There are several reasons a farmer would want to call up his/her cattle. He or she might be moving them to a different field, or just calling them together so he can make sure they're all still present and accounted for, or he could be getting them in to 'work' them ... and for as many reasons WHY a cattleman would call his herd, there are as many ways HOW he does it.
Farming is a family tradition. A farmer's methods, secrets, and tricks of the trade are built solidly on how his grandfather's father's father did it back in the day. And I bet you if there was a way to hear each family's cattle call now, you could trace it back down through the generations just as accurately as a family tree. I'll do my best to describe some calls I've heard over the years ...
My family: sic-caaaayaah! C'mere girls! (or, c'mere bulls! You don't want to offend the boys.)
Others I've heard:
WOOOoo! (yep. A farmer will just stand on the top of the hill and woo! at his cows)
heEEEY cows!
some just drive out to the field and honk their truck horn
SIC-heifER! Come on!
You know, I don't know what would happen if a new person showed up and wanted to call up somebody else's cows. (Honestly, unless somebody was stealing somebody else's cows, I can't think of a reason why that would happen in the first place.) But whether they'd come or not is a good question. Maybe I oughtta try calling ours differently next time I'm calling them up. I'll let you know how it goes. :)
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