The Heat of the Moment

She waited expectantly, her heart fluttering with anticipation. Somewhere, he was out there. Flowers bobbed gently in the warm breeze and their intoxicating aroma filled the night air. She could think of nothing but him. His strength, his smell, the sound of his footsteps. She knew she shouldn’t, and yet…. Excitement ran through her like a current of electricity and the waiting became excruciating. An eternity passed.

And then, suddenly, he emerged from the darkness. She could think of nothing at all to say, as she gazed into his warm, brown eyes. His strong body glowed in the moonlight and in a moment, she was swept away. Somewhere in the night, a bird trilled a love song to an invisible mate.

Nah. I made all that stuff up. And this should illustrate exactly why engineers should not write romance novels. Really, after observing Priscilla’s increasing interest in her best friend, we finally witnessed the mounting that clearly signaled Bessie’s “standing heat.” A quick call to our AI tech brought Rhonda to our farm within minutes. The wind was gusting and it was bloody cold out. But armed with her trusty nitrogen tank, electric water bath and a semen straw from Son of Fat Louie, she expertly performed the insemination procedure and confirmed for us that Bessie was in heat. Bessie was far more interested in eating sweet feed (that’s our girl) than in anything else going on, and within minutes, was on her way back to her buddies with a belly full of feed and a soon-to-be fertilized egg. Rosebud went through this procedure exactly one week ago, and we are hoping that both inseminations result in pregnancies. We will know in about 3 weeks.

While the procedure does not sound all that romantic, Tom and I felt that it justified celebrating with a really nice Bourgogne. Of course, we feel that way about a lot of things- like cleaning up the basement, getting all the stalls picked and finishing the taxes. Because, despite the depressing news and worrisome economy, there is much to celebrate in our lives. There are catkins on the Elm trees, a hint of green in the grass and 24 wheels of goddawful smelling brie in the cooler. For all its complications, life is still, generally good.

(Photo courtesy of carrieanddanielle.com/.../sustainability/page/3/)

Horses First Domesticated 5,000 Years Ago

This item appeared a few days ago courtesy of AP on PeoplePC's news page, and I thought it worth reprinting in full.

Medieval knights, the warriors of Saladin, Roy Rogers and fans lining racetracks around the world all owe a debt to the Botai culture, residents of Central Asia who domesticated horses more than 5,000 years ago. New evidence corralled in Kazakhstan indicates the Botai culture used horses as beasts of burden - and as a source of meat and milk - about 1,000 years earlier than had been widely believed, according to the team led by Alan Outram of England's University of Exeter. "This is significant because it changes our understanding of how these early societies developed," Outram said.

Domestication of the horse was an immense breakthrough - bringing horsepower to communications, transportation, farming and warfare. The research, reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science, also shows the development of animal domestication and a fully pastoral economy may well be independent of famous centers of domestication, such as the Near East and China, Outram added. Compared to dogs, domesticated as long as 15,000 years ago, and such food animals as sheep, goats and pigs, horses are relatively late arrivals in the human relationship. "It is not so much the domestication of the horse that is important, but the invention of horseback riding," commented anthropologist David W. Anthony of Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. "When people began to ride, it revolutionized human transport. For the first time the Eurasian steppes, formerly a hostile ecological barrier to humans, became a corridor of communication across Eurasia linking China to Europe and the Near East. Riding also forever changed warfare. Boundaries were changed, new trading partners were acquired, new alliances became possible, and resources that had been beyond reach became reachable," observed Anthony, who was not part of Outram's research team.

"Some researchers believe this new mobility may have led to the spread of Indo-European languages and many other common aspects of human culture," Outram said. In addition to carrying people and their goods, horses provided meat and even milk, which some cultures still ferment into a mildly alcoholic beverage. The date and place of horse domestication has long been subject to research, and the steppes of Central Asia and the Botai culture have previously been suggested as possibilities. But the new report adds extensive detail to the tale.

Outram's team developed a troika of evidence the Botai domesticated horses:

• Studies of the jaws of horses from the site show tooth wear similar to that caused by bits in modern horses, an indication of riding. A 1998 paper by Anthony raised the possibility of such findings, but the new report is much more extensive and detailed.
• The leg bones of the Botai horses are more slender than those of wild horses, indicating breeding for different qualities. The new way of measuring and analyzing horse leg bones "shows here for the first time that the Botai culture horses were closer in leg conformation to domestic horses than to wild horses. That is another first," Anthony said.

