For those of you who live in on a farm, or in a rural area, it seems that cow cuddling is a new wellness trend, and people will pay up to $300 for a 90-minute session of cuddling with your cow. -- Blindfold For an extra hundred, maybe you can get them clean the barn too.
@Ken Anderson Of course, if one has not been around goats very much (sorry, @Nancy Hart ), one cannot be prepared, either mentally or physically, for the shock experienced when meeting his/her first male goat. Friends of a co-worker of mine, visiting him in Arizona from Milwaukee, were brought to our place where I had recently obtained a small male goat, to keep the irrigation ditch free of weeds. The lady proceeded to befriend the little rascal, petting him and getting close, until.............she became aware of, er......his odor. Fortunately, she was lucky to avoid his worst "presentation", but the stench was enough. She washed with dishwashing detergent at our kitchen sink, repeatedly, but to little avail. She had rubbed her hands on her clothing right after petting the little guy's head, and smeared plenty of his smegma on her clothing! Not at all certain I should complete this story, so refrain, I will......... Frank
We had goats for 22 years, and not all goats are quite that fragrant. If the males are neutered (wethers), they don't smell different from the females, although there is still a "goaty" odor about them. Boer goats are naturally the least smelly of the male goats, since the odor in their native Africa attracted predators and the smellier goats were weeded out by the lions and such. The Boer bucks still smell some, but not as bad as the other breeds. All livestock has a distinctive odor peculiar to their species, however, so be prepared for the aroma of horse, cow, goat, or sheep if you spend time around them.
"Everyone to his own taste." said the old woman as she kissed her cow. "Sounds like bull to me!" - Aunt Bea
Back in northeastern Indiana, on the hog farm I was partly raised on, we had two goats, a Nanny and a Billy. The two geese we also had, loved to run after both. The Billy, with the horns, would put his head down and rear up on both hind legs. The Billy would also go after our hogs sometimes also. All were in the same wooded area by our house. As for me, as long as I didn't have to pay, I'd love to hug/cuddle a cow or even a bull. Bulls brought up by 4-H and FFA kids, like I was, are pretty tame. They have to be in order to be put into a Show Ring at a Fair. That was another thing I was for a few weeks, a Show Ring Stewart at a large County Fair (Los Angeles County Fair). I get along with livestock very good!
My neice in Kansas oukd disagree ....donkeys are the love of life there in the prairie lands.She has four so far.
I think that most of the 4-H or FFA kids would have steers and not bulls. At least, out west, where I grew up, they were only allowed to raise castrated males of any species (cattle, sheep, pigs, etc.), and children were never, ever allowed to handle or show stallions when we were in horse 4-H clubs. Actually, only adults were allowed to show stallions or bulls, even when it was not involved with horse clubs. As a ring steward, I would have thought that you would have noticed the difference.
Our goats really didn't smell, except when they got wet in the rain occasionally, but nothing close to a wet hound dog smell. . Cows in general seem so docile and calm compared to most other farm animals. I can see why you would pick them for cuddling. If they weren't so big, I would have kept one or two steers just for pets, along with the goats. They are not such picky eaters.
Your right, steers, not bulls. Actually, I was in Ring Steward in 1998 and simply forgot. I think hogs are the hardest livestock to show. They want to go everywhere and the handler only has a wooden cane to guide it.
One thing about being in 4-H or FFA, those young folks don't keep edible livestock as pets and they know that as they are raising them. At the Fair I worked at, after all of the livestock judging events were done, there was an auction to sell. The Grand Champion Steer brought in a nice bundle of money for the young person that showed it and won.
This is something that I think is great about kids raising livestock in 4-H , because the businesses in that county usually bid really high for the top ribbon-winning livestock, and the kids are well-paid for their hard work, and also learning that it is worth putting in the extra effort to get a top ribbon animal. With the horses, it was different, because the kids could show their horse every year, and not have to start over raising one each year like the kids with sheep or cattle; but neither did they make any money from the selling of their project at the end of the year.
Our 4-H here never allowed intact males of any species to be shown, except perhaps rabbits or ducks. They used to be all market animals, but they now allow dairy animals--both cows and goats--to be shown in a separate category. The Fair here also has Open Shows, where many animals in different categories can be shown and win cash prizes. Our two youngest showed market goats, and the first to do it got so attached to his animal that he cried for a couple days after it went to market. He became much more detached from his animals after that experience. The Fair here never allowed male animals even into the barn for exhibit until a few years ago, when they allowed two bulls and several boars into the barn for display purposes only. Bulls have since been banned again, but they still allow male hogs. I think the problem with the bulls was more with the owner than with the animals.