#cowsoftumblr

Billy truly loved his friend Larry, and vice versa.

So Billy arrived, and what we saw was a very bonded young bull and his human companion. Unfortunately that bond led to a disastrous teenage stage − but we will get to that.

After his arrival, Billy became best friends with two pigs, Rory and Rose, and slept with them every night for a few months. During this time, we of course neutered Billy, since we do not allow the animals to breed here at Farm Sanctuary.

Billy when he was living with his two porcine pals, Rory and Rose, who early on got very sick of their playful roommate.

Sadly, that friendship did not last. Billy became far too rough with the piggy girls, whose response was to bite him. It got ugly.

Living with pigs was awesome, but they stopped liking me. So did the older gals. What’s up with that?

We wanted to try him in our special needs cattle herd, but again, his rambunctious behavior kept that from being a good fit. The problem was that, from the time he was a tiny calf, he learned that rough head butting was fun. All calves head butt, but they usually do it with other calves to establish a pecking order, or with mom or larger herd mates.

“I may look cute and fuzzy, but I don’t like you.” Even when Billy was tiny, he loved nothing more than to chase people out of his pen or pasture. He was off limits to guests.

We were really stuck. He was too young for the big cattle, too rough to be with smaller animals, and too aggressive for the elderly cattle people. So what to do?

I was out of options. Thankfully, they just kept trying.

We ended up having to bite the bullet and try him with our giants, who in the end did not hurt him, but instead embraced him and were able to handle his rough head butting ways. They taught him where his place was − and it was not at the top.

Getting bigger, but still very low on the pecking order, which makes it very difficult for Billy to warm up to the humans who cared for him. But he was slowly getting better.

He was still impossible for humans to deal with − and it took years for the now over a thousand pound Billy to stop trying to toss people. There are many tales of Billy and his antics, and none at the time had happy endings. My strategy was to go behind a larger steer, who in turn would block Billy. But he was actually dangerous, and we had to take precautions to keep ourselves from getting seriously injured. Every animal on this farm allows us to learn valuable lessons, and Billy taught us many.

Lesson One: Don’t mess with Billy. Bah ha ha!

One of the phone calls we get multiple times a year is about the problems individual people and sanctuaries are having with their cattle − when they raise a baby from day one on.  What seems like fun, innocent play with a calf often creates a very dangerous lack of boundaries and is confusing for them. Mother cows rough house with their children, but teach them early on when they go too far, since they are much stronger than their babies. Humans, not so much.  Billy loved being above his human friends. It was the only way to not be the lowest in the pecking order. It wasn’t his fault, but it still made for a very stressful first few years.

“Now I just look goofy!” Billy being the sweet Billy he has become.

Thankfully, Billy outgrew his goofy, playful, and dangerous ways, and has turned into quite the gentleman. He no longer wants to hurt people, and in general, is focused on being with his bovine friends, whom he deeply loves. And those friends love him back. And as other calves entered the herd (some with his same attitude), Billy was no longer the lowest in the pecking order, and had no need to prove himself by taking down humans (like the bovine version of whack-a-mole, only with people).

I love seeing Larry, and Larry loves seeing me. I am about 1,900 pounds now!

And Larry even comes to visit him − it is awesome and amazing for Larry to see the lovely, giant gentleman that Billy has become. Larry’s act of kindness saved a life – a life who has friends, a family, and the love and respect of all who know him.

Hanging with one of his best pals and giant buddy, Orlando.

So what did Billy teach us? He taught us that even the smallest teenage steer can be much stronger than the strongest human. He taught us to be patient, and not give up on someone just because they start out being a problem steer bovine. He taught us that everyone has a place that works for them − you just have to find it. And he taught us (or at least made a stronger case for something we already knew) that he is an individual, worth every minute of time it took to get him to where he is now. We are so thankful for these lessons, as is his lifelong buddy, Orlando, who also went through a milder form of the terrible-twos.