• And complex studies of ancient ceramic pots from the location showed evidence they once contained mare's milk. "This is, apart from being fascinating, something of a smoking gun for domestication - would you milk a wild horse?" said Outram. Anthony agreed: "If you're milking horses, they are not wild! The invention of a method to identify the fat residues left by horse milk in ceramic pots is a spectacular and brilliant advance," he said of Outram's paper. "It is really important to be able to identify the fats in the clay pots as not just from horse tissue, but precisely from horse milk."

Still today mares are milked in Kazakhstan and Mongolia. "The Kazakhs ferment it into a sour tasting and slightly alcoholic drink called 'koumiss.' It is clear that dated back at least hundreds of years, but beyond that no one knew. Who would have thought it was a practice that went back 5,500 years, at least," Outram said.
"The new research was funded by Britain's Natural Environment Research Council, the British Academy and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Bringing Back Chesapeake

In 2003, the White Bird Appaloosa Horse Rescue was still in its first year of operation as a non-profit organization. We were an enthusiastic bunch of rescuers (many fresh from the ranks of companion animal rescues) who were undaunted by distance, finances or complicated logistics, and who were still becoming familiar with the many issues and ethical minefields in the horse industry.

One day, I happened upon a post from another rescue, which was forwarding information about the upcoming auction of horses by the Colorado State University. Horses have traditionally been used in the school’s veterinary program labs, and at the end of their tenure, the horses had just as traditionally been auctioned off to the highest bidder. These usually turned out to be buyers for the slaughter market. Without opposing bidders, the horses would certainly enter the slaughter chain. The more we thought about it, the less fair it seemed. These horses had already come from owners that they had served, then been used by the University in their embryo transfer program. Now, they’d be sold for meat. It seemed to us that these horses had already done their service to humanity and deserved a better end.

A handful of members of our Yahoo! group pooled their resources to form an ad hoc team they called “ARC (Animal Rescue Corps), with the intention of buying one of the horses through the on-line auction. We selected several likely candidates from the list of auction horses and when the auction opened, we bid. Our bidding methodology was simple: we assumed that the least expensive horse would be in the greatest danger of being sold for meat. We altered our bids accordingly and remained watchful.

When the bidding ended, we were shocked. Every single horse had had their bids topped and their high bidders had been outbid. We were equally shocked to receive an email shortly after the auction, advising us that “our” horse would be available at our previously bid price. We have been told that there were some shady dealings at the end of the auction, though we cannot verify what happened. We only know that we had “our” horse, an overweight, sullen-looking chestnut mare with a large scar on her neck and the number “1830” tattooed on her butt. ARC named her Chesapeake Hope, a compromise between the ARC members who favored “Chesapeake” and those who favored “Hope.

The following weeks involved a flurry of negotiations with a rescuer in Colorado, who picked her up at the vet school for us, kept her for several weeks, and helped us to locate a reliable hauler to bring her home. The horse that rolled out of the trailer was far different from the one in the photo. She was bright, lively and in better condition than in her photo (thanks to Shirley, in Colorado). What a bundle of energy! From the quarantine paddock where she desperately wanted to get to the other horses, to the love and discipline she doled out as “Momma” to our nurse mare foals, she took immediate control of the herd and remained its matriarch. Did I mention she is bossy?

Among the volunteers we have had at the rescue was a young woman who came out a couple of times a week to help feed and clean stalls. The chemistry between these two grew quickly and we received the surprise request one day for Chessie’s adoption. We were ecstatic. Chessie went home with our best wishes for a bright future.

But predicting the future is impossible. We never know what hooks and turns our lives will throw at us, and so it was with Chessie’s adopter. Several weeks ago, we were advised that Chessie would need to return to us, for reasons beyond anyone’s control. So six years after Chessie arrived from Colorado, we brought her back to White Bird, to a new farm she hadn’t yet seen and to some old friends, both horse and human, that she still recognized.

Chessie has been very well cared for by her adopter. But it is apparent that Chessie’s life prior to her rescue had not been an easy one. We are now seeing the results of what appears to be a series of old injuries that are emerging as various arthritis and joint problems, in addition to the navicular syndrome that is so common in Quarter horses. It is not unusual for old injuries to start causing problems a long time after they seem to have healed. But for a 14-year old horse (a baby by our standards!) she has a surprising number of health issues. Chessie will never be completely sound and will always require a little extra care to keep her comfortable. But she is still our bright-eyed, bouncing girl and still “large and in charge.”

