PETA

[cowman]

My neighbor never got a license to buy ammo. He is an immigrant and missed the deadline. Occasionally he has to put a pig down and has now run out of 22 shells. Now what is he supposed to do? Does he buy a good aluminum base ball bat to beat them to death? What does the SPCA recommend as the proper way to beat a pig to death??
I guess idiots like Alan Rock never thought of that sort of problem while they sit in the ivory tower down east, and impose their silly little laws on us. We need desperately to dump "Kanada" and have laws that reflect the reality of the west not the gay community of Toronto!

[cowman]

I just got back from town. I stopped in at my local Peavey Mart to pick up a few things. One of them was a bottle of Super Calf Boluses. Now I don't have a problem with scours but always like to keep a bottle on hand.
Anyway I'm waiting in line to pay when this guy strikes up a conversation with me(probably cause I had all these vet type supplies). Now right away I could see this guy was from Planet Ork or something...you know ear ring, scruffy beard, hair down to his ass! Which is okay, I like everybody. Anyway he gives me a lecture on the evils of anti-biotics and tells me I should trot over to the health food store and get some garlic capsules for my calves!!! Cure them of every damn thing they might possibly have!
So I told him sounds pretty good to me but I bought these pills for my own personal use!!! That sort of floored him! But I think he figured that was cool or else I embarassed him so much that he didn't know what to say! I just love nuts like that!!!

[ianben]

Wish I had been next in line just to see the look on his face when you told him they were for you.

[redhen]

Re: Humane destruction of livestock... the way our chicken processor does it is with a knife that has an electric current running through it. The creature is stunned and feels nothing after that. I've seen other folks use a knife to sever the jugular, as in some middle-eastern ceremonies. The animal or bird quietly bleeds out. No clubbing required.

As for antibiotics, I believe they have their place in farming, but I also believe they are terrible over-administered.

For scours, there is a product called Diatomaceous earth (food grade) that will guarantee your calves don't crap themselves to death. It is completely natural. Psyllium seed helps sooth intestinal linings after illness. There are web sites where you can obtain more info.

The advocates of animal welfare in the SPCA and PETA would like us to think outside the box when caring for our animals and birds.

Antibiotics should be a last resort, after Plan A (Pro-active husbandry), Plan B (preventive maintenance) and Plan C (natural alternatives) have not given good results.

[rodbradshaw]

Cowman
Ianben can tell you that in the UK, you have to phone the vet and wait till (he, she) comes and euthanizes for you. When I was there in 95 we visited a large hog operation. The pigs had canabalized the tail head of one of their fellow pen mates. The pig was removed to a seperate pen and the vet called. That was early in the morning, we were in the barn about 4 and THE VET HAD STILL NOT SHOWN UP. This was not humane in any stretch of the imagination. They were not allowed to shoot the animal even though they had plenty of ammunition and guns.
I hope we don't get to that stage here or we are going to need to import a lot of vets to do all of the mundane day to day vet work that we now do our selves.
Rod

[redhen]

Re: my hens as coyote bait.

After 5 years of service to us, I think I owe them the privilege of living out their lives in the safety of the barn and fenced yards they have been accustomed to. Wile E. Coyote can have his choice of gophers and mice. Same goes for Pop the Weasel. Henry Hawk takes a little more convincing, but Owl is the only one who has successfully nabbed a hen or two. That's not a bad average.

Maybe I should write to Country 105. It's their tunes that keep the wild critters away. )

[cowman]

Elizabeth: I guess I will always have trouble seeing your point of view or at least taking it to the extreme you do. Which is okay...to each his own. I raise animals to make money. Sure I like them but if there wasn't a buck in it I would not own them. I believe we have a pretty good relationship...I take care of them,they take care of me. I don't love them enough that I would have them for pets. I have an old Australian Shepherd who has been an excellent cow dog. But she is going deaf and is getting pretty arthritic. Now once again here is a dog born to work. She has basically become a nuisance and just gets in the way of the young dog.
I keep her in the house at night because the cold bothers her and its not all that warm in the barn. I'll let her have her last summer and then take her for a walk in the woods. Is this the kind thing to do or a cruel thing? Would it be better to have her linger on for a few more months? I believe I have a responsibility to the animals I own. To care for them. And yes this requires putting them down when the time comes.
I am horrified by Rods' tale of the pig in the U.K.! I would put that pig down and to hell with the consequences! This is a good omen of what could happen here if we let the do-gooders and the nanny state run our lives! When did farmers give up the right to own their animals? Quite frankly why do I need a vet to euthenize an animal? A bullet is about the quickest way there is.
I sometimes get very frustrated with how veterinarians try to portray themselves as "super experts" when in fact the main
reason we need them is because they have access to drugs and can cut and sew(and some of them not very well!!). The old ones are usually pretty good and realize they don't know everything, but the young ones can be a pain.
Example: I had business in Calgary one day. I had this old fat hereford cow who had a tendency to get over on her side and blow up. My son,fresh home from university, phoned the vet. So out comes this kid fresh out of Saskatoon. He puts a hose down her and then checks for the calf. Announces the calf is dead and gives the cow a shot to abort the calf. Well when I got home my son tells me the sad story. I was pretty pissed to say the least! The next morning guess what? A little calf running around...about two weeks preemie!
So I went in and talked to this kid. I told him when ever a calf is under a lot of stress as will occur when an animal is bloated he lies very still and everything slows way down. And why on earth would he give a cow a shot when the calf was supposedly dead? She'll get rid of him with no problem. Well I tried to do this in a gentle manner because he was just a kid and hey they have to learn. He was pretty embarassed and subdued. And in the end he did turn out to be a pretty fair vet. So be kind to these kids...they don't need some old farmer ripping them up because they don't know anything!

