I am very particular about what my animals eat. Especially if I intend to eat that animal myself. But an animal that I am raising for the freezer is fed very differently from an animal that I am raising to keep.
A pregnant animal eats very healthily but the feed is lean. We do not want their babies to get so big that the mother has a problem with birthing or have complications during her pregnancy. An animal that we hope to breed also needs to stay lean so her fertility stays high and she has a long healthy life. A lactating animal needs lots of high protein feed to produce lots of good milk. So each of these diets is different. And in a small scale operation like mine that creates problems. I will not raise animals in small pens standing alone. Everyone has to be able to access the outside, (except our poor chickens because of the very real predator risk outside so they have an extra huge hen house.) Because I believe that excercise and natural light is a very important component in animal health (this is why the chickens have one entire wall of wire netting. )
But I still think I am feeding everyone too much. My hay has a very high protein. The alfalfa hay is mixed with the grass hay, a scant half bale a day. And with the animals being is such tiny numbers there is not enough competition for Queenie and she is eating more than her share. Though when it is really cold I try to feed more roughage.
Anyway my first change is to grow feed with a lower protein, sow a few acres of good grass for hay. Each hay field will be different,(grass or alfalfa or oats) then I have better control over the animals weight. At the moment Queenie should be on tough grass hay. Elsie on maintainance amounts of alfalfa and grass hay. Aunty Del should be on a strong low fat growing diet, and the Bobbys on a get-fat diet. None of the cows get grain at this point. The pigs get a littlegrain with good alfalfa hay and fruit and vegetables.
But less. If you feed an animal until they are full this creates a series of changes that are often not useful. The same applies to a person and dogs and cats. If we all eat too much until we are full every single time we will also lose condition and struggle with the repercussions of having lard packed around our internal organs. Too much weight on our knees. Too much fat in the belly. Sleep problems. More health problems.
The Lady Vet was here yesterday to take Queenie’s blood. And she has concluded that Queenie is too fat.
Not too, too fat? I said, hopefully, she has lost some weight.
Cecilia, The Lady Vet said sternly this cow is really big. Really, really big. It is unlikely that she will have been bred.
Queenie roamed my very good pastures all summer. It was an exceptional year for grazing and we were understocked so she really could pick all the best. Then she visited the bull and his herd, ate as much corn as she could stuff into her mouth and now she is an obese cow. She is the bully too, so she shoves everyone else aside to get their share too.
The Lady Vet looked critically at Elsie and said she does not need to lose any weight and does not need to be putting any on either.
So we will continue the maintainence diet for her.
So really what I am learning hard is not to feed animals until they are full. And not to feed people until they are full either. Being a little bit hungry is actually a good thing for us all. Less is indeed best. Which goes against the grain when we are feeding animals but there you are.
Sorry I am late this morning.
We had a late night last night, I slept in this morning and then it was one thing after another.
I hope you all have a lovely day. I am off in to The Matriarchs to have a little maintainence lunch!
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
58 responses to “Too Fat”
Another entry in to my store of knowlwdge.
Good morning darling! c
I have read about cow powered treadmills that generate electricity. Look here: http://gajitz.com/power-cows-watt-producing-gas-reducing-treadmill/
In your climate lack of exercise must be a factor. In the past animals were used to power turnstiles etc, so it isn’t a new idea. 🙂
yes.. the lack of movement when it is icy and snowy is a big factor, whenever possible i throw their hay into the field so they have to walk out there to eat it, but when it is wet you don’t want them on the fields as they churn up the pasture.. it is a bit of a juggle.. off to loook at this link.. thank you!.. c
Something quite sobering about this post. I think we are all too geared toward being full. It is a difficult thing to change, I find, especially with children and a seemingly “growing” husband. (He eats like a teen, and so far still looks pretty good. Knock on wood.)
My Mother always said it was polite to leave something on your plate at the end of the meal. I wonder if that was part of not just scoffing everything every time.. c
It’s interesting. My parents were the opposite…born just after the Great Depression they were raised to waste nothing, and so in their turn trained us to “clean” our plates. What started as not wasting ended up as overdoing.
I think we have all learned to panic a little at hunger pangs, and regard them as a signal that we should eat immediately. Not. Fasting is natural, normal and a good way to cut down our quite excessive intake if properly managed. Use a smaller plate, take smaller bites and eat slowly and mindfully, savouring what you eat and giving thanks if it once had independent movement!
Eating slowly is very important.. letting the belly catch up and send FULL messages.. c
It takes 20 minutes from eating to full message……….slow is good
When I was young I came home, run into the kitchen and told my Grandmother that I was hungry. She just looked at me. She said “you are not hungry, you have an appetite”. I must have looked puzzled -one of my specialties- and didn’t understand it right away. My Grandmother, who had survived two world wars was a smart Lady. OH Gosh now you have me going. I might have to write a post on my kitchen blog lol.
I loook forward to reading that post!.. c
Asking for permission to put a link to your blog and today’s posts on my kitchen blog. Would that be alright?
yes, most certainly that will be fine!
There’s a saying here in Germany that translates something like this, eat half of whatever you want.
that is a very cool saying.. hmm.. c
when we had a cow that was bullied, we would put her in barn at feeding time to get larger share.and let her out when she was done eating.
if you do this with elsie, it would help fatten her up a little, and extra handeling could help calm her down for milking time
good idea ron, when i come back i am going to start feeding her and the other cow as well in the milking room, tied, so they get used to going in and out. neither of them has been milked before, they just raised their own calves, so I hope i get a good amount of time to train them. c
When my old gelding was alive we had to separate him from the mare as his teeth were worn and it took him longer to eat. We used a pipe gate to divide and close half of their run in shelter and kept him in over night but the two horses were still essentially right next to each other. We also had to limit the mare’s food as she put on weight in a heartbeat, in fact in the summer she wears a grazing muzzle, it has a small hole to limit how much grass she can grab. They did very well with this schedule, he had at least 12 hours to eat his fill and she only got so much but they were still close to each other. Trouble is that in the winter it’s digesting the forage that keeps them warm so you need to give the fatties the lower protein stuff. The old guy is gone now and the new mare can hold her own when it comes to her food. Personally, middle age has added a pudge I’m afraid, one that just won’t go away even though I’ve developed a hiatal hernia that protests (loudly and uncomfortably) if I eat too much. (sigh) Can’t win.
I think when I get back I will set something like this up. By then we will have three cows! c
Celi, it is always so interesting to hear the news on the farm. I would have never even thought to worry about over feeding just underfeeding but it does bring up a good point. It brings so many more risk factors just like it does for humans. Wishing you a very awesome start to 2015!
I know I tend to over-feed our orphaned animals. I am glad you posted about this… it’s a good thing to consider, whoever we are feeding!
I’m undertaking a bit of a personal moratorium right now in hopes of avoiding joining Queenie’s weight class. Message well taken. 🙂
K
Us “foodies” find it hard not to overfeed oursleves and everyone else. Ha! Does this mean that you’ll be able to keep Queenie because once she loses weight she can be bred next year?
Totally absorbing post even to someone who only feeds his wife, himself and one small cat. I like the bit about being slightly hungry…works for Jenny and me but the little cat thinks the idea is flawed:)