Farm Animal Conundrum

[bigpaul]

the huge amounts of milk commercial cows are producing these days....I'd say DEFINITELY.

[Tartar Horde]

I think we sometimes underestimate animals, especially domesticated ones as we are so used to them being, well, domesticated. The reason cattle and the like stay within their paddocks etc is not because of the barbed wire, but because they are used to being fed and looked after, it's a quid pro quo arrangement. If they stop being fed that barbed wire will not stop a couple of ton of Bull or Cow, and their survival instinct will take over, they will escape and risk death in the attempt rather than stay and starve, as all animals would.
I'm going to throw a wild card animal into the mix and remind people that there are a few of Ostrich and Rhea farms in the UK, but man you will need a lot of Paxo.

[bigpaul]

a non dairy cow in a field, or a bull or a sheep will probably manage to get out and into another field or into a lane, so will pigs and chickens, the problem is 1. when the winter comes and there is no grass and no one to feed them then a certain number will die. 2. any stock animal penned up probably wont survive as it will die of hunger and especially thirst, if their in a wooden enclosure they can probably break out but a modern steel one? I'm not so sure.

[Scythe13]

(2 May 2014, 12:52)bigpaul Wrote: a non dairy cow in a field, or a bull or a sheep will probably manage to get out and into another field or into a lane, so will pigs and chickens, the problem is 1. when the winter comes and there is no grass and no one to feed them then a certain number will die. 2. any stock animal penned up probably wont survive as it will die of hunger and especially thirst, if their in a wooden enclosure they can probably break out but a modern steel one? I'm not so sure.

This is the kind of thing I'm thinking too. So my expanded thoughts on options 1 and 2 are as follows:

1. Totally agree. But cows have survived for year and even in countries like India where there is so little vegetation, they survive, as a species. The same will be true in the UK. They'll just do what the majority of UK critters do, stock up over the good months, and snooze as much as possible in winter. They'll behave like the wild boar that we already have. Some will definitely die off, no doubt. But the ones that survive...good eating.

2. Would it make sense to set as many free as possible before then?

[Devonian]

One of the major reasons farmers bring cows in from the fields during the winter is not just because of the grazing/lack of grass, it is actually also to do with maintaining the land.

Even a small herd of cows grazing across a few connected fields will soon wreck the ground during the winter if it is wet or waterlogged. Its the pure size and weight of the animals trampling across the ground. There is also a greater risk of injury (expensive vet bills) on soft ground and frozen ground.

Grazing is still available during the winter, after all sheep do not get brought in, they are left out in the fields all year round, but their smaller size and weight is less damaging to the fields.

As for when to free them, I would say, when they are no longer being looked after. Let them out to early and they will end up as road kill.

I do however think that large numbers will however simply be slaughtered either by survivors, or by TPTB to feed those in the cities/camps.

[Scythe13]

(2 May 2014, 14:13)Devonian Wrote: As for when to free them, I would say, when they are no longer being looked after. Let them out to early and they will end up as road kill.

I do however think that large numbers will however simply be slaughtered either by survivors, or by TPTB to feed those in the cities/camps.

Release them early enough to stop the slaughter, I guess.

Not sure how many people would have them as road kill. It's going to make a hell of a dent in the ol'bonnet!

[Devonian]

By Road Kill I mean that letting them out too early would be a waste as there would still be limited vehicles etc using roads which would undoubtedly end up killing animals that have been allowed out to roam free.

Releasing them would not stop the slaughter, it would actually make it easier for the hungry Joe Public, all they would see is a few weeks worth of meat walking right up to their house waiting to be butchered!!

[bigpaul]

its true that a lot of animals will fatten up over the summer months for the winter, some will die but it'll be the survival of the fittest. I don't think letting them out early would be any good, we'd probably have the farmer after us in his enormous tractor, but let them out AFTER TSHTF when you can see they haven't got any grazing left, if you can put them in a field near your house with maybe some silage you've "found" even better.

[Mortblanc]

There seems to be a general misconception that a cow will die if not milked.

That is not so.

Their milk will dry up and they will stop lactating. They may be uncomfortable for a time but they will NOT die.

I raised cattle for 30 years and never lost one to not being milked.

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NO their udders will not explode!

[Steve]

Learning how to dry or smoke meat will be very a useful skill. Beef jerky anyone ?

This also relates to an earlier thread about rifle / gun calibres, a dairy breed bull is a formidable animal that can very easily kill you, and you might have to get past it to get at the cows. You don't want to kill the bull, that would screw up your future food supply, but you might have to kill a cow or calf from some distance and wait until the herd moves away.