SC - creme fraiche( OOP)
Terri Millette
wayspiff at ici.net
Mon Sep 20 04:15:30 PDT 1999
In a message dated 9/20/1999 5:45:20 AM US Mountain Standard Time,
phlip at morganco.net writes:
> << it
> just tells anyone who knows anything that the owner is an idiot, and
doesn't
> know how to handle animals. >>
Then she says:
<< I don't recall that expressing an opinion on improper husbandry practices
is
flaming. >>
It is when you use buzz words like idiot.
And who are you to shout that a method used almost universally for centuries
in this country are "improper" husbandry?
We were small holders. We had around 100 head of milking cattle, for our
cash crop, and raised our own meat animals. We also raised all our own feed,
and household vegetables. Believe me when I tell you, if you are a small
farmer, there are no idle moments to sit around trying to train every animal
like a pet.
As for nose rings in swine, ALL our swine had nose rings, castrati and
females as well as males. Why? To keep them from rooting out of the pens.
While I agree that a breeding male is treated differently, I can also tell
you a nose ring is NECESSARY on a 3/4 ton bull. We had several that were as
tame as dogs. They'd come when called, and follow you around. But, a 3/4
ton animal with a hard mouth and a neck like a .....well, like a bull, goes
pretty much where he wants to if you don't have some way to control him.
Fences are merely a challenge to them, and I've even seen one old guy go
right through a solid oak barn door. And the neighbors often don't take
kindly to your big baby coming visiting and eating their prize rose bushes,
leaving nice little souvenirs every few feet, and breeding their heifers
wayyyyyy too young. It just is not possible to teach such an animal, "Yes I
want you covering the ladies, but only at the right time of year, and only
the ones that belong to me. Leave the neighbor's girls alone unless I take
you to them."
And the nose ring is no more inhumane than the current practice of ear
tagging.
For those of you who don't know, nose rings for swine and for cattle are
vastly different. Both heal about as well and as quickly as human ear
piercings.
For swine we used small clamps, clamped through the nose and upper lip that
bite into the tender nose flesh if and only if the animals try to root.
For Bulls and Oxen, we used large sturdy rings, about as thick as your
forefinger and anywhere from 3 to 6 inches in diameter. Placed trough the
septum, they were sturdy enough to tie to a heavy hempen rope. With a nose
ring and a good rope it is barely possible for a 120 pound human female to
keep a full size Holstein bull from going over to see what that fresh green
garden corn tastes like.
Our biggest pet was called More, because there was about a ton of him. I was
just out of my teens, and weighed about 120. He was hand raised, and tame as
any housepet. BUT, he knew he out massed me by quite a bit. He wouldn't
hurt me, he'd just shoulder me aside and keep going if I got in his way,
unless I grabbed his nose ring.
Mordonna
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