We don’t know about you guys, but we love off-the-wall moving information – especially when cows are involved. That got us wondering. What makes cows want to move all clumped together in herds?
Why Do Cows Move in Herds?
Simply put being in a herd lowers cows stress levels. Recent research out of the U.K. has shown that like us cows have friends that they prefer to hang out with which puts them at ease compared to being on their own or among a new group of cows they don’t know.
Herd: a grouping of animals of similar or same species that can be either wild or domesticated to serve a specific purpose.
How did they find this out? By measuring the cows’ heart rate in different scenarios: on their own, with other cows they knew and with cows they weren’t familiar with. Turns out these social creatures can get on edge if they aren’t with their clique.
Then there’s the aspect of Herd Mentality. Herd mentality is when a big group thinks and acts as one. Members of a herd relate to one another and want to fit in with the crowd so they tend to act alike. Which goes right back to the fact that cows herd because they like hanging out with their friends that they bond with.
Moving in herds has also proven to be an effective survival strategy. There’s strength in numbers and sticking together means you won’t be singled out by a predator. This fear motivates cows and other animals to move in herds – sometimes very quickly.
Cows act and move as a herd out of instinct. If you try to force domesticated cows to herd it will stress them out and actually make them go against their instinct to herd. They are much more comfortable following their “lead” steer than being pushed from behind by an outsider. The lead steer is the cow in the herd that gets things moving, they are the traffic coordinator so to speak.
Moving Lessons We Can Learn From Herds of Cattle
There are lots of things we human movers can learn from herds of cows. Here are the biggest takeaways:
- Establish a herd leader that’s in charge of coordinating the move.
- Don’t let yourself get stressed! Take mental and physical breaks whenever stress levels start to rise.
- Don’t try to go it alone. Family and friends are usually more than willing to help however they can. If you need a few more cattle in your herd, friendly Austin moving companies like Square Cow Movers are more than happy to help out.
Next time you’re driving through the countryside and see a group of cows grazing together in the field keep in mind that there’s a lot of thought and reasoning that goes into a herd.
Original Source: https://squarecowmovers.com/herd-mentality-of-cows-on-the-move