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I've been wanting to return to this article for a few days.
Let's talk about cows.
Let's talk about cows.
Cows experience rich emotional and cognitive lives.
Truth.
Full stop.
Truth.
Full stop.
Cows do not think like people.
Cows do not feel like people.
But, they do think and feel.
Treating them as though they experience life as humans and treating them as though they experience life as rocks are both harmful.
Cows do not feel like people.
But, they do think and feel.
Treating them as though they experience life as humans and treating them as though they experience life as rocks are both harmful.
Cows have complex social lives within the herd and between members of the herd.
The bond between weaning buddies is often thicker than familial bonds.
The bond between weaning buddies is often thicker than familial bonds.
Tirade found herself on the wrong side of the electric fence this summer.
In a downpour.
I chased her through the oats.
While the rest of the herd headed for shelter, Diatribe waited at the gate. Soaked to her skin, she only when in when reunited with Tirade.
In a downpour.
I chased her through the oats.
While the rest of the herd headed for shelter, Diatribe waited at the gate. Soaked to her skin, she only when in when reunited with Tirade.
Cows have their own personalities.
Merit is curious, but cautious.
Sexbomb is protective, but affectionate.
Plum is cuddly, but stubborn.
Pekoe has the CHA of a lvl 11 elf wizard.
Clem is that kid who will put anything in her mouth.
Parley is a brown paper bag in a breeze.
Merit is curious, but cautious.
Sexbomb is protective, but affectionate.
Plum is cuddly, but stubborn.
Pekoe has the CHA of a lvl 11 elf wizard.
Clem is that kid who will put anything in her mouth.
Parley is a brown paper bag in a breeze.
Some cows are born for dairy life. Some can't adjust.
Most are in the middle.
Most are in the middle.
Cows like learning things.
I worked for someone who insisted cows are spatially stupid.
It's a good thought when working with herds, but cows as individuals can be amazing.
I worked for someone who insisted cows are spatially stupid.
It's a good thought when working with herds, but cows as individuals can be amazing.
Nice knew every darn entrance to the barn. Fran would ford the creek to eat the neighbor's deer corn. Hallie knew how to open hook and eye latches. Maddie stepped on tread in posts to drop the fence.
Exploration brings cows apprehension, then joy. A new gate. New bedding. Fresh pasture. The shed that isn't meant for cows.
But, here's the hang up: Cows don't anticipate the future past their own experiences and don't have anticipatory emotional attachments.
They know the tractor brings hay, warm days bring grass, milking brings relief from a swollen udder, plastic bags bring cow snacks.
But, no cow wants to have just one more calf, see her daughter freshen, retire to pasture with a bad foot that will never heal.
Some of the worst things I've witnessed cows go through have been due to humans putting their emotions on cows.
Cows just live. Their pain is not mitigated through emotional anticipation. A cow doesn't want to live through one more spring.
I remember a cow whose owner promised he'd never put her on a truck. She stopped wanting to stand as her legs grew worse. He stopped milking her soon after freshening, put her in a boxstall and let her linger there in pain, forcing her to stand every few days.
It took a month for the customer butcher to come out.
It was awful and it was something the farmer did for himself, not the cow.
It was awful and it was something the farmer did for himself, not the cow.
There is pain in cow life, stone bruises and labor, infections and wounds.
But, we need to ask how great the pain and what the future will hold.
But, we need to ask how great the pain and what the future will hold.
You must approach the cow as a cow.
She feels.
She thinks.
She suffers.
She loves.
She gets annoyed.
She feels.
She thinks.
She suffers.
She loves.
She gets annoyed.
She is not machine or human.
She is cow.
She is cow.
