Author Topic: Cattle again...  (Read 6453 times)

ninthace

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #45 on: 23:22:45, 19/06/19 »
May have told this before.  Dropping down from Cow Green (no pun intended) I had to pass through a gate that was completely blocked with cows and calves. No option but to push my way through them and no chance to play tippy toe round the most yucky bits.  I got most of the way through them, looking out for tails moving up and sideways ready to take evasive action, when I came across a cow with a funny looking udder and one big teat.  Fortunately, he and they were cooperative.
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barewirewalker

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #46 on: 08:26:59, 21/06/19 »
Photo taken 2007. The owner at least willing to share the temperament of his bull with passers by. But no sign of the the jolly fellow and judging by the vegetation not for some time, but I thought it was a step up from the age worn painted sign of Beware of the Bull as part of a collapsing gate into a field of potatoes.

DSCN4848 by Barewirewalker, on Flickr
Might be a Shorthorn, now that was an on old English dual purpose breed. Beef or Dairy take your pick  :D
BWW
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Jac

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #47 on: 10:25:58, 21/06/19 »
Might be a Shorthorn, now that was an on old English dual purpose breed. Beef or Dairy take your pick  :D



You mean like this one?






or these youngsters by the Wessex Ridgeway

So many paths yet to walk, so little time left

barewirewalker

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #48 on: 10:57:05, 21/06/19 »
Very similar markings, but I am not sure that the Wessex Ridgeway has traveled as far as the Montgomeryshire Shropshire border.

Very interesting suggestion, I am only basing my identification on a 50 year old memory of the cattle my grandfather used to breed. O0
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Jac

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #49 on: 18:07:11, 23/06/19 »

I'm pretty sure they are Beef Shorthorns (not Dairy shorthorns). The bull was at Brampford Speke in the Exe Valley.


I remember dairy shorthorns in the Reading area back in my childhood
So many paths yet to walk, so little time left

barewirewalker

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #50 on: 09:50:10, 24/06/19 »
I'm pretty sure they are Beef Shorthorns (not Dairy shorthorns). The bull was at Brampford Speke in the Exe Valley.


I remember dairy shorthorns in the Reading area back in my childhood
You rightly point out that there are both Dairy and Beef in Shorthorns, which I forgot and I think this was because my reasoning was triggered by the original purpose of this topic. You raise an interesting point, I was thinking of the historical purpose of a purpose breed, which modern farming has almost eradicated. This is a breed where the dam's natural progresses from the dairy to become a 'milch cow' in a multi suckler herd, I personally would feel less threatened to walk into the herd space of a multi suckler herd than single sucklers. Now I have been out of farming for a very long time, but it does raise another question about the incidence of 'bull with herd', whilst calves at foot. This I think is the time of maximum potential aggression. A multi suckler herd will try to maximize the lactation period, the objective of the single suckler herd is to restrict lactation to an annual cycle.

This links into the other topic of mine you responded to. Are country people as responsive to visitors as visitors are respectful of the farming practice? On that walk we were entertained by a full frontal charge by pure bred Hereford yearlings however they came to stop at 10 paces, posed for a couple of photos, then went into full flight mode as we moved towards them.

It turned out that we were talking to the farmer's sister later that day, she went to great lengths to steer us away from her brothers land. What is the underlying psychology and what drives it, the more I think about this, the more I realize that there could be better understanding coming out of the rural community.


As an after thought, the charging bullocks, when they came to a halt to gives us the stare;

hereford bullocks by Barewirewalker, on Flickr
« Last Edit: 14:03:22, 24/06/19 by barewirewalker »
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GnP

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #51 on: 19:59:57, 20/09/19 »
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

April

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #52 on: 20:43:04, 20/09/19 »
Ah, that is awful news  :(

The cows involved were Belted Galloways, a breed of cattle that are normally gentle and no problem (in our experience), it just shows, you just don't know how cattle will behave. It doesn't depend on the breed then does it?  :-\
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Agentorange

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #53 on: 00:50:03, 21/09/19 »
I must admit I'm very wary around cattle. I used to treat them with caution but would generally walk through the field if they seemed docile. But after being charged by a bull in Devon this May I have a tendency to find an alternate route if feasible now.

In all fairness I may have interrupted him at his nuptials as when I turned around after the quickest stile crossing in my life he was , ah, occupied with one of the cows....

pauldawes

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #54 on: 08:20:37, 21/09/19 »
Ah, that is awful news  :(

The cows involved were Belted Galloways, a breed of cattle that are normally gentle and no problem (in our experience), it just shows, you just don't know how cattle will behave. It doesn't depend on the breed then does it?  :-\


It does...to some extent. Some breeds are more likely than others to be troublesome.


But to quote a nephew who works in farming “They are large strong animals. I don’t trust any, of any breed, unless I know them really well”.

GnP

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #55 on: 09:21:56, 21/09/19 »
Cows are very unpredictable..I keep my eyes on them when walking near to them...I try to walk uphill of them as I think they are lazy animals and I dont think they will run uphill....only a theory..if the field is flat I always have one eye on an escape route which changes as I walk along. Could be a low part of fencing or reasonable space in a hedgerow to squeeze through, or better still any gate of course...

I will go through another field if the cows are huddled round a stile I want to cross. I was in the Derbyshire Dales last year & could not find an easy way round a large group of cattle without damaging fencing in other fields. So I walked slowly toward the stile that they were all congregated round on the other side.
They moved away by coincidence but not far. They followed me all the way round that field edge and they were quite a large group too....A tad unnerving. Every time I stopped and faced them they just stood there looking at me..If they are dairy cattle I`m not so worried but if they have calves then I am.
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

barewirewalker

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #56 on: 09:34:04, 21/09/19 »
Sad news indeed.

But I think an indication that distant stock management is the norm. Safety protocols are probably based on management techniques 50 yrs out of date, when most L/stock were handled more. Sadly 'the farmer' if he is an entity separate from the 'landowner' is hamstrung from coming up with alternatives. It is the aversion to offering additional access routes as part of policy that hampers an ethos of safety.

But to quote a nephew who works in farming “They are large strong animals. I don’t trust any, of any breed, unless I know them really well”.
Plenty of evidence that those, who work in the industry have reservations, but has that impinged on those, who write national policy documents.
BWW
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GnP

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #57 on: 09:41:03, 21/09/19 »
I think mechanization of farming doesn`t help...I have seen farmers moving cattle and sheep using four wheel all terrain vehicles...it all cuts down on that human contact, so they become less used to us being close up
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

Slogger

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #58 on: 16:53:42, 22/09/19 »
People do die by cow or bull. It is usually a case of being trampled upon. Cows are herd creatures and if one is spooked, others nearby react too, if one runs they all run etc. If in their vicinity and they are curious which so often is the case, especially the younger ones, and one is accidently pushed causing one to fall, with the animals milling about as they do, then it is easy to understand how someone can be hurt or killed in such a situation. There is always the exception but it seems to me that most tragedies occuring with cattle happen like this, I cannot see that cattle purposely attack people unless there are exceptional circumstances behind such happenings.

Murphy

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Re: Cattle again...
« Reply #59 on: 17:02:01, 22/09/19 »
I vowed I would't get drawn in on this topic again but I can't resist. 


Slogger: " [size=0px]I cannot see that cattle purposely attack people unless there are exceptional circumstances behind such happenings."  
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[size=0px]Appreciate your views and experience but believe me it does happen.  I live to tell the tale x 2 - no exceptional circumstances - just cattle attacking and I too am an experienced walker.   
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