sister attacked by cow

copperhead46 I hope your sister is doing better. It's a reminder that you have to know what is going on around you at all times working cattle.

commonsense if youv'e had that cow more then a couple of weeks and she hasn't settle down she is not going to.

agmantoo's advice is sound if they give you trouble ship them. Life is too short to deal with them.

P.J., My thoughts and prayers are with your sister and wishing her a speedy recovery. I've been around cattle all my life, I've been chased, kicked, stepped on, butted but never no brutal attack like your sister endured...she's lucky to be alive. I know what they can do, I never trust a cow even if I raised it from a baby. I have 2 that I wouldn't even walk up to them in a open pasture and they were so gentle as babies. Since they had calves they seem to be more aggressive. One, "Mad Momma" don't even look at her baby she's ready to charge. If I have to be in the open pasture with them I'm always on my ATV (that's one protection), my working cow dog is on the ATV with me, unless given the command to work. Plus I have a hickory stick I use for hiking, but it is with me at all times too.

Another thing, I noticed in your post, that she had a hoodie on, I have medium length hair and I always have a knit band or knit hat to keep my hair from hanging over in my face/eyes when I am working. Got to see out the corner of my eye, cause my eyes are on the cows at all times. A hoodie puts you in a blind spot...I know...been there, done that.

A friend of my brother's (been knowing Bobby all my life) was brutally attacked by his cow inside the barn, he had to be airlifted to the hospital, he suffered broken ribs (one punctured his lungs) and I don't recall what else, When my brother told me of Bobby's attack, I asked if the cow had horns, he told me Bobby would not be alive if that cow had horns.

At the present time, I'm working with a 1st calf heifer that just had twins, I am very fortunate that she is not been aggressive at all, but I am very cautious at all times.

I'm a petite, middle aged working cowgirl; a few folks call me "The Cow Whisperer".

I do not own any cattle with horns...been there, done that.

Mc

I'm sorry your sister was hurt. She is in my prayers. I'm glad you posted this. It's good to occasionally be reminded to not let ourselves become complacent around our animals. I hope your sister is feeling better soon.

I hope your sister is all right. Ive never had cattle, yet I have had 2 horses.
After 1 broke my nose, or basically kneed me in the face, & I had no health insurance, & my nose bled for 30 minutes, & on another occasion I got kicked in the hip by the other, just cause I told him I was going to sell him.
I have learned, its not a wise idea to trust a 1200+pd animals, no matter what.
They freak out sometimes, who knows why.
Mothers with babys are even more dangerous, especially if they percieve something amiss.

I hope your sister is okay.

My hip is acting up, the 1 the horse kicked 4 years ago, somedays Im lucky if I can walk on it

prayers to your sister.....it only takes a split second for em to get ya, hope she get better real soon...
samm

Mother cows can always be dangerous if they aren't approached right. First calf heifers are usually the worst. My problem with Mother cows is usually the dog! Anytime I get a pup they have to be trained to stay when I'm going to go near a Mother cow on pasture. They learn it pretty quickly once they get chased by a cow a few times and then try and hide behind me to get away from the cow. There after all I have to do is say "Mother cow" to my dog and they stop and stay while I walk the last 100' to the cow.

My mother was put down on the ground once by a first calf heifer, but wasn't really hurt as the heifer didn't pursue the matter too much and I chased her off.

Copperhead46, I sure hope your sister recovers fast. Must have been scary because it happened so fast.

Jennifer

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-Northern NYS

We have only ever had 1 Cow that was a problem. She was my 4-H heifer and kicked me in the knee, pinned my mom's arm against a gate at county fair and kicked every time a show stick got near her. Turned out to be a great mom and did great as long a only men worked with her. She loved my dad.
Have only ever had 1 bull (Angus) that you had to watch. He got in a fight with out older Belted Galloway Bull from the next pasture over and had to be seperated by a pickup truck. Knocked out a rear light on the truck.

Watch out for bottle fed calves too. Our 7 year old will plow righ by you if she wants to get by. Still thinks she is a 100 pound bottle calf. Had 2 Holstein bottle bull calves that also thought they were still little guys. Loaded into the trailer like puppy dogs. Just had to remember that they were 1000-1300 pounds.

Carisa

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Thanks for the reminder! Our cow is about to have her second calf (but the first born on our property, we got her only last summer as our first cow) and so I reminded my son after reading this that if he goes out to let the cow out in the morning and there's a calf, LEAVE THE GATE SHUT and give her hay where she is - don't go in, don't go near, just take her hay, get out, and get me.

I will be more watchful ... I'm pretty careful, but when it's cold and I put the hood up sometimes I forget that means I can't see. I'll be digging out a toque and leaving the hood down, I think.

Tell your sister there's a rookie thanking her for sharing her trouble so I don't do the same ... and that the rookie sends a prayer for a quick recovery.

