Cows can kick, and they will if they feel threatened or if they feel pain of some kind. While horses often kick straight back, cows are sneaky creatures in that they often kick out to the side or straight forward. This means that a cow can easily kick you if you get too close.
Even a good quality head gate allows an animal slippage about one half the length of its neck. We found there is another effective way of immobilizing cattle’s feet if the concern is kicking backwards, (as in taking scrotal measurements) but you need two people, one to do the necessary, and one to hold the tail of the animal.
Can a cow kick a horse?
Unlike horses, cows can kick in almost any direction with ease. They also have a much better “one inch punch”. When you walk behind a horse, you with want to walk WAY back, or right next it it’s rear end. Even a draft horse can’t generate much more than a hard shove abou a foot behind it.
Another common question is “How effective is a cow’s defensive kick?”.
Novices to the beef industry might not appreciate the devastating effectiveness of a cow’s defensive kick. Wry humour from poorly informed people will occasionally refer to some mild discomfort as having been “kicked by a cow,” a cow being seen as a mild-mannered, harmless and inherently awkward animal.
Can cows jump fences?
Cows can indeed jump, they can jump in a standing position, or they can jump whilst they run around. Some cows can jump fences, barriers, walls up to six-foot. However, on average most cows jump four to five-foot structures with ease.
This begs the query “How do you stop a cow from jumping over the fence?”
Our bull and cow jumped over once – we put a strand of electric inside and just a little higher than the woven fence (using the same posts) and they never tried it again., and a., and poke., and on., and her. Now that they know fence won’t hurt/stop them.. Put her/them in a poke. Or, build 10′ chain-link. Or, butcher them. These are the choices as I see them.
What to do with Angus heifer that keeps jumping the fence?
We had an angus heifer that kept jumping the fence and taking off once she got 2 miles from home. Talk about a rodeo getting her home again! We put her on a long chain to a tree where she could get to the water and feed easily enough. She stayed that way for 4 mths until we sold her.
One way to think about this is run an electric fence inside the outer fence. Put it in far enough that she will contact before her takeoff point for outer fence. If she don’t get the point then freezer time is in order.
How do I get my cow to calm down after breeding?
Confine her to a hot electric fence and do as dairymon suggested. If you can keep her confined for several weeks she will come to respect the electric fence. Once she is bred and has a calf she will settle down. Otherwise either put her in the freezer or on the road to the sale barn.