Author Topic: Cows again  (Read 7522 times)

Little Foot

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #30 on: 09:47:18, 24/09/20 »
Oh ok. I didn’t have a good look to be honest, it didn’t look huge like a lot of bulls do so perhaps it was just a cow.

barewirewalker

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #31 on: 09:59:39, 24/09/20 »
One cow humping another does not necessarily mean one of them is a bull.  It is a means of showing dominance or sometimes I think they are just bored!
It is a sign that one of them is 'on heat' or bulling in cowman's parlance. Probably one one that is attempted to be served. This is a sign that the dairyman will look for so if the cow is at the right stage of her lactation she be taken out of the herd and put to the bull or artificial insemination. The reason why a bull does not usually run with a dairy herd is because not all the cows will be at the right stage of their lactation to be served.
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Jac

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #32 on: 10:48:11, 24/09/20 »
..............The reason why a bull does not usually run with a dairy herd is because not all the cows will be at the right stage of their lactation to be served.

that's interesting.
I thought it was the breed of the bull that was proscribed and assumed that it was because dairy breed bulls are more feisty/unpredictable. We occasionally come across dairy (Friesian) cows with a beef breed bull. 
A friend who worked with Jerseys reckoned Jersey bulls were not to be trusted.
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ninthace

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #33 on: 12:43:08, 24/09/20 »
that's interesting.
I thought it was the breed of the bull that was proscribed and assumed that it was because dairy breed bulls are more feisty/unpredictable. We occasionally come across dairy (Friesian) cows with a beef breed bull. 
A friend who worked with Jerseys reckoned Jersey bulls were not to be trusted.
As a lad I helped out on a farm that kept Jerseys.  I can confirm that they are not to be trusted when you are crammed into a yard with them sorting them out for milking (they had to be done in order).  You could almost guarantee that the one you had your back to would try to poo on you if it could.   It is amazing how quick you can put another cow between yourself and a lifting tail if you try!
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Dodgylegs

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #34 on: 13:03:30, 24/09/20 »
This useful sign was on Pennine Way route going alongside river Tees back in 2015.

ninthace

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #35 on: 13:17:22, 24/09/20 »
I passed through that field several times when I lived up there between 2011 and 2016.  There was often a bull in that field and sometimes more that one.  When I passed they barely looked up.
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windyrigg

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #36 on: 16:41:15, 24/09/20 »
On St Cuthberts' Way from Melrose to Holy Island I came across 24 (!) bulls within fields en route. Some ignored me or were a way off, others were avoidable by a detour etc. Only a couple showed aggression but on both occasions it was to other people with a dog! Difficult to recommend what was a good walk to anyone who has an issue with cattle! I almost wondered if it was a deliberate attempt to dissuade access; I used to manage a nature reserve which had a trespass problem and had an arrangement with a farmer to graze a bull on the land when the birds were breeding, worked really well at keeping un-desirables off .   

ninthace

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #37 on: 17:22:20, 24/09/20 »
I'd rather face a bull than geese or an angry cockerel.  Those things are fearless and there is no negotiating with them!
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BuzyG

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #38 on: 17:48:12, 24/09/20 »
I'd rather face a bull than geese or an angry cockerel.  Those things are fearless and there is no negotiating with them!
100% agree on geese.   O0  Them critters has anger management issues and sharp beaks.

barewirewalker

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #39 on: 11:18:45, 25/09/20 »
There are many ways with today's farm equipment, technology and understanding that the dangers livestock now present are not dealt with. In another topic the offset pavement shows that pedestrian traffic in an earlier age chose alternative ways. The occupiers accepted this to the extent that some these ways got onto the OS maps. This was done long before H&S laws made it a responsibility to respond to perceived danger.


Why is it one of the tools available is only seen as a means of detecting in order evict visitors rather than monitoring livestock behavior? Namely portable CCTV advertised in Land and Business to detect poachers and trespassers, rather that observing the safe passage of walkers along a right of way and identifying problem animals before serious injury happens.

The reason is the understanding of the leisure asset of the countryside has not advanced with progress.
BWW
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barewirewalker

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #40 on: 14:57:37, 25/09/20 »
When I was at Agriculture College in 1962 the protocols for safety regarding the types of bulls in fields were exactly the same as they are today, I learnt of these in the year before at block release, as far as I know these protocols dated from the 1950's perhaps even earlier. At that time we were already already crossing Charollais onto dairy breeds, most beef rearing was done with the Cross bred calves that were the byproduct of a very much more diverse dairy industry. Many hill and marginal farms were still milking as the monthly milk cheque was important regular income. The milking cows would be handled twice a day as they had necks chains put on in the days of cowshed milking with portable milking units. I was also told during a lecture on methods of beef production about Single Suckler herds were a past method, yet then those cattle would still be bought into farm buildings regularly and the dames were familiar with being tethered.

Today we have a great variety of breeds ranging from rare breeds to the continental breeds intensely bred to achieve the double muscled conformation, yet no recognition has been made to monitor herd behaviour in relation to the free range management and great variety of hybrid characteristics. Where I would agree that the identification of animal aggression is the responsibility of the herdsman, those protocols to mitigate the effects must clearly be a Land Management issue.

My previous post may seem flippant, yet such simple strategies as using an electric fence to create a safe area around the entry points and even several places for exit could prove far better than narrow corridors of fenced off pathways.

Where is the training for such methods or even the research, should it come out of the SFS payments that go into the pockets of many landowners, who have never driven a herd of cattle down lane and observe that they soil the pavement as well as the roadway.

I am also serious about CCTV.
BWW
Their Land is in Our Country.

gunwharfman

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Eyelet

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #42 on: 11:10:35, 26/09/20 »
Another two associations between an incident and the presence of a dog in the cattle's field again in the death and in the second reference to the injured lady dog-walker in Leicestershire :( .




richardh1905

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #43 on: 11:51:07, 26/09/20 »
I'd rather face a bull than geese or an angry cockerel.  Those things are fearless and there is no negotiating with them!
100% agree on geese.   O0  Them critters has anger management issues and sharp beaks.

As someone who has kept (and eaten) geese they don't phase me at all. Bantam cockerels can be downright nasty, though.


Edit - I don't recall any incidents of anyone being killed by geese!
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ninthace

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #44 on: 13:05:35, 26/09/20 »
As someone who has kept (and eaten) geese they don't phase me at all. Bantam cockerels can be downright nasty, though.


Edit - I don't recall any incidents of anyone being killed by geese!
It is only a matter of time before someone is goosed  :)
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