[ianben]

We sure have some crazy rules and regulation over here. Most people who make them have no hands on experience and what seems like a good idea gets through. Like Rods example if the vet was there in a few minuites perhaps it would be good but in the real world vets can be busy and expensive.
Our agronamist was helping a team in charge of preventing soil errosion and nutrient run off into rivers.
They knew the terms minimium tillage, zero till, ploughing but had no idea what each entailed did not even know what a plough looked like or how it worked.
Yet these people will make the rules on how we seed our land.
Regarding antibiotic resistance Everytime we use them it is a lottery One day the bugs numbers will come up. We may play for years without a winner or he might get six numbers next week.
My comments about too many people is really aimed at the "green" argument who want to try to balance nature.
Environments must suffer to accomadate and feed the ever increacing populations round the world. In this respect Canada has a tremendous advantage even if you think you have a local problem

[cowman]

You just got to love those little experts! Right out of school and know everything. Going to show us all!
I trotted my own son off to university to get a commerce degree. He did very well. Unfortunately they never taught him anything...well maybe how to drink,screw girls and smoke dope!
As far as business goes he was pretty clueless. Sort of reminded me of that show with Rodney Dangerfield in it "Back to School". I think the old saying of "Them that can, Do. Them that can't, Teach" has a lot of truth to it. If some of these little experts know so damned much about farming why aren't they out there getting rich at it? The fact of the matter is they are living in a fantasy world and not the real world. One thing about the old free market world is it gets rid of all the B.S. real fast!!

[Deb]

Some people don't want to be rich,they just want to be happy. If they follow thier intuition and instinct, they will always be happy. I knew from age 3 that I wanted to be a cowgirl out west and that's what I became, I just never married a farmer or rancher, just worked for them. It didn't crush me, I just went ahead and let life lead me to where I am now, no planning at all, and I could not possible be happier with my personal life. I couldn't understand why my intuition said to marry the guy I did - he was definitely not my type at the time but I was sure he was the one within 10 minutes of meeting him! He didn't ride horses and didn't know the difference between hay and straw and worked as a liquor store clerk after being a banker for too many years. Now he's the best horseman I know and a woodworker like nobody else. That's what my intuition knew he's be some day - my type of guy. So trust and have faith in your intuition (which one might say is God whispering to you). There's another happy surprise every day. Do the animals worry about where their next meal comes from? Who is dressed more finely than a Meadowlark with its bright yellow shirt and black necklace?

[cowman]

Well Deb, I guess I'm just following my intuition and chasing that dollar! Makes me happy and gives me a reason to get up in the morning! Oh, crude and crass little materialist that I am!!
Quite frankly I like driving a new truck with all the bells and whistles, I like going down south now and then, I like ALL the toys. I've always worked hard and played hard especially in the summer. I've met a lot of people through my business activities and that is something I really enjoy.I'd go nuts if I was just stuck in agriculture. Your comment about the animals not worrying about being fed and the meadow lark thing is getting pretty close to what Jesus Christ said in Matthew Chpt.6 ver.25-30. Better be careful there or they might toss you out of the communist party!!(That's supposed to be humor, so don't get your nose out of joint!)

[Deb]

Cowman, I was hoping you'd notice my paraphrasing of Matthew!

[cowman]

Touche' Which just goes to show you never underestimate the female side of the species. Right away your little references jumped out at me. Although I am not some sort of holy roller I am an avid reader of the bible and in my own peculiar way a devout believer. Definitely not in step with the mainstream churches but that's okay. I believe we all find our own way...and that's how it's supposed to be?

[rodbradshaw]

PETA is at it again. This time they are going after Mother Safeway. They show a clip of some very poor practices that are not an Industry standard in Canada. Like in the Power Steer article, slaughtering of animals for food is not a pretty sight but by and large it is done in the most painless and quickest way possible. The more the animal struggles and is stressed the poorer the result.

The practices that PETA shows in this film clip are the result of bad management and the operations that where shown should be closed down until these gross infractions can be rectified.