Why do cows all point the same way sometimes, and sometimes not?

[Stand_watie]

And why does this differ from herd to herd?

Mark Twain set me to thinking about this when I was about ten, and for the past 25 years I've been noticing it. Cows in a particular herd all point in the same direction, it seems to me like when weather is coming. Or they point every which-a-way. Frequently both, as in the herd of Holsteins in field next door which all point one way when a blue norther is coming in and in the very next field the herd of angus pointing every which-away at the same time...why? Obviously one or both of these pheneomena have a reason.

Does anybody know why in a manner that a particular breed of cattle would act it out, or even the same breed of cattle belonging to two different farmers, would act differently?

[charby]

Probably weather related, cows will pile up together and point in the same direction during fowl weather.  Also has to do with the terrian where the herd is hanging out, they can get down into coolies/ravines and be out of the weather.

Also I have noticed in my days of working with cattle that if one critters sees something and moos about it pretty soon all the bovines are looking in the same direction.

-C

[El Tejon]

Stand, cows act as spotters/F.O.s for winged creatures in the continuing Animal Conspiracy.  The cows face in the direction of humans to assist in bird attacks.

Read more about the Animal Conspiracy here:  http://www.vaguebuttrue.com/genius.htm#TheOtherAnimalsAreAginUs

[Brian Williams]

This is kind of like the question when geese fly in a V formation....  Why is one side of the Geese formation longer than the other?





















































































Because it has more geese in it.


Because that is the way the cows were standing when you went by.


It is all a conspiracy.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm not sure you're describing any kind of a pattern there.  Sometimes they face the same way?  Sometimes they face different ways?  Sometimes some face the same way but others face different directions?  If one cow sees/hears/smells something worth paying attention to, then the others cow will probably see/hear/smell it too.  Sometimes not. 

[Harold Tuttle]

Cows travel in herds, and when they stop,
they tend to stay pointed in the same direction.
Its rather like Walmart.

[El Tejon]

Like Walmart but the cows are much thinner.

[280plus]

Just watch out for the mad ones.

[Tallpine]

The big question is why did the cow cross the road?   

[280plus]

I heard she was looking for her pal the chicken. 

[Eleven Mike]

And there was much groaning. 

[grampster]

They always point in the direction of traffic.  Usually they are standing around smoking and when one of them sees a car, he yells car! and they all drop down and hide the cigarettes.

[Cosmoline]

At least the cows haven't turned terrorist like the moose

[MechAg94]

The cow crossed the road because the grass was greener.   

[K Frame]

point in the same direction during fowl weather.

-C

Don't you just hate it when it rains chickens and ducks?

[Brad Johnson]

They line up the same because cows are magnetic, with a north and south pole.  Bulls have reversed poles and will tend to be attracted to cows, often sticking to them for several seconds until the magnetic field dissipates slightly. 

Ranchers on horseback develop strange dual properties - both dampening the attractive force between the cows, and creating strong, random repelling forces that spread in all directions.  Hence the propensity for a group of cows to disperse rapidly, uncontrollably, and in random directions when the presence of a mounted rider is detected.  Interestingly enough this phenomenon only occurs when the rider is intent on keeping the group of cows together and moving in one general direction.  If the intent is to randomly distribute said cows, the attractive forces reverse and the cows clump together in an immovable mass.  In both cases, the attractive/repelling forces between the cows become exponentially stronger as the patience of the mounted rider decreases. 

Brad

[MechAg94]

Another question:  Why do I have city people occasionally bring up cow tipping?  The cows I grew up around bedded down on the ground. 

[charby]

point in the same direction during fowl weather.

-C

Don't you just hate it when it rains chickens and ducks?

I was waiting for someone to catch that.

[Perd Hapley]

Bulls have reversed poles and will tend to be attracted to cows, often sticking to them for several seconds until the magnetic field dissipates slightly.

Sounds like your cattle are into some unusual positions.  Around here, they both face the same direction. 

You all can try out your Cow-ma Sutra jokes now. 

[Old Fud]

I was a city kid in dairy country of Wisconsin when I was in grade school. 
And asked the same question.   My country friends told me that was cows are stupid, lazy and creatures of habit, just like some city kids they knew.   

When the cows was let out of the barn in the morning, the grazed as they sauntered out to the fields, so naturally they were all pointed "out".  When they got to the fields, they were too lazy to mill around and didn't have enough curiosity to go investigate anything.    Mid-afternoon, they'd start drifting back to the barn, chewing cud as they went, which meant they were all pointed the same way again-- in.

Now that I live in California, the Berkeley dairy farmers have told me a different tale.   They say they've bred them to have their left legs shorter then their right ones. That way, they can comfortably graze on our hills -- as long as they graze counter-clockwise.

BTW -- Buffalo face into the wind and stand in bad weather.  Texas longhorns put their tails to it and drift.   Everybody knows that.

See?   You didn't think there was a good explanation.
In fact, there's lots of them.

Fud

[Stand_watie]

I'm not sure you're describing any kind of a pattern there.  Sometimes they face the same way?  Sometimes they face different ways?  Sometimes some face the same way but others face different directions?  If one cow sees/hears/smells something worth paying attention to, then the others cow will probably see/hear/smell it too.  Sometimes not. 

I guess I didn't make myself clear. Every day I pass many different herds of cows. Typically they are pointed every which-away. Ocassionllly I note that of the many herds I pass, a large portion of those herds all point in the same direction, but another large portion of those herds all point every which-away.

I've noticed that it seems to occur when weather changes are approaching. These are mostly, BTW, herds that don't go into a barn at night (IE beef).

[crt360]

Ocassionllly I note that of the many herds I pass, a large portion of those herds all point in the same direction, but another large portion of those herds all point every which-away.

The latter must be nonconformist rebels - you never know when one will show up to the pasture with a gun and mow down the innocent, well-behaved herd.

I have noticed that many react to changes in barometric pressure and wind direction/speed.  I guess some are more affected by it than others.

When the cows was let out of the barn in the morning, the grazed as they sauntered out to the fields, so naturally they were all pointed "out".  When they got to the fields, they were too lazy to mill around and didn't have enough curiosity to go investigate anything.    Mid-afternoon, they'd start drifting back to the barn, chewing cud as they went, which meant they were all pointed the same way again-- in.

That's definitely true, too.