Remedy

Exactly. I just wanted to add a little bit to that; it's been known to more or less light itself on fire (in other words, you don't need to drop a cigarette or spark something or anything like that). Many farmers will make rounds every night to assure that the barn is completely safe from fire starters like that and faulty wiring.

Penicillan is also not good for a cow's milk. I don't know if it ends up making it taste worse or something (I never found out the specific reason), but it does add a smell, and milking companies won't touch it then. Just one shot of penicillan to the cow will screw up her milk for a few days.

The Backward OX

Here's another little snippet you might like to work into your story. Milk-maids are immune to small-pox. They contract cow-pox from handling a cow's teats, and this in turn creates immunity to small-pox. There's heaps about it on the Net.

lin

Never heard of that. Wet hay put up in a barn can heat up through that process and actually cause the barn to burn down, but I never heard of a bale being dangerous to handle.

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lin

Milk, but not meat. Beef generally comes from steers, which are bulls castrated at a young age.

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papertears

rubber bands

The Backward OX

Nah, a good sharp knife is quicker and more certain.

seigfried007

Rubber bands doesn't work a lot of the time and can lead to horrible infections (which may kill your cow). Knives work better. I've never seen a self-respecting farmer use rubber bans but I've seen lots of idiots try that one on dog tails rather than take the poor pup to the vet and have it done professionally.

Cows and calves are both used for beef. Anyone that can't be used enough to pay its way in feed will be killed for beef. Period. It's the harsh reality of cattle.

This isn't limited to cows that frequently get mastitis, those that are infertile or too old.

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Poor people are crazy, Jack--I'm eccentric

--Howard Payne

lin

REAL men just bite them off.

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seigfried007

Glad I wasn't drinking anything, lin.

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Poor people are crazy, Jack--I'm eccentric

--Howard Payne

IndigoB

Only if your story takes place in a cold weather climate do you need to even think about it eating anything but what it can get off a pasture. And yes, cow is gender specific. A bull is only needed to make babies, but they don't do that the natural way much anymore. They mostly use artificial insemination. Steers are castrated males which are fattened up for slaughter. Male calves are often sold off right away for slaughter to make veal. Heifers are young females not yet bred.

seigfried007

Artificial insemination depends on where you are, how big the business is and how much money the farmer has. Sometimes, it's cheaper just to rent one from the neighbor (less to pay in shipping costs and fewer nasty places you have to put your hands

Steers used to be used more as oxen, but that's falling out of favor any more, so yeah, most of them get turned into burger patties.

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Poor people are crazy, Jack--I'm eccentric

--Howard Payne

starseed

It's not cold weather, its Northern California. Cool but not freezing or anything.
And thanks Backward OX, maybe that interesting little fact can come up in conversation between my characters. It sounds like just the type of information the owner of the farm would share.