a warning to all

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mole

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please please be careful in fields that have cattle with calves in them at the moment. me and my daughter were attacked by a cow today who was ragging, trampling and head butting my 3yr old daughter after knocking her to the floor. whenever i tried to stop the cow, who wasnt bothered about me, the cow turned butted me away and went back to mauling my daughter. this is no joke it happened this morning and i dont wish ever any parent to go thro what i did today.

thankfully i was able to throw my daughter through a barbed wire fence and hold the fence against the cows neck which was trying to break down the fence to get at my daughter. i have never in my life wittnessed a cow attack like this and we were doing nothing wrong and were on a public footpath.

please please be careful - thankfully apart from a broken leg and extensive bruising my daughter survived - it could have been alot worse please be really careful if riding or walking
 
yes not suprised at all. Cows with young yep big alarm bell.

Avoid. If you have a dog even worse!

I hope your poor little daughter is ok what a shame to have got injured etc hope she has a speedy recovery though, You are quite right you were lucky to get out of this.
 
How frightening for you and your daughter, as you say it could have been far worse but bad enough for her to have such serious injuries. I have heard many stories of cattle attacking people with dogs but never a young child, although I would always give a cow with a calf a wide berth. Hope your little one is soon on the mend.
 
Cows with calves are very dangerous, the sensible thing is to keep away from them altogether, foot path or not. The cow obviously saw your little daughter as a threat to her calf, it's normally people walking the dog who get it, especially when they pick the dog up.

I hope you and your child are alright, I do know how upsetting an incident like this can be.

Best wishes.
 
thank you everyone for your kind words. it was the most horiffic thing ever to see your little girl being mauled.

i dont blame the cow but maybe there could have been some warning signs on the styles/gates that the cows had calves as it wasnt until it was too late that i noticed this.

i had to hang off the cows ear while twisting it to get the cow to release my daughter long enough for me to get her to safety - i never want to have to wrestle a cow again. i have some nice hoof prints on my arm and leg and my daughter has one on her face!
 
How awful for your daughter I am so sorry to hear of her accident. Was this on your own farm?
 
How very frightening for you, I am sure I would have needed a laundry change if I had been in your position.

Please find out who the cattle belong to and tell the farmer what has happened, he then has the chance of moving them before that cow kills someone.

As we all know Health and Safety have made rules that are ridiculous in 'our' interests but on thing they have not stopped is on DEFRA insisting that calves are tagged within 48 hours of being born. That is fine and dandy if the cattle are dairy and the calves taken away but beef cows out on a hill calving naturally can be sincerely dangerous when you try to tag their calves.
 
This is very shocking indeed and very frightening for you and your daughter but glad she is recovering. As other posters have said, it has been reported to have happened with dogs and someone (adult) near where I live was killed a few years ago in similar circumstances, although there weren't any calves in the field. Surely if there is a footpath, it should be safe for people to walk through? I've been seriously scared riding on a bridlepath through a field of cows even though I had to divert away from the path to avoid them but I had no choice other than to continue as if I'd had to turn around it would have been dark before I got home. Isn't there any sort of regulations about cows and public rights of way?
 
amage said:
How awful for your daughter I am so sorry to hear of her accident. Was this on your own farm?
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no it wasnt. just afield close to home with a public footpath straight thro it.

Foxhunter49 said:
How very frightening for you, I am sure I would have needed a laundry change if I had been in your position.

Please find out who the cattle belong to and tell the farmer what has happened, he then has the chance of moving them before that cow kills someone.
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we def needed a change of clothes we were covered in cow poo! :) i lost my shoes and both our sun hats which were later recovered by the police. the police are finding out who owns the cattle and are going to have a word. that was the first thing i said to them when they arrived was that i didnt want anyone else walking thro that field
 
mole said:
no it wasnt. just afield close to home with a public footpath straight thro it.
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Yikes...foolish farmer! We don't really have public rights of way over private land over here but my OH takes no chances and sticks warning signs and beware of bull signs on all roadside gates just to be sure we don't get wanderers. I hope your little girl is not too scared/traumatised. Perhaps if you are in a rural area it might be an idea to try a visit to a petting farm at some stage so she doesn't have a horrible phobia of cows for life! I can only imagine how scared you must have been...even our very docile dairy ladies can be volatile in the first few hours after calving. Sending big hugs and a virtual bottle of something to you and gentle hugs to your daughter!
 
