SC - 12th nite delicacies

[S.Albert]

Cows, like humans, have a 9-month gestation period, so you can predict a
cow's calving with a fair amount of accuracy. Modern farmers breed their
cows in shifts year-round so as to produce a steady flow of milk, but the
down side of that practice for primitive/medieval farmers would be that a
cow in milk would require more food, just as does any lactating female.
Primitive methods of producing hay are extremely labor intensive, so the
fall was when the butchering and preserving of excess animals was done,
shortly after the plantings were harvested. At that time, the requirements
of pregnant females weren't understood as well, so it made sense to finish
off the winter with a grand lambing/calving, etc., and those which didn't
survive produced early food for hungry people. Since the birthings
coincided with the new grass, and most calves are weanable by the time for
rebreeding, the whole cycle, overall, coincided with the needs of all
concerned. Once a cow is separated from her calf, it is NOT advisable to
rejoin them, as a cow is perfectly capable of withholding her milk at will.
I would think that the cows would have had to be hand-milked, regardless of
the holiday, because cows can develop mastitus very quickly if neglected,
and a day's neglect would reflect unfavorably on her future milk
production, never mind what the discomfort could do to her temperment.  

phlip at morganco.net

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider that cain't be throwed.

: I don't mean to oversimiplify the answer: I'm sure there's a lot more to
: this question than I address here, but it does seem Lent coincides
: nicely with the season between lambing and weaning. Probably a good deal
: of the milk was drunk by baby animals of various types. I'm not aware of
: too much cheese being made in the spring, but it may be a situation
: where aged cheeses are made in the fall, since they would be needed for
: winter, and fresh cheeses were made for immediate consumption more or
: less all year round. My impression is that peak milk production would be
: from roughly March through September or October, and it may well have
: been that milk was most available for human consumption in late summer
: through mid-fall, with a dry spell of sorts during the winter.
: 
: Maybe some dairy folks could help out here? I'm a city boy myself.
: 
: Adamantius
: troy at asan.com
:
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