Post by wyomama on May 13, 2017 9:25:43 GMT -5
I have seen Fred do it, to other cattle (the neighbour's steer, and to the other bull that time he escaped). He will assume a similar posture when he is in his yard and I bring a bucket of hay over, but there are definite differences and I think it's more an excitement over getting food thing as he snaps out of it as soon as I reach the yard.
In cow language he's telling you you had better bring that #$% hay, right now, or he's gonna hurt you. If you don't address the posturing, and just bring the hay, in his mind, you've submitted to his demand that you feed him now / first / whatever. That is a "win" in his mind - and you didn't even know you were playing the game.
IMO, that's the biggest problem with bulls managed up close. They'll make that posture as you are walking by their pen, not even paying attention. To them, they threatened you, and you yielded to the threat - when all you did is walk by, like you were going to do anyway. Same thing with feeding. They anticipate feeding time - you go to feed them, they posture in a demand for food, and in their language, you "submitted" - when all you were doing was doing your normal chores, your normal way. The bull thinks he's won, you didn't even know you were in the game. Then at some point, in that game you didn't know you were playing, you expect to move the bull, or empty his water tank, or to gather up a cow, or to pick up a glove, or some thing that he sees as an affront to his authority or his territory, - and he attacks "for no reason", because in his mind, you have accepted his dominance, over and over and over and over again, and then when you don't, he takes that as an outright challenge to his established dominance, and the only way to deal with that in a bull's world - is to fight. So he throws down, and you are a bloody puddle.
The same process can take place with a posturing cow. A cow can sometimes do it out of uncertainty - but that still means that the question in her mind is "who is the boss", or that if she's afraid, she's going to choose "fight" rather than "flight" when it comes down to it. It is always, always, always, ALWAYS bad. It might not be bad today, but it WILL be bad if it continues unchecked.