Beef cattle have feelings too...

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

Well, sad sight today, neighbor's bull dropped dead in the field last night and this morning the buzzards were already working on it. Poignant thing was the herd across the highway on another ranch were staring and bawling while it was dragged off. Yeah, maybe they were just doing the curious-cow thing and focusing on the truck (Holy Font of Good Things to Eat), but they had such an odd expression on their faces I just don't see every day. Even though this herd had never run with the others across the road, they seemed to be feeling something. With all the hard marketing of cattle today, I think we overlook the fact that they are such social animals. Don't see old cows living out their lives much anymore, first year they don't calf, off to the stockyards, their heifers already scattered to the winds. Hard times...

[mary,tx]

Well I guess it doesn't make much sense to keep retired livestock. I have one doe goat I have allowed to retire here, but I don't intend to retire any more. Why would I feed a bunch of goats that are not productive? Same with cattle. They produce or they are beef. Indeed at that point they have lived good productive, hopefully happy, lives, and I have no issue with them being useful in their deaths as well. Everything dies.

[willow_girl]

Don't see old cows living out their lives much anymore, first year they don't calf, off to the stockyards,

Or to the Home for Wayward Holsteins ...

I can't save them all, but I did save this one, and that one, and the other ...

[genebo]

There's the beef culture, the dairy culture and the family cow culture.

The first two are business propositions. The third is where you will find more compassionate treatment of cattle.

Temple Grandin did a lot to help make the beef cattle industry more humane. You should read her book, if you haven't already.

I raise Dexters, and know of several cows in their twenties that are still productive and healthy, on family farms. I watched a great film about a man who milked his 30 year old cow.

There was an older cow here that developed a fibroid uterus and couldn't have any more calves. She was a historic cow with excellent conformation and some unique desirable traits, so we had her flushed and transferred the embryos to recipient cows.

Two years later, her latest calves are running around and she is living a life of luxury. Plans are being made to flush her again.

When I hear of people culling their cattle because of age it makes me shudder, because I'm old, too. I heard that Eskimos would put grandma out for the polar bears once she couldn't do her work any more, but it sounded cruel to me.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[gone-a-milkin]

I understand the sentiment.

However, it is highly impractical to try to save them all.

Yes, cattle have some intelligence. Yes, they are social creatures with awareness of their surroundings.
Farming is already such a gamble without adding retirement pensions for the critters into it.

As hard-hearted as it seems, I might go and feed myself to the polar bears rather than burden my family.

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

Yes, you can' stay in busines keeping pets, that's for sure. (I think Temple Grandin has proved her insights to humane animal husbandry are profitable and she shows me ways to understand why cattle behave as they do.) My family has always culled poor breeders, but a cow that has successfully born and nursed calves all her life long is left with the herd. Often they're the ones that lead on the trails, and when you have to move a bunch, they know where the gates are and are trusting enough to go through for you. They pull their heads up and come when you call them in to the corral, all for a few flakes of hay. The rest of the bunch usually trots up behind. Yeah, they may need more doctoring, but they're still worth their salt. Is it kinder to just let them drop dead of old age instead of trucking them off for a quick death? I don't know that one, only that what goes on in their heads is beyond our ken.

[farmgirl6]

I have a pet jersey steer who is eight, but I am not a farmer by profession, I do know that I knew nothing about cows when I got him, and have had my belief they are basically dumb walking hamburgers completely discounted. Granted, Norman has a lot, and I mean a lot of human conact, but his joy in life is nice to behold. Tonight he picked a nice spot in the corner of the paddock to watch the fireworks while the horses huddled in the shed. Have seen him follow a hot air balloon across the paddock, just watching it. He enjoys a good gallop around the pasture after his pony mates and a rousing rough house without ever hurting them. At times he seems smarter than my horses. I eat steak, had one tonight, but I do think treating them in a humane manner, with a quality of life, is important. And don't name them, you might not be able to eat them later

[J.T.M.]

Originally Posted by genebo

I heard that Eskimos would put grandma out for the polar bears once she couldn't do her work any more, but it sounded cruel to me.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[postroad]

My Dad was the area beef and pork skinner. He told me that at certain farms where he had been on numerous occasions the cattle would run to the opposite side of the pasture when they saw his truck coming down the driveway.

[springvalley]

All animals have feelings, have you ever seen a mare greive for a mis-carried foal, a cow beller for her lost calf, a sow oinking to her piglets, and a mother hen protecting her young chicks from a hawk. They may not be as smart as we are, maybe smarter, but they sure ain`t dumb. I had to stop feeding beef cattle because my heart would break every year loading them on a trailer and shipping them off to a slaughter house. They become friends of a sort after caring for them for several years, so I raised feeder cattle after that, sold the calves to other farmers to finish out. Now we have dairy cattle, much easier to care for and have a great life. So don`t tell me they don`t have feelings. > Thanks Marc

[mozarkian]

We are in our 50's and planning to age right along with our three 5 year old Jersey ladies --all pay their way providing our dairy and beef needs and sometimes a heifer calf to sell. Two were culled from a dairy and I swear they understand and are grateful to have landed here instead of the butcher shop.Figure with good care they will be around as long as we are, and if someday they can't produce anymore, then they can enjoy the retirement they have earned, just like we plan to.