When a question cannot be answered because it's premise
is flawed (ie. "Have you stopped beating your wife?") then
some folks just say "Moo!"
Of course, there is the terrible joke about the interrupting cows, that, since it is a knock-knock, can not be successfully repeated here on the internet. There are, however, folks who contend that no repetition of a knock-knock is successful.
Now I'll just have to be an inquiring mind - forever?
Bill W,
I am totally stumped.
Me too, and welcome, username....
Wow, what a place to hatch out at
Welcome username!
Just finished reading In The Wake of the Black Death by Norman Cantor. He feels TBD was a mix of Bubonic Plague and anthrax although I was under the opinion that some scientists have ruled out the role of anthrax in the Fourteenth C.
Interesting that cow pox innoculated a person (hence all those pretty milkmaids!) against small pox although our ancestors were aware of cattle murrain and tried to use measures to protect themselves against same (the Celts ran their cattle between bonfires).
Wow! I forgot this holiday! Too bad that I missed it.
Am attending the Massachusetts Registered Holstien show Sunday.
Milk cows have a very hard life.
When I lived in okeechobee I had to drive past 2 dairies to get home, and there were many more around.
I never gave them much thought until the day I had a really interesting conversation with an old retired vet who worked mostly on farm animals. Really nice gentleman.
The dairy cows sole purpose in life is to produce, produce, produce. Their calves are taken away from them within the first 24 hours, so they can get back to work.
Once I pulled off the road to watch a cow give birth
..wow.
This other cow, who must have recently given birth, was trying to get close, lowing in the most mournful way. It made me cry both for her and knowing in the morning workmen would be by to load up the calf in what was know as "the paddy wagon" and taken away.
Sometimes I'd see the paddy wagon in the morning, making its rounds. There'd sometimes be one, two or even three babies in there.
Have your ever seen the bag on a large producing cow when it's really full
.ugh, that has to be painful. They get infections in them and have to have them removed sometimes. Then the cow is useless.
They are milked until they're worn out, then given some time to recoup and recover, and it all starts over again.
It's a really sad life for them
Damn.
Now there's something Id never thought about..
You Wisconsin guys allow an Illinois town to call itself "Milk Center of the World"???
Unfortunately, humans do not treat most animals well.
On small family farms, calves are nursed by their mothers for a short time, then weaned to a bottle but remain with mom in order to allow the milk to be used for human consumption.
We have been separating calves/pups/othernamesforinfantanimals from their mothers with terrible results. In Africa, there are rogue elephants who were orphaned and who lost the elephant way.
I think that's what must have happened to gus.
He has lost the capybera way.
Mebbe all Gus needs is some fresh capybera milk ... though, if that's too hard to arrange, as I recall, he has an affinity for goats, too - that might be a more practical avenue to pursue.
Somehow, this post got corrupted from Cow Appreciation to Dairy Mythology. I have no problem appreciating cows, even though I see that someone from Austin truly believes that cattle have no aggression. (Yeah, right! That certainly explains why they have been beating the hell out of me for the past thirty years.) However, recent posts have apparently been coming from people with a lot of opinion and damned little knowledge of the livestock industry. First, by definition, the role of domestic animals has been one of energy output, by way of work performed or food produced. Animals that perform other tasks are called "pets". In my case, I guess I would have to say that my dog is dual purpose. She is certainly a friend, but she is also expected to do her job the same way I do mine. Concerning the separation of cows and calves, good operators will generally allow calves to nurse at least once or twice, in order for the calf to receive colostrum and accomplish passive transfer of immunity. After twenty-four hours or less, leaving the calf on the cow has no beneficial effects, and may promote mastitis is the calf is an aggressive nurser. As far as the size of the udder is concerned, there is a reason that nearly all modern dairy cows are Holsteins. They have been genetically selected for so many years that they are far from the old-style dual purpose breed (such as Simmenthals, Chianinas, et al) and, in my humble opinion, are barely cattle. They are truly an organic milk dispenser. That has nothing to do with animal cruelty, but is simple animal reality.
Hey there CowDoc! Good to see ya.
Yeah, 'bout the only folks who might think cattle, or just about any critter, might be without aggression are folks without a clue.
You ever try to milk a Santa Gertrudis? There's an adventure.
Yeah, tell me about it. A black angus aint much joy to milk, either.
But a fork and good knife come in handy
Got to the Faor Grounds where the Holstein show was to have been. It was cancelled!
