Battery Farming Cows - I despair

[Mac]

There was a bit on Country File about one such "factory farm" dairy a few weeks ago. Seems it's due in part to the fact that small dairies can't make enough to be cost effective so it's all about economies of scale. Made me quite sick watching the cows in the barns knowing they will never get out. Milked 3 times a day due to the amount of milk they build up because of the "super food" they are given. Apart from that, they just hang about in their comfy barns with scratch post type things to keep them amused. Makes me seriously think about giving up drinking milk.....

[PAULW]

An animal will only give it best production milk/meat if it is kept in the best conditions good food/water/protection from the weather there is probably more data taken about the health of these animals than most farm animal in other systems, you are not going to lay out the cost of this system without getting the best from the cows.
This farm was on countryfile a few weeks ago

[its hilly]

Hmm, saw countryfile, but I thought that the cows DID have access to the fields in summer, just not in winter when it was filmed. Which is normal farming practice with dairy cattle. But I agree that like horses cattle are designed to live on grass, and feeding high levels of concentrates causes a lot of problems. And I dont think trucking in Lucerne (grass by another name) is the same as being allowed out to wander. And although that kind of barn housing is better than when cattle were chained by the neck for six months of the year, its still not ideal.
But there are still thousands of horse owners who think it is fine to keep a horse in a stable for 10hrs a day, ride for an hour, spend half an hour grooming, and only let it have half an hour out in a grass bare paddock. Is that any more humane? I dont think so.
Sadly there are always those who will exploit animals for commercial gain, or care for them with the owners convenience in mind, not the animals true welfare.

[beefy]

Something tells me that if you are about to invest £40 million into the dairy industry you are going to look after the cows.
I'm not going to get into an arguement with anyone here but I'd bet the cows have the time of their life. I have been involved with a few herds that are housed indoors 365 days a year and while I was a sceptic at the beginning the more I watched and followed what was going on I changed my opinion and now i beleive it's one hell of a good way to keep cows .
No changes in enviroment . While many may have fond memories of cows kept by their grandparents the modern dairy cows is a highly different animal .It needs to be kept well fed and looked after and beleive it or not a night outside in wet and or frosty conditions can kill them.
The average dairy cow is capable of producing 100 liters a day of milk at the peak of her lactation. To do this requires lots of food and grass just dosen't cut it any more .They are fed a mixed diet of grass, maize, whole crop wheat and a whole range of other products for example - broken biscuits,bread,brewers grains , distillers grain ,treacle, potatoes plus a selection of carefully blended minerals and vitamins to ensure that they are in top health and condition.
Keeping them inside reduces the amount of walking that they would have to do each day. High performance cows ( for want of a better term) need to be milked 3 or more times a day (you try carrying 50 litres of milk round for 12 hours ).Three time a day milking also reduces health problems as the stockmen see the cattle 3 times a day instead of twice so are more likely to pick up problems earlier .
If you look into the whole thing properly rather than take a cheap headline from the Guardian you will find that the truth is quite different from the spin .

[smallblueplanet]

Something tells me that if you are about to invest £40 million into the dairy industry you are going to look after the cows. ...

Why, they're not exactly expensive to 'grow' are they?

[beefy]

Why, they're not exactly expensive to 'grow' are they?

From birth to producing first milk (at two years old) you invest around £2000 . Maybe cheap to you but most people would consider it a fair chunk of change. Put it outside on a wet night or a frosty one it could very easily turn up dead in the morning . You don't get a refund.

[beefy]

Ohhh looky here the FULL article in the Farmers Weekly- Super dairy plans branded an ?environmental disaster' - 01/03/2010 - Farmers Weekly

and for those who can't be bothered to read to the bottom (the bit the Guardian left out) here it is-

The proposal:


• 22-acre site, including 21,500 acres to grow feed and recycle manure, making it the country's biggest dairy.

• 80 staff, including a full-time vet.

• Visitor centre and training facilities.

• Cows bedded on deep sand for "unparallelled levels of hygiene and comfort".

• Forage produced by a co-operative of local farmers. The cows' diet designed to reduce methane emissions and maximise the use feed, supplemented with by-products from industries such as the Newark sugar beet factory and the proposed ethanol plant at Immingham.

• The dairy will run 24-hours, with cattle being milked three times a day.


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Vets to look after the cows , cattle milked 3 times a day to reduce stress , a varied diet, unparallelled levels of hygiene and comfort.
Scaremongering by right wing vegans/ vegetarians etc .Don't be sucked in by their nonscence.

[matthew2riches]

A few things that stood out to me

"which is set to revolutionise milk production methods" Really?

"a flagship for the industry" Oh wonderful - moved off chooks and onto cows

Also I spotted this: "The firm says that when in milk the animals would be kept indoors, free to roam in open-sided, airy, sheds, but when dry would be allowed outside to pasture." Well... are they battery or not???

Load of beeping beeping lowlife beeping c&%!$

[Nicos]

For goodness sake- when will they learn that it's not natural for any animals - or birds- or fish to be in such close contact. They're just asking for trouble.
..and cows eat grass or hay

Sorry beefy- can't agree with you on that one- yup I'm sure they'll be pampered and kept in as sterile conditions as possible in an attempt to prevent disease...but Nature comes and bites ya in the bum just when you think you've got it all under control...you mark my words young beefy!!

[Jeanied]

Like when they decided it was a good idea to feed cattle on 'protein' from rendered sheeps carcasses!

[Nicos]

Like when they decided it was a good idea to feed cattle on 'protein' from rendered sheeps carcasses!

Yup- that was a fantastic idea wasn't it??? I wonder who made all the profits from that idea initially???

[Jeanied]

Probably companies that advertise in the Farmers Weekly!

[HayleyB]

It's a shame for smaller farmers that do things the right way, they'll be put out of business by this 'mass production'. We've lost enough small dairy herds already due to bladdy EU regs and red tape.

[Nicos]

I won't even give my horse cod liver oil ....when did you last see a horse eating a fish????

[di]

My simple little brain sees it as just a way to carry on providing cheap huge plastic bottles of milk,quarter of which will probably end up down the drain.
I don't think there's so much a need for the country to produce more milk but to encourage people to buy/waste less.
I don't know if it's the norm,but certainly common amongst people I know...they buy the huge 4pint(or maybe even 6?)bottles as they work out cheaper and they don't like to run out,yet invariably the milk is usually off before they get to the end of it.
Cows should be outside grazing on grass...I don't care how many years they've been intensively farmed,IMHO we should be aiming to stop it,not increase it.