The cow thread

Quote:
"A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains."

Cow bells.1.jpg
 

hollydolly said:
Cattle-tew-farm-HD.jpg
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What breed ? are these with the odd horns ?

They look like Mammoths .
 

911 said:
I worked on a huge farm my last 3 years of high school. We had a beef herd and a dairy herd. I cleaned the milking parlors and did the dirty work, like cleaning the stalls. The owner was a real business man. He not only owned his huge farm, but during my second year on the farm, he bought the farm next to his. Don’t quote me on this, but I think he ended up with 3-4,000 acres. We also planted corn, soybeans, hay and some smaller crops of potatoes, tobacco and wheat and straw. I loved every day of working on the farm.

I named a few of the cows and heifers. I also named the one bull Satan. He couldn’t be trusted. I think the ring in his nose kind of upset him, especially when we would move him and have to use it to get him to get going.

When I would go home after a day’s work on the farm, my mom made me undress outside. I had to keep my boots also outside. When I would take my clothes off, I put them into a burlap bag and let them sit outside until mom did the wash. She would wash my clothes separate from the other clothes that needed to be washed.

A quick funny story. Some of the chickens ran wild, others would be in the henhouses. When we would have too many chickens or some would get old, you could tell their age by their leg band or their faded color, the boss would tell us if we wanted some for eating to take a couple. My mom knew about this and would ask me why I never brought any chickens home. I told her that I just couldn’t kill them because I knew them and had names for most of them. There was no way I could eat them. I had this one chicken I named Henrietta. She was an older Rhode Island Red. I came back to work after being off for a day and I didn’t see her. I asked the other guys where was Henrietta. The one hand told me that Paul took her home. I felt sick to my stomach, but when I found out that the guys hid her from me, it really changed my attitude. OK, so they had a good laugh and I had to laugh along with them too or I wouldn’t have heard the worst of it.
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Hey—-I see you are back. Glad to see you again. Call me sometime.
 
grahamg said:
Here it is, (excuse poor skill anonymising faces):

View attachment 223351
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"Once again" anyone else knocked out by this photo of three children a very very tame cow and its calf are very happy to allow to sit upon then whilst they are winning first prize in their class at a huge agricultural show, watched by both their relaxed parents, (and of course the owner of the two cattle, who had been sitting on the cow himself a few moments before!)?
 
grahamg said:
"Once again" anyone else knocked out by this photo of three children a very very tame cow and its calf are very happy to allow to sit upon then whilst they are winning first prize in their class at a huge agricultural show, watched by both their relaxed parents, (and of course the owner of the two cattle, who had been sitting on the cow himself a few moments before!)?
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grahamg said:
How to ride a cow, (but only if it is made of ceramic!):

View attachment 223755
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I used to ride our cows all the time when I was little. There were 3 who didn't mind at all, one who had to be in the mooood, and the rest were mostly against the idea. My favorite was Betsy. She would actually invite me onto her back and then intentionally take the long way to the milking barn.
 
rgp said:
What breed ? are these with the odd horns ?

They look like Mammoths .
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The photo you responded to above showed "Longhorn cattle", (similar to the ones in the photo with children sitting on them at the Royal Lancashire Show last year).

A mate of mine is a judge of the Longhorn cattle at the Cheshire Show, coming up in a week or so, (and has his own small herd).

You may have heard of the more numerous "Shorthorn Cattle" too, the ones my grandparents used to milk, and my father had a few, these were I suspect bred from the more ancient Longhorn breed, and they were known for good temperaments generally, and could produce both milk and a good beef animal.

Some of them are being cross bred into the more prolific milk producing breeds like Friesians, the black and white cattle seen everywhere, in order to make the offspring hardier, and better for beef too!
 
Gaer said:
When i lived in Montana, I noticed the cattle all face into a blizzard.
In other parts of the country, I've seen them back into blizzards.
Do they not know?
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I only knew (or heard) that cows face into the wind when it's blowing hard.

So I looked at Google and found info I don't understand; about the Earth's magnetic fields North and South.

https://www.livescience.com/5083-cows-strange-sixth-sense.html

https://jclintschumacher.com/buffalo/

To be even more confusing (sorry) but I'd read in the past that dogs will poop only if facing either North or South. My dog has debunked that theory. 🤣
 
Cattle, or any farm livestock will know the best place to shelter come what may, that's guaranteed, (here thick holly bushes are one of the best windbreaks I know, but it could even be a dip in the ground, combined with trees or banks creating a good spot to weather out a blizzard!) :)
 
I worked with a Trooper while I was in the Investigation Department. He would always claim that when he retired he was going to buy a farm. He retired just before COVID hit and in 2020, he bought a small farm. I think he said he has around 40 acres. He raises Black Angus steers that he buys at auction, which he feeds in the pasture. The remaining land is used to grow hay and corn to feed the steers.

The plan is to buy the young steers at auction, keep them for 2 or so years and sell them to customers after they have been butchered, which is about 2 or so years after he buys them. He has no problem selling the meat. Some of the customers have become repeat and buy a quarter or a half a steer during each late fall. They reserve their share from year to year. He has been considering enlarging the herd.

He had heard me telling farm stories when we were on the force together, so he called me on the phone about a year after he started the farm and asked if I would work part time. I thought about it and agreed to try it. I am still on the job and am enjoying the 3-5 hours that I work each day Monday through Friday. So far, so good.
 

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