To think that cows have gone more aggressive.

[tarashill]

Regularly on my walks down the country lanes I've been scared by them. I'm sure they used to be gentle placid creatures content to just chew the grass. But now they seem disturbed if I walk by and run towards me only stopping when they reach the wall. I'm aware that if they wanted they could easily jump the wall if they wanted. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this new aggressive behaviour in cows.

when i was yong back in the 60s and 70s we regularly walked along the River Wye when visiting my nan. Usually the cows would be fine but occasionally they would turn a bit mean. They were fresians.

I know a few people that have been killed by cows.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-14755592

Lots more news stories if you google

They are nosy and they have a lemming gene.

So one sees you and steps towards you, another thinks she is missing out and jostles forward, soon they are all moving towards you. If you run, they will run after you.... they want to see what is so interesting you are running towards it.

My best friend was also treed by cows and couldn't work out why / how I just walked through the middle of them, bumping them out of the way, to 'rescue' her. From her perspective they were big and uncontrolled, which is fair enough given the size of them!

They could hurt you, I suppose. But I have only ever known a cow 'go' for someone if their calf was being threatened.

Cows haven't become more aggressive, they've always been a bit of a problem, just googling will show you that you're more likely to be killed by a cow than a shark.

Speaking as a country 'girl' they've always been bastards.

The worst "cow scare" I had was a few weeks ago. I'd successfully walked past a field of unfriendly looking cows who'd only mildly charged towards me. My heart had just settled back to normal when I saw a way ahead up the lane a single solitary cow walking slowly towards me. I literally froze with fear. There was nowhere for me to go. I daren't go backwards and I darent go forwards. Just stood there heart racing watching this huge beast coming towards me.......then TG he suddenly turned and trotted through an open gate into a sort of cow shed type place.....I think I might have to give up walking for my blood pressures sake.

I read an account from a farmer who was attacked by an escaped bull. The bull had managed to get into an adjoining field with a herd of cows.

The farmer was knocked to the ground injured. The cows proceeded to form a protective ring around him so the bull couldn't do any further damage.

The farmer was eventually rescued and said he owed his life to his cows.

Some cows are scary, most aren't. I would turn around if I'd have to walk right through them and I didn't know them to be calm ones. They're not vicious but they get overexcited I think and they are just so much bigger than us. Cows with horns I'm a bit more wary of. Round our way they started having these ones and when they've got their kids with them, god, I'd not even walk NEAR the field because they want blood!! Pretty though.

so much incorrect information in such a small amount of thread!

'Beef breeds are more aggressive than dairy breeds' not necessarily. Thats like saying labradors are more aggressive than poodles - depends on the breeding, the handling and their proximity and experience of kind humans!

Some beef breeds are more aggressive than others, some dairy breeds (dairy bulls in particularly) can be very aggressive. Are all cows aggressive, absolutely not!

Dairy cows tend to be more placid as they are more used to being around humans as they are milked twice a day, but that doesn't mean that in the wrong circumstances they are any less aggressive than beef breeds.

Suckler cows (beef cows that have young with them) might be protective of their young up to a certain age and will often have a bull with them, but generally if you stay far enough away from them and don't have a dog running around they won't bother you.

Younger cows (bullocks and heifers) will be the ones that 9 times out of 10 are the ones that charge up to you. If you shout boo they will run away again, they are playful and nosy rather than aggressive, although I understand how people might mistake their curiosity for aggression.

If a cow is acting aggressively towards you it will be pawing the ground and putting its head down ready to charge, not trotting up to you in curiosity and anticipation of being fed.

Almost without fail cow attacks have occurred because someone has a dog with them or because something else has spooked them (like a fire engine siren or a hot air balloon). They by and large do not randomly turn on people minding their own business and passing by.

And as for the ridiculous suggestions from Lagoonablue

'They have pretty shit lives tbf. I might be a pissed off too. Packed full of ABs, my baby removed at birth and killed, then having to be roughly milked every night.......'

