If you separate cattle from the main herd for some reason and then reintroduce them after a time there is nearly always a fight between two beasts of equal size to re-establish rank within the group. Also, sometimes a beast will just fancy the chance of attaining higher ranking by testing the beast next in line. This horn locking and pushing can be alarming in its ferocity, until one beast gives ground and backs off. Sometimes the status quo is maintained and other times it is changed.
Flora (image above) is a the bottom of the pecking order in the Romesdal fold and knows it. The other cattle will not tolerate her at the feeding rings and she stands on the periphery with a forlorn expression. We have tombstone style feeding rings designed to prevent bullying by horned cattle but the bullying persists. The Highlanders seem acutely aware of personal space and rank and when feeding will give way to a beast of higher rank and the higher ranking beast will do all in its power to prevent a beast of lower rank feeding, until she has had her fill and is content.
You would think they would get fed up interrupting their feeding at the rings by chased another beast away, but they don't. 'This is all mine, squirt,' they seem to be thinking 'and you can go take a hike'. And this is the point when human intervention in the shape of your truly steps in to redress the balance of power otherwise poor Flora would lose out and lose condition.
And then when watching cattle at the feeding rings a strange a confusion of rankings was noticed. At first I thought that there was a straight forward hierarchical structure with Morag at the top, I am not counting the bull as he lives separate from the main fold, and Flora at the bottom. But Highland cattle society is not so simple. We have two feeding rings with ten head spaces on each giving, in theory, room for twenty cattle to feed. However, it is obvious that with Romesdal cattle at least, issues of personal space and rank consciousness restrict the comfortable numbers to three or four per ring. Which is slightly galling from the human perspective.
As we have eight cows, not counting calves which sneak in to the rings and don't matter in terms of rank, two are in for a hard time, one being Flora the other Dolly. But Dolly though second bottom in rank, is much braver than Flora and by sheer persistence manages to get her fair share. And then the confusion in rank gave rise to an odd situation.
Skelper, Mairi and Seanag were going round a feeding ring in a circular motion. It was obvious that Skelper was giving way to Mairi who was giving way to Seanach who was giving way to Skelper who was giving way to Mairi who was giving way to Seanach.... ad nauseum, if you get the drift. As one beast stopped to take a mouthful of hay the one behind would give a dunt and the cattle were trapped on a carousel of an anomaly in ranking.
This sad situation only stopped when a cow of higher rank decided to switch feeding rings and scattered the circling beasts. In the age old refrain of frustrated stockmen, 'what can you do?'
Flora (image above) is a the bottom of the pecking order in the Romesdal fold and knows it. The other cattle will not tolerate her at the feeding rings and she stands on the periphery with a forlorn expression. We have tombstone style feeding rings designed to prevent bullying by horned cattle but the bullying persists. The Highlanders seem acutely aware of personal space and rank and when feeding will give way to a beast of higher rank and the higher ranking beast will do all in its power to prevent a beast of lower rank feeding, until she has had her fill and is content.
You would think they would get fed up interrupting their feeding at the rings by chased another beast away, but they don't. 'This is all mine, squirt,' they seem to be thinking 'and you can go take a hike'. And this is the point when human intervention in the shape of your truly steps in to redress the balance of power otherwise poor Flora would lose out and lose condition.
And then when watching cattle at the feeding rings a strange a confusion of rankings was noticed. At first I thought that there was a straight forward hierarchical structure with Morag at the top, I am not counting the bull as he lives separate from the main fold, and Flora at the bottom. But Highland cattle society is not so simple. We have two feeding rings with ten head spaces on each giving, in theory, room for twenty cattle to feed. However, it is obvious that with Romesdal cattle at least, issues of personal space and rank consciousness restrict the comfortable numbers to three or four per ring. Which is slightly galling from the human perspective.
As we have eight cows, not counting calves which sneak in to the rings and don't matter in terms of rank, two are in for a hard time, one being Flora the other Dolly. But Dolly though second bottom in rank, is much braver than Flora and by sheer persistence manages to get her fair share. And then the confusion in rank gave rise to an odd situation.
Skelper, Mairi and Seanag were going round a feeding ring in a circular motion. It was obvious that Skelper was giving way to Mairi who was giving way to Seanach who was giving way to Skelper who was giving way to Mairi who was giving way to Seanach.... ad nauseum, if you get the drift. As one beast stopped to take a mouthful of hay the one behind would give a dunt and the cattle were trapped on a carousel of an anomaly in ranking.
This sad situation only stopped when a cow of higher rank decided to switch feeding rings and scattered the circling beasts. In the age old refrain of frustrated stockmen, 'what can you do?'
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