Does anyone keep cows as pets or companions?
In addition to a horse, if I had the money Iâd get me one of those Longhorn riding steer. would that count? :winkgrin:
They are too hard on fencing for my tastes.
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I know someone who has a Jersey milk cow. She has the AI tweaked to favor female calves and sells them on to others that want good house cows, as she calls them. Despite that she ended up with a male calf one or two years, and now her little boy is doing oxen for 4H! With these little Jersey something cross steers.
The milk cow was just adorable.
I could do without stepping in cow patties though. And they do bring along a whole other kind of fly problem. If you are in rural land though you probably already have those.
Ime horses kept in suburbs miles away from any cows dont attract the horrible flies you get in the countryside.
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For horses or people? 
Iâve had Longhorn and loved them. Ours had been raised around humans so they were fairly tame. Too old to train to ride, though! Brahma/Brahman are another favorite of mine. Theyâre not common (at least in my neck of the woods). I knew two bulls that were a beautiful slate blue color and just the gentlest things you could imagine despite their massive size. Or what about a mini cow breed? Less manure, less feed, less mess.
The key with any cow is early socialization. Not surprisingly, bottle babies grow up to be the friendliest, IME.
We had a bottle baby Jersey bull (who became a steer in short order) who was a delightful âpetâ. Very affectionate and smart. The cow patties were the worst part.
As a teenager, I was known around the area as the kid to hire when you needed a calf bottle fed, so I raised quite a few over the years. I loved every single one of them and treated them as pets. I always hated having to give them back once they were weaned.
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I had a cow that I rescued- she had been picked up by local knacker man, and was passing a bunch of blood, so she was headed to slaughter. I know nada about cows (well, except that they have four stomachs, and I can name three of themâŚ:lol:) but I treated her and she recovered, and became the fattest Holstien I have ever seen. LOVED her. She was affectionate, and had a great sense of humor. She is also the reason I do not eat beef. RIP Cowie!
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I have had many âpetâ cows over the years that have lived with my horses. We have had as many as 100 head of Herefords, but I have always had 1 or 2 or 3 that were âpetsâ. I currently have a little Jersey cross cow and she actually has her own stall in the barn, right alongside the horses. I donât mind the patties, they are easier to clean than chasing balls. She DOES attract more flies than the horses, but she gets fly sprayed just like the horses to bring her some relief. I have not noticed more flies on the property since having her, but she is managed just like the horses in that poop and yucky hay is picked up daily and not left to accumulate. Single cows are EASY to manage to eliminate flies. The herd of 100 DID cause more flies, but mainly because managing poop and wasted hay in the âfeedlotâ area where they overwintered and were fed grain, silage and round bales, could not occur on a daily basis. When spring rolled around, it was prime fly breeding area. It would get stripped with the FEL as soon as it dried out, but that often wasnât until early summer.
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Iâve always wanted a pet cow. DH has cows that arenât pets, will absolutely not let me have a pet cow.
The longhorns we got were raised more like pets and they are a total pain in the butt, always escaping ðŸËâ
His angus are like real working cows, the people we have cows with have a big ol steer who is broke to sit on. I think heâs pretty old now but serves a âpurposeâ to lead the other cows to pasture.
My horses all chase cows so it wouldnât work even if I wanted a pet cow. I have one horse whoâs deathly terrified and then the other two who just want to work them.
A local friend has a super precious highland cow thatâs halter broke, saddle broke, stands tied with the horses all day and also busts the fence weekly 
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Can you get a little milk cow for delicious milk yogurt and cream?
He said if I milk it everyday ðŸËâ sounds like a hassle. I did get to AI heifers today so I do get some pet cow time
I have a dairy heifer calf now but have had different dairy cow breeds before in a micro dairy. Cows are very smart and can be tamed and handled like a pet. Like dairy goats they thrive on routine. It depends on the individual temperament of the cow whether it is suited to be a pet. My heifer right now is very bossy and loud. She pushes the goats around but is respectful
of my horse. If someone has the space, a dairy steer would make a good pet given time and handling. Jerseys are my favorite breed and I use fly predators so no fly problem.
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My dad used to say the most dangerous animal on the farm was a pet cow. Iâve had several pet cows over the years and I can attest to that. You have to be very careful around them as they are very big, have no concept of boundaries, donât mind running over you and have a very high pain threshold. Pansy, our most notable, would knock you down over a bucket of feed. She injured my mother that way. She was useful as a Judas goat for the other cows when penning them.
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Yeah, Iâd add the caveat that you would need to teach the cow manners just like you teach a horse (or indeed a dog). My guess is that on a working farm, you could end up with the occaisional livestock animal that gets pet or semi-pet status, but no one would actually be taking the time to teach manners or commands to a cow or a pig.
And like horses, they arenât animals you can be safe around if there is no training, and particularly if they are pets because they were bottle raised and allowed to crowd humans as babies.
But people do and always have worked safely with oxen. I only learned in the past year that oxen isnât a specific breed, it just means cattle broke to do harness work! I expect in that case, youâd be teaching them all the same manners and commands as you would a horse.
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Have Longhorns to maintain my ag exemptionâadopted Sam who retired from the Fort Worth Stockyards cattle drive herd and he passed away at age 30. Tall-over 16.2 with huge twisted horns and sweet as could be. Have 2 steers nowâWalter, who Iâve had since he was 3 months old, and Henry who was born here when I had a few longhorn cows. Walter is a sweetheart, Henry is piggy and not exactly mean, but he will hook at you a little if you mess with him. Once two OtTBs got over their initial shock of trying to figure out what they were, both were hell-bent on being friends with the steers! The steersâŚnot so much. They all respect each other and we have our routine so it all works. Had 2 riding steers about 10 years ago, Bingo and Tater Tot. Belonged to the ex-boyfriend and he later sold them, but they were pretty good boys too.
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I am always amazed at how gentle Longhorns are. They are the sweetest cows. At the last fair I was at, a man had a bunch there and he was giving rides on his longhorns! Like pony rides but with cows :lol:
Old Sam was so funny. One day I was in the feed room, which just has a regular people door. I was getting supper ready and I hear something RIGHT behind me and I turned around, and Sam, his head and shouldersâand giant hornsâwere now in there with me! He just wanted some cubes. They know EXACTLY where their horns are, and as long as you donât try to shoo them or scare them, they will turn their heads, and navigate everything back out of whatever they get into.!
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That is fascinating. Thanks. I know almost nothing about cattle.
Other than helping to herd a recalcitrant herd of Holsteins from woods to field and having had a herd show up in my yard one morning (many years ago) I am ignorant but for what I have learned on COTH.
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