I captured these photos at Chaney’s Dairy Barn, near Bowling Green last July. Who says cows don’t have personalities?!?
Fun Cows in Bowling Green, Kentucky
I captured these photos at Chaney’s Dairy Barn, near Bowling Green last July. Who says cows don’t have personalities?!?
Cows can be pushy asses and they can be fun.
Years ago I was waiting to get some stitches in the local ER. The doctor came in to the room laughing and shaking his head. “There’s a guy over there with a swollen and bruised hand. He says he punched a cow! Imagine that … punching a cow”
The nurse turned on him. “You’re a city boy. You have no idea how maddening a cow can be.”
I can recall Dad punching a cow every so often. I never did, but more’n once I delivered a solid kick. You’re within a coupla ounces of finishing milking, just stripping at that point, pail’s full to the top & ol’ Bessie decides either to kick the pail over or put her GD foot in it…
You sure we ain’t long lost brothers?
Yeah, fly-swatting tails across the mug, manured foot in the milk pail, plain ol’ ornery cusses.
How about the array of barncats waiting expectantly for a fresh squirt at 15 feet? over time this could evolve into pure precision.
Oh, and stripping? Guaranteed 90% over their heads.
Those are very MOOO ving photos!!
Here’s your hat.
As a cattle owner, I can testify to the reality of temperament and personality differences amongst moo-moos. Some are nasty, ill-tempered; others are sweet as pie; some skittish. Factors into breeding prefs. I don’t like bitchy cows.
We had various breeds & cross-breeds. The most interesting ones were the b l a c k Angus cows at calving time. As soon as the calf hit the ground, we’d give it a vitamin A-D-E shot. Sometimes the cow would calve in the corrals, sometimes in the pasture.
More’n once I got chased up a sheer 8′ slab…
…(clawing like a t o m c a t),
…into the back of a pickup truck or under a tractor out in the pasture by a b lack Angus mama who didn’t like me messing with her newborn calf. A foot of fresh snow always made it more interesting.
Gawd, I miss the farm…
Sorry about all that. Trying to figger which word sent me to moderation. Apparently s c r a t c h i n g ist verboten.
Haha of course! Ours are mostly Lowlines. Pretty cool breed.
Had to look that one up. Never heard of ’em before. Interesting.
Always thought the standard black Angus was a smaller breed. They were the smallest of any of the cattle we raised. Easy calvers, excellent mothers. When I was in 4H we went to a local purebred rancher for a day of judging. He had some bulls there that were near 6 feet tall & solid. I’d never seen an Angus that big.
We tried AI-ing to some of the exotics for something different. Chianina was what Dad went with. Long legged, growthy, threw a big calf, near a hunnert pounds at birth, but lazy. They’d lay on the snow at delivery & freeze to death rather than get up & start nursing. Had to keep a close eye on them.
We raised Simmental and Charolais. The old Simmental dams were some the sweetest, most even tempered domestic animals I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning.
The Charolais were nuts. From the moment they first stood up until we put them into the freezer.
Hateful goddamn animals.
Made a decent meal though.
So, did their temperament reflect on how much you enjoyed eating them?
My Dad’s younger cousin, a university boy from Ottawa, paid a visit to his bumpkin relatives. My mother had cooked steak for supper and he tried to be funny.
“So, some old cow that wouldn’t milk anymore?”
“Hell no” said the Old Man. “We ship them tough old bastards to the auction and that’s what you city-bugs eat.”
Cows are very curious animals . I recall my Dad lying under a piece of machinery repairing it surrounded by a whole ring of cows trying to figure out what he was doing. Or my daughter parked on a country road trying to learn how to drive a standard transmission without stalling it. The cows in the adjacent pasture would line up along the fence . You would swear they were laughing at her efforts. After while they would get bored and drift off.
As a kid my uncle took me fishing and we had to cross a large fenced field full of cows. He was a fast walker and I had fallen behind by the time we reached the field. As I started to cross the cows came wandering over. Next thing they’re all following me. I go left, they go left. I go right, they go right. I walk fast they pick up the pace. So I sprinted toward my uncle and when I reached him I yelled the cows are following us. He looked behind him. The cows had all stopped and were standing there looking at us. “Who eats who” he asked. I learned how to walk faster that day.
Gotta love some Jersey and Guernsey cows. Must be selling cream since both of those breeds have a higher milk fat content in their offering. Usually nice animals every once in a while. I had a calf fall over a cutbank into some deep snow. I bent over to fish the calf out and was rewarded with a good hard butt on my butt. The calf’s mother launched me over the cut bank and over her calf head first into some deep snow. Yes I got the calf back on solid ground and yes I got out of the snow bank and no I never turned my back on that snorty cow again.
To add to everyone’s enjoyment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JohcbfO0OjA
After closing time
At the Guernsey Fair
I detect the El Supremo
From the room at the top of the stairs
Well I’ve been around the world
And I’ve been in the Washington Zoo
And in all my travels
As the facts unravel
I’ve found this to be true
Guernsey cows have the sweetest disposition and are quite friendly … not to mention make the richest milk known to mankind. You know … the kind of cows your leftist superiors want sent to the tallow vats.
This summer I ordered half a cow from a ranch in Southern Alberta, I picked it up from the butcher last week. Over 200 lbs of beef in my freezer right now. I love cows!