Re: RC: Fw: Re: Tree-hugger

[Bette Lamore <woa@stormnet.com>]

You two should drive out to New Cuyama someday and inspect the dairy
there--- down the road from the ranch we were BRIEFLY at. There is a
pile of manure towering over the cows' heads in the same small paddock
they are in; the smell is overwhelming. I'm sure Steve Shaw has been by
the place--- not a pretty sight. Maybe this is the exception to the
rule; I wonder......
Bette

Lynne Glazer wrote:
> 
> At 9:28 AM -0500 3/15/00, CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com wrote:
> >In a message dated 3/14/00 4:51:24 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> >fasterhorses@gilanet.com writes:
> >
> ><< The only dairies I've been around that I'd agree with you about are small,
> >  private ones.  The big commercial ones are disgusting.  Just driving near
> >  one on a hot day makes one car sick with the smell - not quite as bad as
> >  feed lots but almost. >>
> >
> >Lif, your example with the dead calf is indeed a rarity in the dairy
> >industry.  While the calves are indeed not a particularly "useful" commodity
> >in the dairy, getting the calf delivered rapidly and with as little trauma to
> >the cow as possible is a MAJOR priority, as lowered milk production is a
> >sequelae to a calving problem.  An unhealthy uterus (be it due to inflamation
> >or infection following a complicated calving) interferes with both the
> >hormonal regulation of lactation as well as the general health of the cow,
> >both of which are dollars down the drain to the dairyman.  Dairies that don't
> >take good care of their cows don't stay in business very long in the
> >competitive market.
> >
> >Heidi
> >
> 
> I'd have to agree with Heidi about care of dairy stock.  I live less
> than a mile from what was for years the largest concentration of
> dairy cattle in the US, yep, in SoCal.  Had many friends in the dairy
> preserve, who have all moved to central Calif where there is more
> space, pasture even, and no housing tracts.  They took very good care
> of the cattle, because it was their livelihood.
> 
> Fortunately the prevailing wind blows away from my house, but
> occasionally perceptible is the unique "eau de dairy".   The density
> of cattle was the problem down here, methane-r-us, and now the two
> cities that have annexed the preserve are having to clean up the land.
> 
> Dead calves are left on the side of the road, for weekly pickup, a
> service the dairies paid for.  It's not an everyday sight.
> 
> I once felt obligated to deliver a calf where I boarded my horses.
> The mother seemed indifferent to her live calf's plight, half in,
> half out.  I ran to get rags when the calf proved too slippery to
> pull out.  By the time I returned, she'd laid down and smothered the
> poor thing, but stayed down for me to pull him out.  That was work!
> 
> Lynne
> 
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-- 
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of TLA Halynov
http://www.stormnet.com/~woa
I've learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer it
gets to the end, the faster it goes. Smell the roses!