Cattle Tricks 101

10/07/2025

09/07/2025

Blossom

She’s been a pet since the day she was born. Out of a very old cow who died as she calved we claimed Blossom for our own in exchange for the care we gave her. We dried her and gave her her first bottle. We were the only parents she knew.

She grew out nicely for a bottle calf and joined my cow herd. Always happy to come up for a treat or a scratch she was friendly and although not a good looking cow, she raised a nice calf, when she bred. The first time she came open, on what would have been her second calf, I gave her a pass. All the cows get two chances. The next year she had nice calf again, then threw a tiny heifer calf, that I had to pull. The calf was upside down and backwards, quite the learning experience for me.

This year she was open. I kept watching for any signs of pregnancy. The dry winter had followed a bone dry summer. Dust blew hard across the bare pastures. We would be lucky to have enough grass for cows with calves at side. No matter how much of a pet she was, I could not justify keeping her around. My heart was hardened my mind made up. I was going to do the practical thing. There is no money to be made in running a bunch of cows who are open just because they’re pets. She was going to the sale.

I stood in the middle of the pen looking over the cows who were set to go. Making sure I had the right ones picked out and that I hadn’t missed anything that would justify keeping them. I felt a nudge on the back of my arm. She licked me asking for a treat or a scratch. Why would I visit her if not to bestow one of those on her.

Looking into her big soft eyes, watching her tongue loll about as she enjoyed having her withers scratched, there was no way I could do it. The rest of the cows would ship tomorrow. But not her. We could surely find enough grass for one extra cow somewhere.

Then it started to rain and kept raining. The grass grew tall and green. There was plenty of grass for her and many more. She shipped to pasture with the others where she could run open and breed back nicely for the next year.

Out checking cows today I heard a calf beller behind me. Not the big deep bawl of the older calves in the pasture. I looked around and found a calf laying off by itself, mostly hidden in the tall grass. Driving back around I took a close look at the calf. It didn’t have an ear tag, all my calves got tags when they were worked in the spring so we know who their m**s are and they can be identified as mine. He was tiny. Less than half the size of the other calves.

It took awhile for me to wrap my mind around it. This was a, fairly, new calf! Where could this have come from? Then I remembered Blossom. She was the only cow there who hadn’t come to pasture with a calf at side. But she was open!

Blossom did wander over to see if I would give her another cookie. I was able to get a look at her bag. Sure enough, it as huge. It sure hadn’t looked like that before she came to the pasture. I hadn’t looked at it since then. Her head was usually shoved in my face.

She had been bred after all. Just very, very late. Now she had a healthy calf at side. That came as a shock. Is this better than her being open? Probably not. Guess we’ll have to see what comes next for the old girl.

04/07/2025

One thing I know for sure. It is fly season. We can spray the herd down with fly spray for some control and relief from the flies. Just add cookies!

02/07/2025

The windmill pond ~ A man made pond to catch the water over flow from a windmill filled water tank.

Cattle like water. That can be a drawback when the water they have access to is a stream or natural body of water. Protecting the health of the waterway is very important.

One time when we don’t have to worry so much about the ecological health of the body of water is in a windmill pond. It is completely man made and its existence is limited to the time cattle are in the pasture and the windmill is working.

The benefits of these ponds to cattle are huge. They offer a place to cool off on hot days. Often areas that make use of windmills are places that don’t have trees. Being able to wade through the water allows the cattle relief on those hot summer days.

The mud and muck of a pond also offers relief from flies. Cattle will often do their best to coat themselves in mud as an added layer of protection to keep the flies from biting them. That pond is a wonderful source of mud. Plus, while the cow is standing in the pond, flies can’t bite anything that’s under water!

There are downsides to having a windmill pond. Calves can get in the mud and get stuck or trampled. Cows can develop mastitis from the mud. Even more flies and mosquitoes can breed in the water than what there would have been before.

If we leave it up to the cattle though, they would chose to have a windmill pond every time.

27/06/2025

Cows in the mist

20/06/2025

The neighbors yearlings were in the pasture. The neighbors yearlings are always in the pasture. They are wild, high headed and crazy, off at a run if we get close. Then they dive into the middle of the cows.
I would call the neighbors to come get them but the neighbors are as crazy as their yearlings, just in a different way. They yell and scream, at us and the cows. Then run everything as hard as they can. I will not have my cattle run that way.

So the yearlings have stayed.

Now the rest of the cows need to go to a new pasture. The perfect time to get rid of the yearlings.
Bringing the whole bunch to the gate, I step through the gate and call my cows. With cake on hand my pets come to me. They get a snack and a rub, then they see the open gate and I encourage them through. The others follow, new pastures are a strong lure.

I stand in the gate and turn back the wild yearlings. They run, unaccustomed to people as they are. Everything is through except some calves.

