Danniel, the beloved "unofficially" tallest steer has passed away - Cowsmo

Danniel, the beloved “unofficially” tallest steer has passed away

Danniel, the beloved giant steer of Eureka, died Saturday at the age of 8.
Danniel, a Holstein who measured 6 feet, 4 inches at the highest point of his back, was owned by Ken and Ann Farley and spent the last few years living at Lost Coast Hay. He was raised in Ferndale and lived briefly at Sequoia Park Zoo.

“We are so sad Danniel passed,” Ann Farley said Sunday. “He had a great run achieving worldwide fame for his size and gentle nature. His fans were young and old alike. He was a good boy.”

The Farleys promoted Danniel as “the world’s tallest living steer,” but the Guinness Book of World Records did not bestow that title during his lifetime.

Ken Farley said the veterinarian said the one-ton steer suffered from a calcium deficiency, likely for some time.

“I’m thinking because of his big size and if he wasn’t getting the intake of calcium, then sooner or later those legs are going to give out,” he said. “It was hard for him to get up.”

He said the vet and local firefighters “did all they could” to help Danniel, giving him an IV at one point.

“They felt bad out there,” he said.

“He was a beloved member of our family and the community, and he will be missed more than words can describe,” the Lost Coast Hay Facebok page stated. “We would like to thank everyone who came out to help him this past week. The Vets, the Ranchers and just everyone who gave their time and love to him.”

Danniel was known for his friendly nature, and shared a pen with other animals from time to time — he was close with Bodacious the bull, Lost Coast Hay owner Tom Parker told the Times-Standard in 2016. Bodacious, though, had to move out.

“Bodacious got a little too bullish,” Ann Farley said in 2017. “He got a little wild.”

Parker told the Times-Standard that Danniel had a large appetite.

“Danniel typically eats around 100 pounds of hay and 15 pounds of grain a day and goes through 100 gallons of water,” Parker said in 2016.

Danniel also leaves behind farm friends including emus Ellie, Malcolm and Kevin, Sheldon the sheep and Pig Newton the pig.

Each year, the Farleys celebrated holidays with Danniel, giving him a festive scarf on Christmas and hosting an Easter Egg hunt around his April birthday.

Ken Farley will always remember Danniel for his love of bread.

“That tongue would seem like it would come out like a foot. He was like an anteater,”  Farley said Sunday. “When he would run, he looked like a doofus. He looked like a camel. When the bread bag would shake and he would come across the field, you couldn’t help but laugh.”

The Farleys and Lost Coast Hay are working to schedule a memorial services for Danniel, but a date is not yet set. And the Farleys are looking into the proper way to bury a giant steer.

“We want to bury him on site and have a memorial for him,” Ken Farley said. “ … He’s just like one of the family.”

 

Source: The Mercury News

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