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North Central US | Bernie nw ON - 4/3/2026 09:37
GS2 - 4/3/2026 04:45 260david437 - 3/31/2026 06:25 I bought 29 cows from a Lely robot farm and trying to train them to go through our DeLaval robots. They are starting to do better and several are going through by themself and the rest are starting to go in better. The problem with pets they sneak up behind you and rub there head on your back and give you a shove or come up and want there head scratched. The biggest problem with them is if they don’t want to go where you want them to they ether just stand there and not move or just walk over the top of you. Other than that they are nice cows but I hate to work with tame cows. It is completely genetic. Some of ours from birth like to be "pets" and some that spent their entire life as bottle calves want absolutely nothing to do with a human outside of being fed. Sorry I would disagree. Definitely a genetic component to disposition but to say "It is completely genetic" is certainly different from my observations. Some farms have wild animals, and they have become that way through the skill (or lack of ) the people caring for them. My experience is overwhelmingly with dairy cattle but beef are still cows, albeit typically raised with less human interaction. Have you spent much time around any herds of cattle other than your own?
Quite a bit, yes, as that is how cow work labor works here. I help you, you help me, etc, if one way doesn't work it is made up another way.
Herefords tend to be content, regardless of who's they are. Some are slightly tamer than others.
Angus either are pets or are trying to kill you, doesn't matter from who and a calf from a tame Angus usually is tame throughout its life or snaps and tries killing you.
One neighbor has content Angus. Another had very aggressively dangerous ones, and the aggressive ones basically lived with humans with how much they worked with them. They went down the road. The content ones are basically left alone aside from feeding and tagging.
40 years ago the herd we got was worked with alot and was considered normal for the time. A lot of aggressive attitude culling later and the only concern we usually have is with the heifers, the Angus side usually.
It simply isn't worth getting killed by a cow, regardless of price.
Our Hereford bulls you can walk right up to them, grab one of their horns and shake their head. They'll shake their head back, take a few steps away, look at you, and go on with life. The guy we purchase from also aggressively culls based on all factors, attitude included, more aggressively than we do and I've seen what he calls aggressive. His entire herd you can walk up to, single any animal out by walking around them, no sticks, flags, or even waving, and there is no aggression there. That is what we are aiming for, a calm, content herd, one that takes a lot to rile it up. Herefords are a good starting point and buying from good herds like his are another good way to keep it good. When tagging their calf they may go "mmm" and bump you with their nose but that is about it. The calf can be bellaring, the herd comes and sees it is you and goes on with life.
Otherwise I'm sure you can go to the 4H fair and find at least one steer every year escaping from someone, and those should basically be a human with 4 legs at that point for all the work that goes into them. | |
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Why do people make cows pets
