A cattle question....

Graces7

This is our first year in cattle country after decades of sheep...

A week or so ago, we got lost in the lanes here, as is easily done, and met a herd of cattle being taken in for milking.

Some interesting facial wear!

One cow had a large oval metal ??nose ring??

Another was wearing what looked like a large muzzle; reminded of an old fashioned cheese grater but larger.

Would be interested to learn why and what etc; have almost sorted the issues re gender of the beef cattle around us!

Thank you..

blue5000

The one with the oval metal ring was probably reared on a cow and might have been sucking another cow. the ring if it had small spikes on it makes a cow that she is trying to suck, kick her away. Don't know what the muzzle was, maybe a chin ball marker/raddle on a bull? Bet you're even more confused now:D:D

Graces7

blue5000 wrote: »

The one with the oval metal ring was probably reared on a cow and might have been sucking another cow. the ring if it had small spikes on it makes a cow that she is trying to suck, kick her away. Don't know what the muzzle was, maybe a chin ball marker/raddle on a bull? Bet you're even more confused now:D:D

lol; thank you

The ring; it was not the ring I noticed, but what looked like a wide oval medallion hanging from it. About 3-4 inches wide and with engraving on it.

And the muzzle covered the cow's mouth and lower face.

Maybe some local thing; in the wilds of West Cork odd things happen.. there is a nearby cabbage field protected by rows of scarecrows who look like mionks...

blue5000

Graces7 wrote: »

lol; thank you

The ring; it was not the ring I noticed, but what looked like a wide oval medallion hanging from it. About 3-4 inches wide and with engraving on it.

..

The engraving may have been little spikes, like short 1 inch blunt nails?

Note to self,
I really will have to find something better to do while at lunch!

Kovu

Graces7 wrote: »

lol; thank you

The ring; it was not the ring I noticed, but what looked like a wide oval medallion hanging from it. About 3-4 inches wide and with engraving on it.

And the muzzle covered the cow's mouth and lower face.

Maybe some local thing; in the wilds of West Cork odd things happen.. there is a nearby cabbage field protected by rows of scarecrows who look like mionks...

Muzzle would be to stop the animal eating. Maybe she's being dried off from milk so she's getting hay in the shed. Or could be to stop her licking some wound she had which was stitched or covered with cream,

Muckit

Graces7 wrote: »

The ring; it was not the ring I noticed, but what looked like a wide oval medallion hanging from it. About 3-4 inches wide and with engraving on it

Was it something like this in the first pic directly below? As blue5000 says they are an anti sucking device to stop other animals other than calves from sucking. The ones below are other variants that are much more aggressive and have spikes, the metal one is an older version, they're all generally plastic now.

Not a clue about the muzzle, could well be for what Karen described.

whelan1

Muckit wrote: »

Sorry but just to let you know the correct term here would be cows.

Cattle is a collective term for all other bovine animals (males and females)

i married a dublin man , and still 14 years later every cow is a he:rolleyes:

Muckit

Graces7 wrote: »

done, and met a herd of cattle being taken in for milking

Sorry but just to let you know the correct term here would be cows.

Cattle is a collective term for all other bovine animals (males and females)

Now you'I sound like a real country person next time your down the local

Graces7

Muckit wrote: »

Sorry but just to let you know the correct term here would be cows.

Cattle is a collective term for all other bovine animals (males and females)

Now you'I sound like a real country person next time your down the local

]]

Oh, OK.. no idea even where a local is, and I embarrrassed our landlord by asking re the sex of the field of..... cattle...the ones that graze here are beef .. beasts...

And yes to the picture; the jewelry the black cow is wearing is near enough.. no spikes....and I see re the muzzle also. Poor girl out there in the grass and cannot eat it.

Fascinating what we see and learn; thank you all! It has been on my mind a while now...Curiosity..

KatyMac

These don't stop the beast eating grass. when she puts her head down it sort of flips up and she can eat 'under' it. It covers her mouth when she tries to put her head under another cow to suck and if there are spikes the other cow will kick the milk robber away.

Graces7

KatyMac wrote: »

These don't stop the beast eating grass. when she puts her head down it sort of flips up and she can eat 'under' it. It covers her mouth when she tries to put her head under another cow to suck and if there are spikes the other cow will kick the milk robber away.

I meant the muzzle...:)