Stupid cow update-update

I just came back on and have been reading all the comments on my stupid cow post. I guess I have a lot of company!Lol! I'm laughing so hard I can barely sit in my chair.

And yes, Paul from MI, sheep are even stupider than cows. My cousin rasies the things and get this: he is planning on EXPANDING his sheep herd as soon as he retires from his real job. Lord have mercy on the guy. (chuckle)

If you want to out do him go get some goats.

Nah, goats are pure evil ! They will destroy everything you don't want them to. BTDT ;^)

Sheep may be dumber than cows? Toss up- but you can usually manage to wrestle a sheep down a lot easier than a cow, don"t need as strong or high a fence. a Merino ram can cause injury to small person- but if you treat the horns as handles and can match his weight, relatively easy if you DON"T turn your back on him. Little Shetland ram wags his tail as he gets hand fed garden weeds, old Jakobs ram with extra long extra horn isn"t much bigger in body, minor aggravation getting head out of garden fence. Short tails compared to cows- don"t get face wapped when milking. Walk between couple sheep and get bumped by rear ends just means soft squeeze- on a couple cows it may mean sore ribs and stomped feet with sore toes for a week. Load a reluctant cow in a trailer may mean strong winch and big ropes, 6 people with stock panels and a couple stun batons- sheep just mean get a member of the local high school football team to grab the wool at shoulder then pick up and toss into back of pickup, shut the topper. Butchering a downed broken legged cow in field means get to it with truck or lots of bloody piece work hauling out quarters. Sheep is cut throat, skin out or gut, pick up by hand and carry out after drain- or get the high school football player again. Skin out and tanned mean vest material, a quarter can be fitted in large oven pan and Sunday dinner for family while rest is stuck in refrigerator or smoker for a couple weeks worth of fresh meat, stews, and some sausage making in a hour- not a all weekend job like a cow. Large back yard with a decent fence and a large dog house with water hose reach? Don"t want to mow an hour every 2 weeks? 2 wethers will quietly weed and feed for the growing season, become winters dinners and knit cap material--if kids don"t name them after Sherri Lewis puppet. Loose a cow is a thousand dollar loss- a sheep is $100.00 or less. Your cow on road in a fence law state hit by compact car may mean serious injury to drive, lots of crumpled metal. Sheep hit may mean bent fender and bumper and need to do a quick butcher job- but insurance claim won"t be a doubled premium for 5 years to make up for payout. Sheep do have some advantages over cows, both can be dumb critters but sheep are of a size to be less dangerous, easier to control. RN.

Dang! You almost got me wanting to go get some sheep! :shock:

Danged straight ! I raised sheep for a few years on my long gone farm. Very satisfying and turned a profit to boot.

My Dad raised beef critters the whole time I was at home and big enough to do chores.

Anything one of those stupid basserds can do to ya short of killing ya, they've done to me. The sun ain't rose on the day there'll be a cow on my place.

I had Shetlands for years but got tired of trying to find someone to shear for me, so I switched over to Katahdins.



The Katahdins are about twice the size of Shetlands, and the ram is big enough to put a bad hurtin' on ya if he was to take a notion. So far, he tapped me once and I gave him enough of a thump between the running lights to get his attention. Now I just keep one eye on him when he's around.

Other than that, no problems. No escape artists, no aggressiveness, no health issues, no episodes of serious stupidity, no evidence of the death wish I keep hearing about in sheep.

My dad hated sheep. He always said a sheep would walk across a 40 acre farm to find a ditch to lay down in and die. Said they were to stupid to just roll over and get up.

My grandfather had a big plow horse who learned that a gate was just a suggestion. He would walk up to one, put his chest against it, and walk right through. No gate was strong enough to hold him.

I never thought cows were stupid. Just the opposite. They've got nothing better to do with their time all day than to find a way to outsmart you. The best way to get them to go where you want them to go is to make them think it's their idea.
When we milked cows in a stanchion barn,we had 22 on a side and every one of them came in twice a day to the same stanchion time after time their whole lives. They had lots of choices,but they all knew right where they belonged.