With no yelling, screaming, or chasing wild yearlings are quietly and easily sorted out of the cows. Having quiet pet cows may not seem like it has a practical purpose. It may seem like a silly thing to do, to real ranch folk and cowboys.

And for those people who prefer the yelling and chasing it may be.

But to help an entire herd work more quietly and easily, a little trick training and getting even just a few in the bunch turned into pets who can be called to come through a gate or over a dropped fence when needed makes life much easier.

The yearlings were run back to their own pasture. Hopefully this time they’ll stay. If not, I know my cows will be easy to handle in the sorting.

18/06/2025

😆🤠

13/06/2025

Did you know that cattle love doing tricks? That cattle are easy and fun to train? That it is very simple to get started?

Get your guide to trick training cattle now!

Find you copy here: https://cattletricks101.com/cow-tricks-guide/

11/06/2025

🐮🤣

05/06/2025

If you want a neatly kept house, fancy food on the table, or a beautifully turned out woman with nicely manicured nails, on your arm, I am not her.

If you want sweet and docile, good smelling, able to host a fancy party, and decorate the house, with plenty of throw pillows on the bed, I am not her.

The rules and requirements of domesticity are beyond me. I can cook and will clean. Enough to get by.
If you want a hand, someone working beside you to get the job done, no matter the weather or difficulty, I will be there to do my best.

If you want someone who can pull a calf and is willing to take the night check, I’ll do that.
Someone who will enjoy being out in the crisp night air, who stares up at the sky in wonder at the stars shining over head and with just as much amazement watches the new born calf struggle to take that first step, I’ll take that shift.

If you want someone who would rather be outside, getting her hands dirty. Hands that never will take any sort of manicure and quickly destroy any attempt at nail polish, I can do that.
I am feral. I want to be free, to be outside, to work with my hands and the muscles of my back. To battle against nature with all the cruel twists she likes to throw at us as we attempt to farm and raise livestock.

I take joy in feeling the heat of battle as I fight to save a new born calf or walk into the teeth of the blizzard to make sure my cattle are as warm and comfortable as I am not.

I will never be domesticated. My house will never be spotless. My food will be prepared with hands freshly washed and still carrying some traces of the dirt left from the work I’ve been doing. I carry the perfume of the horses, cattle, and garden when I finish my work, good earthy smells.
I am feral. I am woman. I will never be a domestic house wife.

03/06/2025

I love how people find ways to make working less stressful on the cows.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1492786542106976&set=a.742617457123892

Brushing away bovine stress
K-State collaboration results in cattle stress relief product that could increase reproduction rates

MANHATTAN — A new product that reduces animal stress could be the key to increasing artificial insemination rates in cattle. Kansas State University's Technology Development Institute, or TDI, collaborated with faculty in the College of Agriculture to design, produce and test the product.
Assistant Professor Nicholas Wege Dias and Professor Sandy Johnson, both in K-State's animal science and industry department, specialize in beef cattle reproduction and have been involved in several projects designed to improve the fertility of the animal. Their initial studies indicated that acclimating the animals to their surroundings during the artificial insemination, or AI, process reduced animal stress and increased reproduction by up to 10%.
"Once we saw the benefits of getting animals acquainted with the facilities on AI success, we began to think about adoptable strategies to promote positive reinforcement during handling," Dias said. "You often see cow brushes and how the animals enjoy rubbing against them on social media, so we thought, 'Let's come up with a way to place a cow brush in the alleyway so the animals can enjoy themselves while they wait their turn.'"
Their goal was to position a brush in the center of the alley just below bovine head height so the animals could rub their backs with the brush to reduce stress.
While Dias and Johnson had an idea of what they wanted, they needed help to design and fabricate a device that could be installed on any type or size of chute and that was able to withstand the force generated by the animals. Dias and Johnson contacted the Technology Development Institute to discuss the idea and determine if the institute could help develop a prototype product for testing.
TDI engineers and interns began working on various designs that could easily be installed on chutes made of wood, pipe or any number of materials. The device had to be adjustable in height due to differences in wall and animal heights, and it also needed to be able to adjust to sloped alley walls. TDI developed various concept designs and, with feedback from Dias and Johnson, finalized the design.
The team then fabricated two prototype devices that are currently being used by Dias and his students to determine the effectiveness of having such devices included during the AI process.
"We always enjoy working with industry experts who can clearly define their needs," said Bret Lanz, commercialization director of the Technology Development Institute. "This simplifies our job to create a product specification and design a new product that meets the needs of our customers. Nicholas and his team have been great to work with, and we are hopeful that this new tool will help to aid in their studies and perhaps have a large impact on the cattle industry."
K-State's Technology Development Institute in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering is a U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration University Center and received a grant from the Research and Entrepreneurship Federal Matching Grant Dollars Fund. TDI provides a broad range of engineering and business development services to both private industry and university researchers to advance the commercial readiness of new products or technologies.