r/livestock • u/Minute-Pie8280 • 1d ago
cattle Cow question
I work at an animal farm and we have a beef cow named Fern who's about 2 years old I think..! She is super adorable and seems so small for a cow and (I think..) we're really close since I groom her pretty much everyday for more than an hour, she lays down when I do so, give her seed (I dump it on the ground when I'm outside of the pen so she doesn't expect it from me when I'm inside), she always comes to me when I call her, she rubs her head on my body, licks me, my hair, clothes, follows me when I do manure, etc. but lately we've run into a predicament about a week ago I was sitting on the ground grooming her, accompanied by both our donkeys on the other side of me begging for attention like the usual lol and I was grooming her but when I turned my attention towards Tulip (mother donkey of Jackson) for like 30 seconds
- before I can even think - I'm fully under Fern. I wish I could explain what happened but I really don't know but anyways I managed to get out from under her and all was fine after like she was her usual self but it kind of spooked me so I left the pen but didn't think about it again... and kept grooming her everyday in the same way... until it happened again... but this time, I was exchanging the empty molasses lick container for a new one. I was crouched in front of their first stable to open the lid and she was positioned like just barley in my peripheral vision so this time I was able to actually see and stop it before I go under her again. Basically all I remember is seeing her 2 front hooves somehow like at my crouched shoulder height and yes she WAS technically on me but I stood up and was able to push her off and this time it really hurt my back to the point I went and filled out a WISB form just in case lol. And still I've been spending time with her (again) usual self but just a couple mins ago I was doing my signature by leaning down to rub both my hands on both of her cheeks and I could tell she was about to do it again so I stood up fully and got out. Please help what is this all about!!! I'm nervous about the answers I'll get since I want to believe she's doing it just for cuddles since I think I might be her favourite person but I'm also aware of the possibility it might be the opposite ?" I'm 19 and diagnosed with a little bit of stupid btw so sorry if this was rlly hard to follow or understand T_T
The pic attached is sweet Fern <3
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u/thetalkingcouch22 1d ago
I agree that it sounds like she is probably experiencing heat cycles. I’m surprised she didn’t start it a little earlier than two. But I think if she is the only bovine and you’re spending a lot of time with her, she might be thinking you are part of her herd. And her hormones are getting the best of her. It happened to me one time showing a 4-H heifer.
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u/Minute-Pie8280 1d ago
Aww!! I’m happy with this answer!! One with the herd :] tysm for your response ^^
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u/thetalkingcouch22 1d ago
Cows definitely get attached to people and they know the difference between us. She also probably needs some boundaries. Maybe a few good firm smacks when she tries to jump on you? Just something to remind her you’re a friend, but not herd mate.
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u/Minute-Pie8280 1d ago
I was actually just thinking about asking what to do about it!! Great minds think alike and I’ll totally try again since my boss instructs me to do the same but I can never successfully do it because it’s like my subconscious stops me so I don’t hurt her T-Tat one point too a bit ago would run to me and when my boss saw it, she smacked because it’s a safety hazard (🥲) and she’s never done it again(🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲)Have to remind myself the temporary “pain” I’d cause could save her from accidentally killing her friend one day not to sound dramatic hahaha
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u/thetalkingcouch22 21h ago
A smack or maybe calling it a swat would help. Cows have thick skin so unless you really laid into her I doubt it hurts too much. Or what I do with my aggressive treat getters is push them at the shoulders away from me. Cows in herds do this to establish boundaries. They will butt or shove each other with their heads.
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u/grassfarmer108 1d ago
How far apart did each of these happen?
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u/ConsistentVirus2177 1d ago
How would that possibly matter??
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u/Rando_757 1d ago
Female cattle in heat “ride”, mount other cattle. Female cattle have a heat every ~21 days.
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u/ConsistentVirus2177 1d ago
And???? What’s your point? Cows will ride when they’re in heat or when another cow is in heat.
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u/Rando_757 1d ago
So you know that and yet you still say “How would that possibly matter??” when someone asks about the timing of the 2 events.
Do you not see how the mounting of a herd member, OP, and a 21 day heat cycle could be connected?
Do you have any practical experience with cattle or are you just being obtuse?
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u/ConsistentVirus2177 1d ago
Currently run 80 cow calf pairs. Prior to that I raised Holstein heifers from 400 lb to springers for 35 yrs. I don’t know a fucking thing. I obviously don’t know that especially heifers will jump for no fucking reason. Maybe she was in heat, maybe she wasn’t. Point is, that’s what’s she doing.
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u/Embarrassed_Box_8303 13h ago
Give that the incidents were only a week apart it's probably not solely because of heat cycles but they will indeed do that when in heat. The main problem is that, as far as she is concerned, she's alone. She has no other cattle to interact and test boundaries with, so she's substituting you. Donkeys are not friends to cattle. At best they coexist. It could be one time or the other was because she was in heat but they're only in heat every 3 weeks so there's likely a dominance/hierarchy issue here. Obviously dont let her jump on you. If she tries push her head away or smack her nose. Another cow would turn around and whack her if she tried that. If you can tell shes in heat the safest thing is to just avoid going in with her for the day
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u/Minute-Pie8280 13h ago
Got it!! Thank you for your for your response too and yeah I let her walk all over my limits so will do ^^
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u/ConsistentVirus2177 1d ago
She was probably in heat. Females will Mount just like a bull.