Dairy Cattle and Aggressive Behavior

The placid appearance of dairy cattle leisurely grazing rolling green hills is deceiving. With mature cows standing almost 5 feet tall and weighing up to 1,500 lbs., cattle are formidable combatants when they choose to be. With a dominance hierarchy focused on feeding, cows can be difficult to manage in the barn. The modern dairy industry is undoubtedly a science, with farmers managing feeding and other aggression, social behavior and overall comfort in effort to hike milk production to optimal levels.

  1. Social Hierarchy

    • Dairy cows have continuous and fluctuating levels of fighting and aggression in establishing social hierarchy. According to "Milk Production," a website dedicated to providing relevant scientific information to milk producers worldwide, dairy cows form subgroups within the larger pens. A stable hierarchy is formed within two days for cows with previous social experience and two days afterward for cows with none. Some cows thrive by not participating. The dominance ladder remains stable as long as group size doesn't exceed about 100 cows, the number where individuals can recognize their peers.

    Aggression During Feeding

    • Eating is the dominant drive in dairy cattle, so it's not surprising that dominance is most often asserted at feeding areas. High stocking densities (more cows in a given area) increase aggressive competition for food. When post-and-rail barriers are used rather than more restrictive headlock gates, subordinate cows consume much less. Even in noncompetitive situations with unlimited access to food, lower-ranking cows lose out. Lower food consumption, combined with other social stressors such as competition for optimal stalls, significantly reduces rumination (repetitive food chewing) activity.

    Other Aggression Causes

    • According to the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, aggression is also the behavioral symptom of general stress, frustration and pain. Unhappy cows are not friendly with each other or with human caretakers. Bedding and flooring play a huge part in cows' comfort. Abundant, optimal bedding such as straw or sand encourage necessary relaxation and reduce bed sores and infection. Limiting concrete flooring and using rubber mats helps eliminate hoof problems and lameness.

    Human Safety Precautions

    • Bulls (intact males) must be handled with caution, particularly when nearby females are in heat. While restrictive stalling and gated run-throughs are the rule of thumb for bull management, cows require less safety precautions. Still, according to the Ramblers' Association cited in London's online "Guardian," humans should never walk between a cow and her calf. It's always best to take a short detour rather than walk through the center of a group of cows and if they approach, it's advised to walk confidently, holding eye contact. Bolder animals are deterred by loud noise and waving of arms.

    Reducing Aggression

    • Reducing aggression in dairy cattle comes down to facilitating smaller groupings, providing ample food and restrictive eating mechanisms such as headlock gates at feeding bunks and providing larger resting space and more comfortable bedding and flooring. Since cows move in and out of pens continually on many farms, the real challenge, according to the website "Milk Production," is managing the increase in physical interactions that accompany regrouping and introduction of new animals into pens.