Forget those visions of peacefully feeding dairy cows with tails gracefully swishing through the air. Those tails are most likely docked – leaving a stump instead of a swisher.
“It is relatively common in Wisconsin dairy herds,” said Dr. Ken Nordlund, a clinical professor in the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.
“Probably the primary reason is convenience. The tail is a tail, and as milkers work around the udder, the cows flip the tail and it is like getting swatted in the face with a flyswatter.”
That’s the reason farmers started docking tails, but modern milking parlors have removed that potential problem, said Bill Endres, a Waunakee dairy farmer. Tail docking is now regarded as a way to keep cows clean and – consequently – comfortable, he said.