Chapter 17
Safety around Your Cow
Working with any animal, possibly excepting guinea pigs, contains the potential for injury. I have never been seriously injured by a cow but have come close. As in most endeavors, injuries tend to occur when you overlook precautions or takes shortcuts. In working with animals, injuries may also occur when behavior typical of the species is either ignored or not understood, as when an ordinarily well-behaved dog bites a toddler who puts her fingers in his food. Here are some observations about cow behavior and some hazardous situations you should avoid.
The very first rule of defensive cow management is to wear good shoes. A cow doesn’t even seem to know when she’s on your foot, and your imprecations will just make her gaze gently around with a “How’s that again?” expression.
Cows are supreme creatures of habit and will meet any changes with obstinacy. When making routine changes, plan ahead. Shut any gates or doors you do not want the cow to go through. Never stand in a gate or passageway through which she is passing. A cow contains a lot of mass, and once it is moving forward it is likely to keep moving. She is wide, and she can’t suck in her waistline. Stay out of her direct path.
Put her food out before you let her in and close the grain storage. If she sees her grain bucket in your hand she is likely to knock it away and you won’t be able to stop her.
• • • •
Leading
You can train a calf to lead (see here for a discussion of this training). But a cow purchased from a dairy herd probably will not understand being led. She will have been habituated to walking soberly to her own stall and sticking her head in her own stanchion. Teaching a mature animal to lead is not easy. But once she is fond of you and gets the hang of what you want, she will cooperate to some extent. To lead her with any hope of success you will need a cow halter. This has straps that cross under the chin and a strap behind her ears with a throat latch. There is a ring under her chin for a snap where the straps cross. A horse halter cannot be used. She can wear the halter all the time if you like. To lead a reluctant animal, a simple collar will not do; there is no way you can get enough leverage on her head. A cow follows her head; any way you can turn her head, that way she will go. But her neck is short and strong, so your leverage must be as far forward as possible, right under her chin. Trying to lead a reluctant cow is a situation to be avoided. Put up good fences, keep gates closed, and plan to lead her with a bucket of grain if you have to.
On the other hand, cows are easily driven (unlike goats!). Get behind her with a long stick, try not to get her running, and quietly move the stick from side to side to let her know which way you do not want her to go. She will move ahead of you and away from the stick.
If a cow is dragging a rope, don’t expect to control her with it unless you are able to snub it with a double wrap around something very strong such as a tree. A cow, because of her shorter neck and legs, is actually stronger than a horse of the same weight. That is why oxen have been used for plowing and hauling for many centuries. Keep your fingers out of the way of a running rope and never wrap it around your wrist. Just let her go.
If you must attempt to lead a confused or frightened but otherwise domesticated cow without help, here is what you can do: The lead rope must be short, no more than five feet long, and it must be on a clip or running loop under her chin, not around her neck. A knot at the far end of the rope is helpful. Take hold of the rope under her chin and just far enough back so that your elbow gets her in front of her shoulder. Pass the free end of the rope across in front of you to your other hand. Walk as close to her neck as possible. She can’t hurt you in this position. She cannot rise up or strike as a horse might. If she walks too fast, jab your elbow into her shoulder and try to keep her nose down just a little. If she turns away from you, give a good jerk on the rope. If she turns toward you, maintain your handholds and back around in a circle until she is again pointed forward. Using this method I have led home a cow that jumped the fence while in heat. There were woods and a ditch on one side, a road with logging trucks on the other. I was not hurt and neither was the cow, but you may be sure I improved my fencing. Furthermore, I kept good track of her next heat and did not let her out of her stall during it. Prevention is best.
If you are familiar with horses you will recognize the similarity of this method of leading to that used with a horse. The difference is that with a frisky horse you aim to keep the head down and neck arched so he does not rise, strike, or bite. A cow never rises or strikes and cannot bite, but if balked she will kick up her heels and twist. So don’t pull her head down too far or you will inhibit forward motion and induce her to kick up her heels. The first impulse of a frightened or confused cow is, like a horse, to run away. So you are permitting enough forward motion to keep the cow’s mind off balking or struggling, and you are pulling the nose down sufficiently to prevent the stretched neck and raised head of the racing trot.
Another distinction between a horse and a cow is that a fleeing horse will not enter the woods if there is any other choice at all. A cow will dive right in (she isn’t called boss for nothing).
