Does anyone call their cows Bossy?

My folks came from Germany. They called the cows with Ha Yuk, Ha Yuk, Heavy on the Ha.. If they were moving while milking we would say a calm Saaaaa, with a bit of u in it. But if they were raising heck, We would say it loud and hard. Worked both ways.

I just call "hereee giiirrrlllsss" (here girls) but my husband and most of his friends call here bossie they all worked on real big ranchs it's how they still do it.

This thread is hilarious.

When I had a bajillion chickens, they learned to come with "Chick-chick-chick!" For the chickens far out in the field who couldn't hear this shorter call, I would yell, "Come on, ladies!" Then when I got the sheep, they learned the "Come on, ladies!" call... Which in turned trained my neighbor's steers to come running (who were, um... not ladies) to the fence to see what I was feeding...

When I used to live with my cousin, who raised beef cattle, the cows all knew the sound of his truck and horn. We loaded the back with hay, and one person would drive while the other tossed hay to the cows. Most of them would show up just hearing the truck. If a few were missing, he'd honk his horn, and they'd come running... Anyone not showing up to dinner had a new calf hidden somewhere. You could honk any horn you wanted out by the pasture, and the cows would look at you like you were stupid. But if the cows heard him honk his horn a few miles away, they would all start bellowing back at it. You could hear the cow chorus clear up at the house.

Funny! I just left a message on a similar thread. I said when I helped a neighbor with her milking, I could hear her out in the fields yelling Moooove it, Moooove it, Moooove it, and that it reminded me of an old tv show called Rawhide.

I did have chickens when I was a kid. They each had names. We had ducks and geese too, but didn't name them. Not sure why. But you never needed to call them anyway. As soon as they saw you, they headed for you. I have pictures of me walking across the fields with ducks and geese following behind me. It looked like a parade. I wasn't much bigger than some of those geese. I smile every time I see those pictures. I miss those days.

I haven't visited the forum for a looong time. What a surprise to see this thread was still alive and better yet that cows are still called bossy. Loved reading your comments. Renee

The first family cow that I ever met, when I was very young, was owned by my mom's best friend and her name was Bossy. Funny how I've never forgotten that, but then that was the very first time I saw a cow being milked and then said milk being consumed by a family!

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OMG! I just realized why some quote the name as "bossy" and others "bassy". They're probably pronounced exactly the same way. Many Americans pronounce your Os as though they were As (and your piercing As are off the charts), relative to the rest of us. It's a good thing we use alternate spellings instead of alternate pronouciations or Canadian cows vaccationing in Florida might get confused, and cows don't read anyway so they wouldn't much care how we spell it.

I'd love if we could all send in recordings, that'd be a hoot! Hey moderator... could you make mp3 a valid file attachment type?

Our cattle always come to the sound of a pick-up horn in the summers and to the sound of the tractor pulling a feed wagon in the winter. Some have special names, but, I can't put those names on here, I think.

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* I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one. .*-

my old cow is named bessy and yess I call as loud as I can to the distant pasture and she will come .but her heifer calf now 3 years old is called bossy ;though not from any german heritage but because of her bossy personality having cows that will come when called is a joy our beef cattle will come when called we trained them this way by giving them some sweet feed and calling ;usally a WOOOOOO come cow because it can be hollered loud or blowing the truck horn or the tractor motor all work well

Co-bosss! Co-bosss! or I have also heard. Ca-bosss! Ca-Bosss!
It didn't really matter, as long as you had fresh hay they would come if you called them "Keilbasa".

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Formerly BrahmaMama
"Firelight will not let you read fine stories, but it's warm, and you won't see the dust on the floor"
Anonymous Irish quote

Agreed! Don't know about cows, but we can call our goats by name and quite a few of them will answer us immediately and some will actually come to the fence to see if we need them.

But if we head out the back door with organic Costco animal crackers and yell "COOKIES" they'll all come to the fence lines immediately!

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My uncle used to yell "Ca-Bossss" and they'd come quick stepping across the pasture. My 8 year old self would yell until I was hoarse and they wouldn't even look up.

I miss that so much.

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People say I can't multi-task. Well, I can tick you off and amuse myself at the same time.

This thread provided the research for the following article in the "Farm and Dairy" newspaper in April 2008:Calling ‘Bossie’ stands the test of time

http://www.farmanddairy.com/columns/...time/8931.html

Linda Renee

My MIL's family had cows when she was young (87 now) and they were called Bossie. When she is trying to help one of the ggrands or gggrands put on shoes or socks she still says "Hike yer foot Bossie" and the little ones get a kick out of it when they are old enough to recognize she is calling them a cow!

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I've done so much with so little for so long that I'm now qualified to do almost anything with practically nothing.

My Highland cow is named Beth. To get her attention I call Yo Beth, but occasionally revert to my childhood days and call Kom Baas, which is Dutch for Come Bossie. And yes, it is a hand me down of the Latin Bos.

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If angels existed, they'd probably be considered big game. (Don Swain)

Home schooling.........not just for scary religious people anymore. Buffy

Come Boss for cows, but Su calve for calves. I think that came from an uncle who milked and fed bucket calves (suck calves). I call my sheep by Lammies, lambys.

Our neighbour called her cows Aimless, Feckless, Graceless, and Pointless after the cows in the book Cold Comfort Farm and she had another one she called Useless just to keep up the theme. We always laughed when we heard her calling her little herd. I know she loved their names.

Other than that it was just Hep Bossy! on the farm and when I lived in the Swiss alps the cows responded to different yodels.