Here at our ranch, we have multiple pastures. Within each pasture is a small breeding group. Each group is made up of a bull and up to four cows. This group will remain together in this same established herd, year round for most of their lives.
Cows maintain a strict pecking order and whenever they are separated and reintroduced, there is a period of friction that takes place while they reestablish this order. Sometimes its brief, but other times it creates an ongoing battle amongst the more dominate cattle in the group, or a more submissive cow may be targeted and even become injured.
As a general rule, keeping groups together avoids this, resulting in calmer cattle. This predictably calm existence also makes it safer and more enjoyable for us to interact with them on a daily basis, where we can learn their personalities, handle them, and interact with their calves at an early age. This early age imprinting is an important aspect of calves learning to be pets and trusting their humans.
Because of this group commitment, a great deal of thought goes into selecting and pairing cattle of certain colors, ages, sizes, temperament and genetics while they are young to align with our calving goals. We also make every effort to group cows together that have naturally become best friends.
Occasionally there will be times that separating cows or bulls from a group is necessary. For example, new mommas can experience some confusion, stress, or strong protective instincts following birth. Over time, you’ll start to see patterns in this behavior. But until then, they can be very unpredictable and we like to separate them for 3-5 days to give them time to settle, and their calf to get up on their feet and start nursing well. We’ve built large 10x18’ enclosures within each pasture for the new mommas. That way they are separated but only by panels and still within eye shot of the group. This seems to mitigate the reintroduction period fairly well.