An Introduction to Buffaloes

[Kusanar]

I always viewed New York as a true American no nonsense money minded working class city and people from West coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco as a group which is more inclined to spend money on luxuries like gourmet cheeses, ice-creams and latest fashion and stuff like that.

Well, New York is complicated. It has a lot of beautiful farmland, it has the "stackable slums" where poor people live in skyscrapers, and it has the big city high life with the expensive clothes and food and such.

Same way California has Hollywood, deserts, and redwood forests.

 

[River Buffaloes]

Well, New York is complicated. It has a lot of beautiful farmland, it has the "stackable slums" where poor people live in skyscrapers, and it has the big city high life with the expensive clothes and food and such.

Same way California has Hollywood, deserts, and redwood forests.

Things are never straightforward, but I sure hope you watch that little video and also explain what is FFF.

 

[Kusanar]

Things are never straightforward, but I sure hope you watch that little video and also explain what is FFF.

Popped it into my watch later que. Will try to watch tonight.

BTW, I don't think I would call what the redhead in the earlier video "riding" a buffalo... lol More like sitting on one while it ignored her existence. lol

 

[River Buffaloes]

Popped it into my watch later que. Will try to watch tonight.

BTW, I don't think I would call what the redhead in the earlier video "riding" a buffalo... lol More like sitting on one while it ignored her existence. lol

Perhaps that buffalo thought that she was better off chewing her cud in the mudhole on a hot afternoon. Buffaloes are calm, but rather intelligent animals, they will do what they think is right thing to do, not necessarily what you tell them to do.

We milk our buffaloes twice a day on a milk sharing plan. That is we let the calves nurse sufficiently before milking. If we try to milk our buffalo again or if the calf tries to nurse again after say 30 minutes or an hour or two, they will outright refuse. Don't even think about it.

 

[River Buffaloes]

When compared to most other forms of livestock, water buffaloes herds are more hierarchical in nature. This is not an oppressive hierarchy that we see in animals like wolves or monkeys etc. It's not based on the resources, it's based around leadership and it isn't hereditary. In every herd there's a mature female with a dominant personality that always leads the herd. She is called 'the leader', there's a second in command as well. The leader leads the herd other females and their calves follow with juvenile females staying at the back of the herd. In a well established herd there's never a fight for supremacy. If you remove the leader from the herd, the second most dominant female will automatically assume command.

Adult males are persona non Grata in the herd, they are just guests who only stay for few hours. Female buffaloes only like males around them when they are in estrous. Males are kept alone or in small bachelor herds. It's a very bad idea to keep a sub adult or adult males in Buffalo herds. It will cause stress in the animals.

If you put a buffalo herd in a pasture, they will not spread out evenly with one going in this corner and another going in that like cattle. They will always go where their leader decides to go.

I am telling this because people who keep buffaloes use it to their own advantage. They name the leaders and they are treated like pets. If you can get the leader to come when you call, you can get the whole herd where ever you want without ever having to herd them from behind.

 

[Kusanar]

When compared to most other forms of livestock, water buffaloes herds are more hierarchical in nature. This is not an oppressive hierarchy that we see in animals like wolves or monkeys etc. It's not based on the resources, it's based around leadership and it's hereditary. In every herd there's a mature female with a dominant personality that always leads the herd. She is called 'the leader', there's a second in command as well. The leader leads the herd other females and their calves follow with juvenile females staying at the back of the herd. In a well established herd there's never a fight for supremacy. If you remove the leader from the herd, the second most dominant female will automatically assume command.

Horses do this to a degree but it isn't hereditary.

In a well established herd, there is some fighting for supremacy but it is only between animals of similar rank. So, the #1 will not fight with or pick on the #5 but #1 and #2 have slight disputes as do #2 and #3 and so on.

In a wild herd, the lead horse is actually a female, she determines where the herd goes, what they do, and if a youngster steps out of line, she disciplines them by driving them from the herd and not letting them back in until they express that they are her subordinate. The males do stay with the herd year round, but only 1 mature male and young males are with the herd, once the young males are 1.5 to 2 years old and they start showing interest in the females they are driven out to form bachelor herds where they grow and play fight to get the strength and skills needed to be able to supplant the mature stallion in a herd or to steal some females from him to start a new herd.

Basically, the females run the show, the males are only really there for breeding and to protect the girls.

 

[Kusanar]

Things are never straightforward, but I sure hope you watch that little video and also explain what is FFF.

Ok, watched it. It is actually FFA. Stands for Future Farmers of America. I was never in it, so fuzzy on details but basically it is kids that are in an after school organization that teaches them about farming. I believe that they raise animals while tracking everything and seeing the profits and losses, learn to handle animals, learn about agriculture, etc.

 

[Baymule]

I was in FFA in High School. It was boys only, so when me and my best friend joined and took the classes, there was quite a to-do over it. The newspaper did a story on us. I raised a hog, got reserve grand champion and my friend raised a steer.

 

[Bruce]

I always viewed New York as a true American no nonsense money minded working class city and people from West coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco as a group which is more inclined to spend money on luxuries like gourmet cheeses, ice-creams and latest fashion and stuff like that.

Um, no
All of those big cities are a mix of big money down to outright poverty. Everything from the "1%ers" to living in subsidized buildings and barely hanging on.

Interesting video on the first river buffalo ranch in the USA, thanks.

 

[River Buffaloes]

Horses do this to a degree but it isn't hereditary.

In a well established herd, there is some fighting for supremacy but it is only between animals of similar rank. So, the #1 will not fight with or pick on the #5 but #1 and #2 have slight disputes as do #2 and #3 and so on.

In a wild herd, the lead horse is actually a female, she determines where the herd goes, what they do, and if a youngster steps out of line, she disciplines them by driving them from the herd and not letting them back in until they express that they are her subordinate. The males do stay with the herd year round, but only 1 mature male and young males are with the herd, once the young males are 1.5 to 2 years old and they start showing interest in the females they are driven out to form bachelor herds where they grow and play fight to get the strength and skills needed to be able to supplant the mature stallion in a herd or to steal some females from him to start a new herd.

Basically, the females run the show, the males are only really there for breeding and to protect the girls.

Oh, I made a mistake there. I meant it isn't hereditary. I corrected it, I believe I was sleepy.