Maniac Cows

fermerboy · Mar 15, 2017

We have suckler cows, and are calving at the moment.
I have about 40 in one shed on a straw bedded court.

My problem is aggressive maniac cows. I don't mind one which is a bit protective of a new calf but this shed is something else. Near every one would kill you. I mean she would abandon her calf and come up to the opposite end of the shed to put you out.
I have a couple which have history of being aggressive and fair enough that's my fault they are still here, and i know to watch them. But i have others which have had 6-8 calves, docile as could be, this year they would chase you with homicidal intent.
Everything is the same as before, staff, building, machinery, only difference would be a change of mineral.
Can cows learn aggressive behaviour? One of the first ones was a headcase bawling and pawing up the muck if you went within 20m of her.
Is it the nutcases that's stirring up the rest? Any other ideas?
Old man reckons it must be the minerals that's making them nuts, can't see it myself.
I got pinned to the barrier today and luckily managed to get out with a bloody sore leg, and could happily sell the lot just now.
I have worked sucklers for 35yrs+ and never had so much aggressive animal hassle.
Sorry for long post.

sheep&cows&stuff · Mar 15, 2017

our cattle are as quiet as lambs, we can scratch any of their elders in the field...but as soon as they hear the rattle of the horning crate they go stone mad!
now we have to hide the horning crate in a separate shed and have a tractor ticking over at high revs just to kill any sound.

llamedos · Mar 15, 2017

Lack of Thiamine/B6 & Iron can all be linked to aggressive behaviour, Iron deficiency interferes with dopamine production, while B vits and Thiamine deficiency cause irritability.

Blood profiles may be in order.

milkloss · Mar 15, 2017

I would say minerals for sure. Yes, they can wind each other up but it stems from something else. Ours are a bit hard work: they don't get any concentrates all year except maybe the incalf heifers to tame them down which helps because they tend not to forget.

Yale · Mar 15, 2017

I hate maniac cows.

Try to cull the worst.

Interesting thing on the minerals.

Northeastfarmer · Mar 15, 2017

If you can't turn your back on them hang them by their heels

There's not enough money in them to die

Bill the Bass · Mar 15, 2017

llamedos said:
Lack of Thiamine/B6 & Iron can all be linked to aggressive behaviour, Iron deficiency interferes with dopamine production, while B vits and Thiamine deficiency cause irritability.

Blood profiles may be in order.

We blood profiled ours this and bolused accordingly. My cows are more aggressive this year and I think it is because they are put through the crush too much; tb, bvd, johnes, dosing, boluses etc etc. Poor bloody things are never done. No wonder they get pee'd of with humans

Muck Spreader · Mar 15, 2017

Are they now being aggressive with everyone or just you? Just thinking along the lines of something you are now wearing or a smell they don't like. It's surprising how sensitive to these things they can be and cows have a far better sense of smell than even a dog. :scratchhead:

johnspeehs · Mar 15, 2017

llamedos said:
Lack of Thiamine/B6 & Iron can all be linked to aggressive behaviour, Iron deficiency interferes with dopamine production, while B vits and Thiamine deficiency cause irritability.

Blood profiles may be in order.[/
QUOTE]

Must get to the chemist and top up with thiamine/b6 and iron see if it helps the o/h's mood today, she would bite the end of the bloody poker this evening [emoji849]

abitdaft · Mar 15, 2017

llamedos said:
Lack of Thiamine/B6 & Iron can all be linked to aggressive behaviour, Iron deficiency interferes with dopamine production, while B vits and Thiamine deficiency cause irritability.

Blood profiles may be in order.

* Rushes off to take multi - vitamin

onthehoof · Mar 15, 2017

What breed are they?

llamedos · Mar 15, 2017

johnspeehs said:
Must get to the chemist and top up with thiamine/b6 and iron see if it helps the o/h's mood today, she would bite the end of the bloody poker this evening

abitdaft said:
* Rushes off to take multi - vitamin

onthehoof said:
What breed are they?

^ Human

choochter · Mar 15, 2017

llamedos said:
^ Human

human is an adjective

fermerboy · Mar 15, 2017

Interesting the mineral thing. Not sure I would blame that as the other shed doesn't seem as bad although there is a few "excitable" ones there.

Cows are Sim x lim x, mostly. Odds and sods of others.
There's just me and dad here but i do mostly everything among the cows as dads not so able, so it's me thats getting the brunt of it though i don't think anybody else would be safe

Ours usually are wormed etc in the locking yokes feed barriers, and again it's myself that does that sort of jobs.

A couple of years ago I used to wear a hi Viz jacket all the time and dad always said the cows were more spooky. That's long gone and it's navy blue boilersuit and jacket now.

Ideally I'd cull all the troublemakers but at the minute I'd not have many left!!

It just makes the job so tricky, if one calves it's very scary getting her penned up even if she's quiet, last night it was one that had calved 10 days ago came from the other end(leaving her calf there) of a 36m long shed to basically attack me, i had to abandon the job.
Got it penned in the morning eventually.

There's a few at least which won't be here next year for sure.!

farmerman · Mar 15, 2017

You only have to have one mad nutcase one that goes for you then it sh1!s you up big time for the whole lot and calving we had one the other year even if one looks at you a bit strange you think feck is she gonna come for me they sense that your a bit on edge maybe than normal and not as relaxed and take advantage of that but glad your ok very scary when that happens imo

Lazy Eric · Mar 15, 2017

It can be certain people that pee them off. If I go in or any of us regulars not really a problem, but if our night lamber guy goes in for a look several go to kill him, and they really mean it!!! He wears a bright woolly hat and stinks of fags but apart from that pretty normal. I've witnessed it, and can't believe they are the same cows!!

Giles1 · Mar 15, 2017

farmerman said:
You only have to have one mad nutcase one that goes for you then it sh1!s you up big time for the whole lot and calving we had one the other year even if one looks at you a bit strange you think feck is she gonna come for me they sense that your a bit on edge maybe than normal and not as relaxed and take advantage of that but glad your ok very scary when that happens imo

I think this may be part of the problem,they can sense nervousness or a change in your behaviour.Ours know if I'm just walking through them to go from a to b or have a quiet look at them,and know when I'm walking through them to get behind them to move them on.They can also tell the difference between being moved to a new field through the yard ,or to the yard for a drench or something.
The mineral idea is interesting,I'd love to know more about it.

Old Boar · Mar 15, 2017

Magnesium deficiency causes aggression in people, as does a shortage of B6 and B12, so @llamedos may have hit the nail on the head with some sort of deficiency.

I once saw a whole shed full of normally quiet milkers get aggressive. They were fine when turned out, but in the shed they all became figgity and stroppy. When the shed was mucked out, a small short in an electrical wire was found. There was probably a tickle going through the damp straw...

Archie · Mar 15, 2017

Another that would be inclined to think mineral imbalance of some sort.
If they are nearly all like that this year having been largely quiet beasts previously can't really think of anything other than diet based that could be causing such a widespread change.

Old Boar · Mar 15, 2017

You are not wearing a red cape, by any chance?

Maniac Cows

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