Leader of the Pack

“Which one is the dominant animal?” husband Bruce asked over the phone. Without hesitation, I said, “Topper.” We had pastured a small herd of our Scottish Highlander cattle in Canterbury, the next town over from ours, and all of them had escaped through an open gate. Since I was at the Nashua Farmers Market-Bruce had to get them back.
We had put nine Highlanders into the pasture a week earlier. There were two pairs of working oxen, a 4H heifer and four halter-trained steers in the group. All were friendly and easy to handle, but it was still a herd with traditional herd dynamics. Every herd has a leader and a pecking order. Understanding the herd hierarchy is critical in cattle management.

While bovine hierarchy can seem weird and silly, we need to realize it's not so different from human behavior. We have leaders and followers, which can work well. We have bullies and victims, which does not work well. The difference is that we humans can apply some intelligence and humanity to rein in our instinctive behavior.
When Bruce got to the Canterbury field, he saw Topper run up the roadway and into the field with the rest of the herd straggling behind. The land-owner, Ty, had enticed the herd with a pan of chicken feed and managed to get a rope around Topper's neck. At that point, Topper decided it was time to end his walkabout without a struggle. In fact, he ran ahead of Ty, returning to the confines of his 20-acre pasture-taking his followers with him.

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Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon, N.H., where she raises and sells beef, pork, lamb, eggs and other local products. She can be reached at cas@milessmithfarm.com.