oh gosh how awful.
I hope your both okay, what a horrible experience to go through, I can't imagine the terror.
edit: just saw that she broke her leg, wish her a speedy recovery - ♥

I recently walked through a footpath field with cows and their calves, we kept our distance literally a field distance away but they ended up literally following us and got very close that me and my friend had to climb through and over barbed wire fence to escape, just as I got over the entire herd came up to the fence making a racket.
Then had to go through another 4 barbed fences to find our way back onto the footpath.
Luckily only damage was ripped coats and tights :(

So yeah even if you keep a very far distance, beware! In fact I'd avoid them totally - it could have been nasty for us as well.
 
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Golly that is pretty awful, I hope you are both starting to feel better?
I don't like riding through cows anyway, but have been 'brave' recently and gone through a bridlepath with cows quite often. They have been calving and I stick right to the edge away from them and they are fine. Definitely good to be wary though, I hate it really, but likewise get really angry about the lack of hacking around here if I have to avoid them entirely. :s
 
OMG that is horrendous!! Your poor wee girl. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you either. What a horrible thing to happen. I hope she recovers quickly.
I am surprised at the farmer having cows with calves in a field with a footpath thro' it. Surely he will be asked to move them after that.
 
Gosh I hope your daughter makes a speedy recovery!
Cows with calves are like any other animals with their young, very protective and will go to any lengths to protect their babies.
K x
 
What a terrible experience for you, I hate walking through cows anyway but with a child it must have been terrifying. A dog was killed by cows last year very close to us, the owner was lucky not to have been, and that would have been awful enough. I hope the farmer moves that particular cow out of the field to avoid another attack. I hope your little girl recovers quickly, bless her. x
 
Blimey, I think the Gods must have been on your side today (and I am in no way trying to play down your situation) I have known a grown man killed by an extremely protective cow and a friend also who was in hospital with serious injuries. Cows with calves are a different force to deal with when out in a field with their young. I hope your poor daughter makes a speedy recovery, she must have been terrified! :(
 
I can only begin to imagine how bloody scary that must have been.

I hope your daughter has a speedy recovery.

My daughter had an accident when she was 1 month past her 3rd birthday and although she remembers the initial hurt, she can't remember the operation and dressing changes she went through twice a week for a month. So hopefully, your daughter won't have any longer lasting issues .... apart from disliking cows maybe!!

Has they let her out of hospital, or did she have to stay in?

Have a stiff drink, it sounds like you could do with one!!!
 
God, how horrific. I have been chased by angry cows with calves once and it was not something I'd like to repeat. We grew up in a house which backed on to a field that the farmer would out his cows in. As kids we used to spend a lot of time playing in the field and the cows were pretty placid even those with calves and we never had any issues but when i was a teenager I was chased by the whole herd and they meant business. The thing is this field has a footpath running through it with no separation between the animals and those walking through. I really think farmers should think very carefully about putting cows and calves in fields with footpaths through. I generally will not go in a field now with cows and calves. You heifers or bullocks do not concern me but cows and calves and the bull then - no! Thank god you have both come out of this alive as they can easily kill people when trying to protect their young.
 
That must have been horrifying, I can't imagine the fear as a mother trying to get your child out of that situation, I hope you both recover quickly and your little lass is not too upset emotionally about the experience x
 
How awful! The only good cows are ones in steak or burger form. I won't go in fields with cows and calves in them, I'd rather walk miles out of my way (and have, roundly cursing all things bovine as I did!).

I'm really glad you and your daughter are ok OP (well, not ok, but you know what I mean), and best wishes and gentle hugs to your little one for a speedy recovery. I think you'd best have a stiff drink, and when you both feel better, perhaps a bit of roast beef is in order!
 
I regularly walk through cows with calves but I shall be double wary now... sorry to hear of you terrible ordeal - you mustve been going bananas! I can only imagine the horror you felt xxx
 
Your poor daughter and you for having to go through that.

Nothing other to add that hasnt been said. I hope she heals soon and is back to normal {hugs} for the pair of you x
 
OMG That sounds terrifying! Sounds like you were both incredibly lucky to come off so lightly! Hope your daughter makes a quick and full recovery!

Not that it would be much use now but I'm sure I heard somewhere that a cows nose is the most sensitive part of their body and that is where you should aim for in self defence, anyone know if that's right?
 
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