I love cows

Macadia

I love all creatures - great and small.

Me too !!! although I'm not so fond of some insects.
I am a little bit in love with Highland cattle.....
Caution around all cattle though. They are massive and heavy and they can move very fast when they want!
I used to walk my late dog on some steeply sloped woodland where cattle could at first be unseen being at the bottom of the slope . Sometimes ,suddenly, like Doctor Who's Screaming Angels, there they were ..... just yards away. Dog on lead PDQ then scarper even more quickly.....

The cattle I lived with were very shy and gentle. They were calves. They would be let out to the fields every day to graze and meander about. In the evenings, we would just call out, "C'mon" and they would slowly walk towards the barn - all 200 of them - where they were given bales of hay and then they would go to sleep. Some would come close to me and let me pet their soft fur. One was very friendly and liked to suck on my fingers.

valdali

I've seen the Chillingham cattle from a distance, but didn't know about the social structure of the herd. I love cows, thanks Macadia. Especially Herefords & Shorthorns. Horses & cows tie for my favourite, & I think they're quite similar intelligence but horses are more attuned to us.I love cows' sandpaper tongues, their inquisitiveness & even their smell. Dogs & goats are wonderful too though & although I don't have experience with them I love elephants. The elephant documentaries make me cry.

I can’t remember exactly what I was told. I think the calves are born away from the herd and have to be introduced and accepted. And that the males don’t fight but live together amicably. We weren’t allowed to get close to them as theyr’re properly wild and dangerous and also they don’t want them upset. Their land was very close to the foot and mouth outbreak and they were in serious danger of being exterminated. So they’ve managed to start another herd elsewhere in case it happens again. Did you watch the series about Echo the elephant and her family?In my late teens I planned to hitch to London to get a job at the elephant house at London Zoo. Thankfully I never even got as far as the motorway.

Macadia

I love all creatures - great and small.

Would you have loved the flying ants that just invaded my conservatory and kitchen? 😮

Maybee - I'm intrigued by the Chillinghams, going to see if I can find out more. I got a job at a circus when I was 19, when uni wasn't going well, but my aunty was in the audience & told my Dad & they talked me out of travelling with them. Not that I approve of animals in travelling circuses with hindsight - then I was just animal-mad.

Check out Giffords Circus.

MayBee70

Check out Giffords Circus.

I love Giffords Circus.. beautiful horses and a performing goose..

When I met my partner I had several things that were on my bucket list. Go to Ireland, see Cirque du Soleil and War Horse and go to Giffords Circus. We saw it at Stonor Park and there were red kites flying overhead. It was magical. I’d love to see it again but they are very southern based and we were only able to do it because we didn’t have a dog at the time.

Callistemon213

Macadia

I love all creatures - great and small.

Would you have loved the flying ants that just invaded my conservatory and kitchen? 😮

I do not like creepy crawlies in the house. Although, they probably are wondering who put this house in the middle of their world.

One time, I had just moved into a cottage and a thousand ladybirds flew over and landed on the side, covering it. I never knew why.

I have also seen a bee swarm, like a black cloud and that was very impressive!

This is my favorite murmuration video of all time: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNqhi2ka9k not cows but nature.

Did you watch it yet? This is a beautiful orchestra
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNqhi2ka9k

Macadia

Callistemon213

Macadia

I love all creatures - great and small.

Would you have loved the flying ants that just invaded my conservatory and kitchen? 😮

I do not like creepy crawlies in the house. Although, they probably are wondering who put this house in the middle of their world.

One time, I had just moved into a cottage and a thousand ladybirds flew over and landed on the side, covering it. I never knew why.

I have also seen a bee swarm, like a black cloud and that was very impressive!

This is my favorite murmuration video of all time: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNqhi2ka9k not cows but nature.

We had hibernating ladybirds too!

Just when I was thinking there weren't many flying ants around the garden this year, there they were, indoors!

Cows look lovely and peaceful. But, be warned! - they can be dangerous. I live in the country and look out on fields of cows, but I would not walk through the field un less I knew for sure that it was safe. They can be fierce in defence of their young, and en masse they have been known to crush people - especially those walking with a dog. A local woman, farmer's daughter, who had lived with them all her life was lucky to escape with her life when a herd descended on her as she walked through a field.

Sorry to be the voice of doom, but they are BIG animals!

Well said, Luckygirl.

Callistemon213

Pigs anyone? 🐷

Hens?

My dd has had some really lovely rescue chickens. Bit of a revelation to me that chickens could be so friendly and cuddly!

Witzend

Callistemon213

Pigs anyone? 🐷

Hens?

My dd has had some really lovely rescue chickens. Bit of a revelation to me that chickens could be so friendly and cuddly!

Once had a neighbour that had chickens. I sometimes used to find one standing behind me in the kitchen. Used to give them jam sandwiches.They are very sweet and full of character.

They can be pecky!
If you go in with the feed they rush towards you, but they are clever, not bird brained!
They know when to go in at night.

Somebody here (Witzend?) knitted little jackets for some ex battery hens, to keep them warm until their feathers grew in.

A friend used to keep fancy chickens, the cockerels were lethal, very territorial, you didn’t go into the pen wearing shorts for sure.
Commercial layers will moult after the first laying period, give them a couple of months off they will lay about 70% providing you give them the proper food. Because they are not in controlled environment the food will cost more than the value of the eggs.

Their diet can be supplemented with vegetable and fruit peelings.

Callistemon213

Their diet can be supplemented with vegetable and fruit peelings.

They will eat anything including each other on occasions

Or fingers if given half a chance!

Our chickens lived on vegetable peelings mixed with some bran which we bought in a pet shop.

MayBee70

Don’t want to put a damper on what is a lovely thread, but I saw the documentary COW a couple of years ago and I’m still upset by it. I’m not vegan, not even veggie although I try not to eat much meat. A farmer friend once told me that cows are more intelligent than horses; not sure how true that is. The field at the end of my partners garden has Aberdeen Angus cattle. I watch the calves and have a little chat with them when they come up to me. There were some really young ones this year and I watch them playing together; they seem to have special friendships. When they eventually remove the calves their mothers will call to them for many hours. It’s heartbreaking but I feel that beef cattle actually have a better life, albeit shorter in the case of the males, than dairy cattle, as the calves stay with their mumsMy partner saw a cow chase away a fox that walked across the field one day. I reckon that’s why cattle seem to run towards people with dogs? The field is part of a pilgrim route which cuts right across the middle of the field which worries me as it is full of cows, calves and sometimes a bull; I would never walk across it given that you’re walking between the cows and their calves!

Another vegan here MayBee70. I’m having the same thoughts as you.
I could never make myself watch all the documentaries regarding the meat and dairy industry. Just the thought of what these poor unfortunate innocent creatures have to endure is enough to keep me from eating them. 🌱💚

Just reread your post MayBee70. Sorry I thought you were vegan. 🤦🏼‍♀️

As a child I used to wander through fields of cows, quite unconcerned. I didn’t realise they could be dangerous. Luckily I survived without incident.