain attitudes TAUGHT to her calves as well. Honestly, if she'd tried to hit me, she'd be lucky to make it to the slaughter pen, I'd probably shoot her myself. She'd be Dead, Jim.

To many good cattle out there to worry over snotty beef.

I totally get that. Our beef steer scared me, partly because he was so friendly. He had zero flight zone (my daughter rode him, so we weren't going to make him nervous flapping our arms about) and he'd come running in if he saw a bucket. For awhile, we practiced leading him on his halter from the outside of the electric fence until I wondered if poking him in the nose with a stick would get him to back off a little.

Dexters are half the size, though, so not so very scary. They don't charge me for their feed. They get excited and run up, but I can walk through the pasture with a feed bucket and they'll dance about beside me and head butt each other, but they don't touch me. They've never lowered their head and tried to meet any part of me with it. Sometimes I think they think I'm a scratching post and I shove them off of me, but if they come in slow and gentle and put their neck against me or rub lightly, I have always responded with lovings, but I've never really thought about it.

Thank you!