SC - Romertopf?

[Mordonnade]

You write:
> Modern farmers breed their
>cows in shifts year-round so as to produce a steady flow of milk

Not when I was farming about twelve years ago.  Milk prices to the farmers are
determined by a schedule that depends on how much milk is produced in the
Spring.  So most farmers still try to have maximum production during the
spring.  Different reason, same result.

>  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

Never assume that farmers of that era didn't know their animals as well as
farmers of today,  Herding and Husbandry have been around longer than the
written word.  
The truth is that it makes sense to have the animals deliver in the spring
because spring is when the grasses have the highest protein content, thus
highest milk production, so you don't have calves or lambs or kids dying or
sickening from malnutrition or associated diseases.

The Milkmaid <aka Mordonna>
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