• • • •
Birth
Each year two or three farm wives are killed by interfering between a cow and her newborn calf. I have seldom had an otherwise friendly cow turn aggressive when she has given birth in her familiar stall. But I don’t turn my back on her. If she gives birth down back in a field near the woods, watch out. Maternal instinct is jump-started not solely by the act of giving birth but also by the surroundings, the environment of evolutionary addictedness. If a cow has her calf all by herself out in her natural setting, she figures it is her responsibility to defend it. You figure the sweet little thing will get lost in the woods and you had better carry it home. Don’t. Go get some help. She will still be there when you get back. One of you will have to carry the calf, because in these circumstances no earthly force will drive the cow from her calf and so one of you must carry the calf to lure her along. The other of you must watch the cow to make sure she does not knock down the calf abductor. It is tricky, because a cow seems unable to see the calf in your arms, so you have to walk in such a way that she keeps in nose contact with it. If this connection is lost, she will run back to the spot where she gave birth and will not be moved from that place until you carry the calf all the way back and start over. If the cow leads well and the calf is on its feet, you can probably lead her along and the calf will follow. She will be satisfied with this arrangement as it is what calves are meant to do and she can see it out of the corner of her eye.
I was once compelled to carry home a calf by myself because the cow had given birth on a little island of field cut off by a rising river. One false move by the calf and it would have drowned. In that case I hurried along without regard for the cow, who predictably remained at the birth site. I then returned for the cow, with help to drive her, by which time she was standing in the water. It is usually a first-calf heifer who gets into these situations. An old, friendly cow often seems to welcome your help. But don’t take a chance. Once an angry cow has knocked a person down, even a hornless cow knows how to grind her head on her victim’s chest, with sometimes fatal results.
• • • •
Heat
Another situation to watch out for is the cow in heat. During the early stages of heat, the cow has an impulse to mount other cows. If you don’t have any other cows, guess who she will be interested in! Sometimes the only way you know an “only” cow is in heat is when you see her standing with fixed attention, waiting for you to turn your back. An ardent cow is not going to go into attack mode in case you stumble, so any injuries will be caused by what you stumble over. A mounting cow puts her head up high and leads off with her chest, so even if she has horns the chief damage will probably be to your dignity, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Once the first clue I had that my heifer was in heat was when a set of front hooves appeared on my shoulders.
• • • •
Kicking
The propensity of certain cows to kick over the milk bucket is legendary. The only worse thing is when both the bucket and you catch the blow. The kick itself is not life-threatening but can knock you off your stool. She can also lift her foot up and bring it down on the edge of the bucket, which could badly hurt your hand if it’s in the way. The edge of her hoof is fairly sharp and can inflict a cut if brought down on a hand on a hard surface. Some cows are sufficiently athletic that they can kick back with the front foot. This is a weaker kick but just as annoying.
Here again, prevention is the best course. Most cows have a fine dairy temperament, are cooperative, and grow to love you. Usually there is a good reason for kicking. A cow, particularly a heifer, may kick quite a lot when her bag is painfully swollen with milk after calving. Sometimes the first you know of a teat injury is when you grab it and she kicks, and cows kick very fast. I’m fast, too, and have not been kicked in years. But that is mostly because I’ve learned to sense the changes in posture and attitude that precede a kick. If I have a cow that is inclined to kick, I take immediate steps to forestall it. Cows like to do the same thing each day. If she got in a good kick yesterday, she may do it today just because that is what she does. If she did not kick today she probably will not tomorrow, unless something worries her. The things she hates most are an unfamiliar milker, shrill running children, and dogs. Introduce any new milker tactfully and train the children to be as quiet as possible and she will accept them. But her fear of dogs is hardwired, and a cow will seldom feel relaxed when any dog is around, especially while she is tied up and defenseless. You may have to keep the dog out of the barn. A cow also does not like a cat swarming around her legs.
If tact fails to prevent kicking, get one of the appliances designed to prevent kicking. You’ll find several types available at any large animal supply house. You have a right not to be kicked. (Kicking is discussed further in chapter 3, “Milking Your Cow.”)
Apart from new motherhood and heat, cows are mild-tempered and focused on their own internal bliss. You quickly come to understand why they are revered in India as partaking of the divine.
• • • •
A Cow Does Not Bite
I am occasionally asked whether a cow bites. A cow, like all ruminants, lacks upper incisors and it certainly doesn’t have canine teeth. Artists hired to decorate milk cartons or do other cow illustrations often seem ignorant of this basic physiology and depict a cow with upper teeth like a horse. So I guess the public must be forgiven for thinking a cow can bite. A cow does have molars, so if you are giving medication you need to watch out for the back teeth. And those lower incisors on a newborn calf, unworn by grazing, sometimes cut the teat.
• • • •
Mobbing
Mobbing refers to an activity practiced by many species whereby a large number of otherwise defenseless creatures move as a mob to discourage predators or intruders. You can often see little birds driving away crows this way. Sometimes a large group of cattle will do this. Walk purposefully away. Running is to be avoided if possible.
• • • •
Bulls
Just do not ever get anywhere near a dairy bull. They can never be trusted.