Ulster History (graham madsen) My father-in-law is a Northern Irishman whose family farmed in Co Tyrone for 150 years, and who himself became a vet. I asked him Graham's question, and this is what he said: "Cows tails were often docked to enable identification. Imagine you were using shared grazing, or your (or your neighbours') fences were poor, then cattle could get mixed up and be hard to identify beyond doubt or argument. There was no health advantage in doing this." Nowadays ear clipping does a similar job, and the practice doesn't need to be limited to one farmer in an area to work! I hope this helps, Peter > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 07:51:48 +1100 > From: graham madsen <[email protected]> > Subject: [CoTyIre] Ulster History > > Fellow researchers > > I have been looking into Ulster history in the 1850s and wondered if > anyone could explain the practice of cutting the tails off cows and what > it meant > > Cheers > Graham > ------------------------------