Sorry I've been remiss chaps - been a bit busy, what with the litfiesta and all. But the real object of attention is the new cattle yards. The old ones were just too damned dangerous to work in with a couple of ton of beef named Budget and his feisty hos, so G-man has set about building a new sleek race.
The whole thing is an act of faith, based on the ideas of Temple Grandin (thankyou Bedak) whose theories about animal handling seem to make sense, so we've pulled the old yards apart and rebuilt them.
Hopefully, the moo moos will have as much faith in Ms Grandin as we do and will happily behave in the manner in which they are supposed to according to her theory.
If not - well, at least we have the magic wand of persuasion.
She's great, that Temple Grandin. I saw a documentary on her once. I'm sure your cows will be very happy.
ReplyDeleteI'm so close to getting my cows i can taste it. Cheese here i come.
ReplyDeleteBeeso
ReplyDeleteYou do have yards, right Beeso?
Even if you've only got a few milkers, you'll still need to get up close and personal enough to actually milk them, attach their fly tags, separate them from their calves and get them onto a truck if necessary. Unless you've hand reared them from birth and handled them constantly, cows HATE anyone touching their bits and pieces - especially bits that might involve the vet.
GC - I know - she's extraordinary - saw her in a doco on autism (she's low spectrum autistic) and she figured out that some autistic children would respond to pressure on their bodies. She had a hunch that because the cattle crush seemed to calm down flighty animals, she'd try it herself. They then developed a small crush to put even pressure all over the body of autistic children and miraculously, previously mute disengaged children found it possible to communicate - amazing work. She is, I reckon, a genius.
I amlooking forward to hearing how the new runs work out. You have a great chance to test the theory since you are setting them up on the same spot with the same cows.
ReplyDeleteI was actually intending on sending a report to Temple Grandin. She tends to work with large meat processors and ranchers in the states. I'm not sure how may small holders like us know of her work.
ReplyDeleteI do love her proposition that cows tend to want to turn back the way they came - just like humans!
Hughsey sounds all to much like hard work to me, all part of the simple country life eh?
ReplyDeleteNever heard of TG before. Much reading to do now.
ReplyDeleteShe's an interesting woman all right, particularly so as she has convinved the corprorate juggernauts to listen to her.
ReplyDeleteNot an industry with a strong history of listening to "Outsiders."
Big applause for positioning your yards under shade trees. I can't tell you how many sets of yards I've seen with mobs standing hoof deep in shite & not a scrap of shade. Drives me nuts - like seeing horses left with rugs on, swealtering on 30+ degrees C days.
More Power to the G man & his chainsaw of creativity.