Thats a COW!?! Bull S**t!

It has been interesting learning how disconnected from agriculture we as a society have become.

We were given a cow…maybe a bull…depends who you ask…let me explain.

Our cow is gentle. She is small as per her breed. She is shaggy. She is stout. She (and this is where it gets confusing) has horns.

WHAT! HORNS! yes horns. Our cow has horns. Like many breeds our cow has horns. It amazes me how many people have seen my cow and after I have told them “this is my cow isn’t she beautiful?” they get a confused look in their eyes and say something like “thats a bull it has horns”.

If it has an udder down under it’s a cow.

Some breeds are hornless (aka polled). Other breeds have horns. Regardless of sex. Some animals have been dehorned for safety reasons. Not all bulls are mean. Not all cows are friendly.

So let me take a moment to share with you some tips that may help one stay clear of an embarrassing conversation.

Tip #1 if the owner refers to the gender of their animal as female…trust them they are probably correct

Tip #2 if the animal has horns, one way to tell if it is a cow or a bull is to look underneath (you don’t have to get close) to see if you see testicals or an udder or teats? If there is an udder it is indeed a female. If it has none of those traits it is probably a steer.

Tip #3 if you are not sure say so…or say what you think…it makes for some fun conversation

Thanks to all my friends who provided me with the idea for this post through some funny conversations.