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near Edmonton Alberta
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Once again, I just can't thank you all enough for the good thoughts and prayers for my sister. The doc is sending her for a ct scan today, worried about some bleeding on her brain, I've got to admit, I'm terrified for her. Her face is still so swollen thats it's realy hard to recognize her.
I'll be sure and tell her that what happened to her may be a saving grace for someone else, and that we all will pay a little more attention when working around our stock. The reminder about the hood is a good one, Darla said she never saw the cow till she was on the ground. They've been wondering too, if the heavy coat and hood might not have made her seem more of a threat because the cows didn't recognize her. Maybe she looked more like an animal than a human, to the cow. I'm sure we won't ever know what goes through a cows mind, but it's been a hard lesson learned.
Thanks again to all of you, I told her she had a lot of people praying for her.
P.J.

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In her case, she's normally very placid, but the cows have been inside all winter, and from time to time she really needs to blow off some steam. We have ice everywhere, so I put her in the indoor arena to bounce around.

At those times, I don't trust her not to charge me, when she's really kicking up her heels and letting loose. After she works off that excess energy, she's back to being her normal, easygoing self.

ksfarmer, I don't engage in hand to hand combat, I just grab a horsewhip to enforce "my" space.

copperhead46, I'm sorry for your sister wish her a speedy recovery. She shouldn't feel too bad about being complacent, we've all lapsed at one time or another, some just got luckier than others. I got my reminder several years ago from an old longhorn cow and when the dust settled, my dog save my life and I was fortunate enough to walk away with a concussion, a few broken ribs, a broken wrist and massive bruising to most of my torso. I was humbled by how quick something could happen but realize that if one deals with livestock, sometimes things happen.

One must remember these are animals. Working on a large dairy several yrs ago, the bull got in with the milk cows and attacked , 1 of the milkers and hurt them real bad. It took me and the cow dog to get him out and into another holding pen. It took the cow dog and me about an hr to get him loaded to take his trip to the sale barn the next day. I have been kicked, knocked down, broken arm, leg, ribs form working with cattle for the last 50 yrs. Just remember these are animals not pets

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Deo Vindice O I'm a Good Old Rebel and thats what I am, I don't want no pardon for what I am and did

Sending prayers for your sister, please keep us updated on her recovery.
Thank you for reminding us about our critters, and I am sorry we are reminded in this way. Sure hope she starts feeling better soon.

Really any critter can be dangerous,the heavier the more damage. I had to return a friends Boer Buck ( male goat) because he was CRAZY when you entered the pasture with the feed bucket. He shoved me on the hiney then came after me in the knees from the front.I could imagine him breaking my knees with those huge horns. I had to drop the feed and flip the buck. I sat on the goat for 5 minutes before he settled down. 3 days in a row I battled that stinker. each day he got worse. IMHO NO buck is worth that. He would be in a freezer if he were mine.

My dogs freak out when my sons come in with their hoodies on, even in the light, they can't recognize them. I am constantly reminding them to take them off. So I can only imagine that the cow didn't know it was your sister.

I always wanted a cow, but now you've got me thinking that maybe I could learn to like goats milk and meat .

Prayers to your sister and the entire family.

I was attacked by a cow over 3 years ago and still have swollen knee to show for it. I had taken the calf out of the alley and was taking it in a wagon keeping the wagon between me and the cow as I took them to a calving pen. after I had the calf in the pen and was going to shut the mother in another till I had the colostrum fed, the cow turned and knocked me down and stomped on me and pushed me along the floor, fortunately my hubby was on his way and heard me yelling, I was able to slide under the gate and get my leg up to hold it between me and the cow, she kept coming at me. After a trip to the emergency room with fortunately nothing broken, just badly bruised all over, I had nightmares for a few months. I should have known better and waited for help as this cow always kicked at you if you walked behind her in the headlocks, but she had never been aggressive at calving. I always keep my eyes wide open with our cows at home, whether it is calving time or not.
I hope your sister recovers quickly. Thanks for the reminder
Pam

Wow, that's scary! I hope she heals quickly & will say some prayers for her. Thanks for this reminder.

Whew. I needed this reminder, too! Prayers offered for your sister, I hope she recovers soon! Our cow is due in a couple weeks, too. She's been gentle as a lamb since we brought her home, but you just never know! I'll remind our granddaughter about staying out when she calves, too. Thanks and good luck to your sister. Jan in Co

Im praying that she will heal fast, and a note- dont use the hood, buy a beinne...i use one instead of my hood so i can see, i just tuck my hair in a bun under it and it keeps my head and ears toasty and eyes free, it saved me today when a mare charged me because i was able to see her from behind! and horse whip helps too

Hate to hear situations like that. One way she can prevent an occurance is to buy a cur dog (from strictly working bloodlines...breeds are catahoula (they were originally owned by Native Americans before the cowboys got 'em), blackmouth cur or blue lacys) and they were bred to hunt wild cattle and hogs (in the old days, there were no fences) and round 'em up for the cowboys. Nowdays they're used for cattle herding and hog hunting. Worth getting one. Usually are worked in packs of 3. There are some breeders in Oklahoma for all 3 breeds that I'm aware of. Worth looking into. Make sure they're from working stock otherwise they're pretty dogs who can't do or won't work cattle/hogs. Good luck.

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Ted H

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Yeah, and a dog is also a good way to get hurt!! Unless your dog is trained you should never have him in the corral/pen with you. Nothing like having a mad mama coming after the dog and having him try and hide behind you.

We have a good working dog, but one place we don't allow him is in the pens when we have calving cows. Just not worth the risk, even though he IS well trained, and does listen to us.

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