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Why do you rarely see cows and horses kept in the same pasture?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Horses are usually considered pets, whereas cattle are normally not. I keep my horse in a separate pasture because he requires a little grain daily and higher quality hay. My cows get grain only once a week and get the lesser quality hay. What it all boils down to is the horse gets his own pasture so he wont have to compete with the cows for food.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 7y agoHorses are very selfish and even insolent when it comes to interacting with other herbivorous species. When there is limited feed sources (not so much supply), they will literally hog it and protect it as their own against any non-equine that tries to "steal" it from them. They bite, nip, kick, and lunge with their ears back, chasing the offending bovines away.
Sorry to all you horse-lovers, but it's the truth. I've seen it too many times before.
It's particularly bad when horses are not outnumbered by cattle. The greater the equine army, so to speak, the greater chance they have to hoard the feed all to themselves, leaving the cattle out to starve or find less appetizing or quality feed instead. And any bovine that dares to challenge the equine force gets a painful nip in the hindquarters and escorted out of the feed-yard premises to the farthest part of the pen or pasture, leaving that poor bovine to go hungry. Again.
The odds lean in the favour of the cattle if there's a lot more of them than the horses. Two or three horses versus 20 or 50 cows is no match for those equines, and that duo or trio have no choice but to respect the bovine herd and eat only what the cows choose to leave for them. And believe me, a fair size herd of cows treat a small group of horses better than a herd of horses treat a few cows.
Unless one or two of those horses happen to be working horses that are trained to work cattle as part of their job title. Then all bets are off, and they're not allowed to be with any bovines, no matter if they're the only one in the bovine herd!
The thing is, it's really not about horses being pets and cows not. Cows can be pets too, and often are more than many of us realize. Nor is it about one needing better feed than the other. Quite frankly, both can benefit from having the same good quality hay and some grain. But the clincher is the behaviour and the speciesist attitude that horses tend to have against any animal that is not an equine.
And this isn't limited to your standard light-horse breeds, mini horses, ponies and mini-ponies are just as notorious for harassing and bullying bovines around when there's more of them than the cows. They may be small, but boy do they have attitude.
That's why you rarely see horses and cows in the same pasture. It's for both the sanity and comfort of either species that they be kept separate from each other. There are exceptions, but these must be taken with a grain of salt.
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What does the horses house look like?
Horses mostly live in a fenced in pasture but some horses are kept in barns with stalls.
What is the name of the place where cows are kept called?
Cows are kept in barns, corrals or pens with sheds for them to go to if the weather turns bad, as well as pasture and rangeland for those who can have access to them from spring to early winter.
What is a horses habitat like?
Horses typically live in a pasture so they can graze the grass all day. Domestic horses will sometimes be kept in a barn stall.
What is the name of the cage where cows are held?
Cattle and horses are kept in a corral, not a cage.
Where does cows stay?
in pens, stables or paddocks.
How many times per day are horses generally fed a meal?
Horses are fed morning and afternoon if they are boarded in. Generally if they are kept out at pasture and there is good quality fodder (grass) and they are not working then they may not require extra food. If however they are working horses they will require meals containing grain (at least once a day) while kept in pasture?
Where are horse kept?
Horses can be kept in a pasture (a safe roaming area that is fenced off). At night they should be kept in their stalls, inside a barn or a stable.
Where is a horse usually kept during the day?
My horses are kept out in pasture 24/7, as I believe is best for them. Other people turn their horses out at night during the hottest part of the year, and in the day during the coldest.
Where do farmers leave their cows overnight?
Cows mostly stay in fenced in pastures or meadows where they roam and graze. They sleep or bed down under trees within the pasture or meadow. However, if the farmer runs a milk cow farm, usually those cows are kept in milking barns. Smaller farms bring their milking cows in from the pasture to milk, but let them roam during the day. When closer to the person's home, cows can be kept in corrals-- fenced in smaller areas, usually right outside the barn.
What are agriculture impacts of barbwire?
Barbwire keeps cows, horses, and sheep on one side of a fence and crops on the other. Before barbwire, keeping animals and crops separate required solid wooden fences, stone walls, or hedgerows. It made it easier to keep the cows out of the corn. The cows could be kept in the pasture. Horses or mules are far better for pulling plows than oxen, but are more difficult to confine. Barbwire fences would confine horses and mules in pastures. Horses and mules replaced oxen for plowing. A farmer could plow far more land in a day.
Is there anything you can do to keep the color of a pasture kept palomino horse from fading?
Invest in a fly sheet with UVA protection, this will keep the horses coat from fading.
Can a group of horses also be called a corral?
A group of horses is called a herd. Even if you have only two horses, it's still a herd. Words like corral, pen, pasture, or barn might be used to indicate a group of horses, but that type of use intends to indicate where the herd of horses are kept.