Show me a farm anywhere in the UK that 'packs' their cows with antibiotics other than occasionally getting the vet out to treat them for illness once in a blue moon TO PREVENT THEM FROM DYING, or removes their 'babies' at birth and kills them. There's bloody good money in rose veal and beef at the moment and your information is about 15 years out of date and from the wrong continent.

As for the 'roughly milked' you clearly have never spent any time anywhere near a dairy farm, considering at most of them the cows are virtually queuing at the milking parlour door every morning and afternoon waiting to be milked

In modern large scale dairy farms The calf gets one colostrum feed before being separated from their mothers.
Dairy cows suffer from mastitis, a lot and lameness.
Good stock re used as embryo machines ie .ie pumped full of hormones and then AI' d and then the resultant embryos flushed out and frozen, and then the process begins all over again.

Interesting. I don't think I can give an opinion as to bovine aggressiveness, though, as we don't get many cows in Islington. Not the four-legged sort, that is. However, I can vouch for a two legged one, on a bicycle, ON THE PAVEMENT, who called me a silly old 'c' word (NOT cow) for being in her way!

Cows can be aggressive - I don't think there's a whole lot of difference between dairy and beef other than with bulls:dairy are more dangerous. It's legal to have a beef bull with cows in a field with a footpath, but illegal to have a dairy bull there.

Cows are also bloody nosy so most of the 'charging' is young ones coming for a look. They'll stop if you wave your arms out and yell at them in a convincing manner.

Sometimes they just look scary. I regularly cross a field full of Longhorns (complete with horns, look a bit like the cows on cowboy movies) and they are all fine, including the bull. There's one that has a funny eye and a wonky horn that just makes it look rather 'mad' and I give that one a wide berth. Purely on looks, poor thing. I'd rather walk up to the bull and have to move it on out of the way (which i have done) than that particular cow.

I'm sure there's a thread on here somewhere about how to huff at cattle effectively.

I used to live hear a farm and rode their cows. I gave up though because I didn't have a saddle and it felt as if I were riding a knife edge. I was 5 at the time.

I read that increased cow aggression is because native breeds are being crossed with less placid European breeds, thus forming a new "angry cow".

Obviously cows with young are more likely to be wary of you, and those people who have been chased/attacked by cows generally have a dog with them which has upset the cows.

I don't think farmers give a damn about bulls in fields. My family had a big dairy farm and rather shamefully would have been ecstatic if a bull had tossed a rambler. My uncle detested walkers with a passion after one too many gates were left open and crops trampled.

My mum reckons is because of more mechanised milking. That there's less human contact for them so they're getting wilder.

There are some signs up on Trust property near me where rare breed cows are grazed. It's a public path and the sign advises that if you have a dog and the cows start to run at you, let the dog loose and run in the opposite direction. The cows will chase the dog, and the dog has a better chance of escape.

The cows work bloody hard to produce their milk and then Tesco sell it for less than they charge for water. I completely udderstand why they are cross.

Taking a dog in to a field of cows is asking for trouble. Don't do it. If you come upon cows unexpectedly then do as pp said - let dog go and leg it. The dog can fit through a hedge!

Something to be aware of as well is that cows, particularly when they have calves with them may see young children as a threat too. So if you come across cows when rambling with toddlers PICK THEM UP. Keep older children close to you so the cows see you are moving as a group and they won't feel as anxious as if you're all over the place. If the cow is at one side of a track for example and the calf is on the other side DON'T walk between them. Ever. Go round. A long way round. Think about how you'd react if a cow walked between you and your baby.......

Never had a problem with sharks on my dog walks.

Quite nervous of cows, mind.

Have you had the misfortune to come across a herd of NAZI COWS? Recent story, too.

Well ours are lovely! Our bull is a veritable gentleman too. Knows his job and doesn't make a fuss or throw his weight about. We had a young highland X bull serving here over the last two years and he was a right cocky bastard. Wound our old man up something rotten. Got some lovely ginger babies from him though
In general we have a peaceable lot, don't even bother with dogs usually unless they're noisy maybe we just have proper nice cattle

I'm terrified of them and always have been