We are sorry that Chessie lost her home and the person who loved her. But we are glad that she had somewhere safe to go, especially in this difficult economy and terrible horse market. People are not exactly standing in line for busted up mares with bad feet, no matter how personable they are. But one of the best reasons to adopt horses from rescues is that, if something unforeseen happens, your horse has an insurance policy. Bringing back Chesapeake was possible because her adopter opened her home to a rescued horse, ensuring that in an emergency, her horse had a safe haven. But we are also grateful to her adopter, for taking such good care of our girl and for making sure she was safe when she could no longer care for her.

Top photo: Auction picture taken at CSU, 2003
Middle photo: Despooking exercise, taken at White Bird's Stillwater Farm in 2004
Bottom photo: Chessie at White Bird, taken this morning, Valentine's Day 2009

The Great Raw Milk Debate

The great joy of owning a family cow or two (or three) is the ability to produce your own, fresh, raw milk. Raw milk is milk that has been neither pasteurized nor homogenized, existing in the state that (pick one: God, Natural Selection) made it. Pasteurization is the heat process that destroys pathogens. Homogenization is the process of mechanically breaking the fats into small particles so that the cream no longer rises to the top. While homogenization is simply a stabilizing process, whether pasteurization is necessary has been the subject of heated debate and some questionable public policy.

The arguments “For” pasteurization are as follows: Milk carries dangerous pathogens that can injure or kill, and these must be destroyed in order to make the milk safe to drink. Pasteurization does not affect the nutritional quality of the milk.

The arguments “Against:” Pasteurization affects the nutritional quality of the milk, altering colloidal minerals and destroying beneficial enzymes like lactase. It makes it taste different, or “cooked.” Clean cows and hygienic handling processes minimize the potential for pathogen contamination, making pasteurization unnecessary. Requiring pasteurization is an unfair burden on small farmers.

Reviewing all of the positions “For” and “Against” that have ever been written is guaranteed to make your head explode. Claims range from “drinking raw milk is dangerous dietary Russian roulette” to “it is nature’s perfect food just as it is.” Raw milk has been credited with causing terminal diseases, or curing them. Arguers on both sides are passionate, convinced they are right, and they present equally flawed arguments.

Public policy in Virginia is based largely on the public health arguments for pasteurization and also reflects the interests of the struggling and fiercely regulated dairy industry, which operates on a slim margin even in good years. These are definitely not good years and the industry does not welcome competition, even from small family farms. The Code of Virginia prohibits the sale of unpasteurized milk in any amount. So, if we sell Rosebud’s milk to our neighbor Earl, we are subject to prosecution, even if Earl is standing under the cow collecting it. This is because, in the eyes of the Commonwealth, neither we, nor Earl, are competent to make this decision for ourselves.

After sifting through enough literature to make even the most enthusiastic researcher yearn for a People Magazine, I offer the following synopsis of what I've found:

Milk that comes from healthy cows and that is handled properly is safe to drink. If it is not stored or handled properly, it can become contaminated with pathogens. Let’s face it. If you’ve ever been to a commercial dairy, even a really good one, you really wouldn’t want to drink that milk unpasteurized. Cows are large animals and the manure of healthy cows is soupy and prone to wide…uh… distribution. Put a hundred of these animals together in one place and it isn’t the spot you'd choose to have a picnic with your grandchildren. Once the milk is collected, it is then transported and any number of factors can cause contamination between cow and consumer. However: of the many studies that I have reviewed that analyzed bacterial content in raw milk, none examined samples taken directly from very small family farms (single or dual cow operations) under typical conditions. This is a serious, if not fatal, defect in such studies, as the milking and handling environments are very different from commercial dairies. Until contamination levels at these small family farms are adequately studied, comparing results from the two operations is like comparing apples to lawn chairs.

Raw milk tastes fresh and the high butterfat content in Jersey milk gives it a silkiness unlike grocery store products. Is it nutritionally healthier for you? I still don’t know, as there is surprisingly little peer-reviewed research on this question. And of course, there are entire organizations on either side that will cheerfully serve as "peers," so I am referring to peer review by the scientific community, rather than an interest group. But chemically, there is no question that heat will permanently alter the tertiary structure of a protein. Think of a raw vs. boiled egg. They are different, certainly. Is one better for you than the other? That depends on whom you ask. But there is little scientific support for the idea that drinking milk from your clean, healthy family cow will make you and your neighbors succumb on the spot, gasping like bruised bass after a long struggle. And despite the growing homestead/locally grown food movement, it isn’t likely that family cows will supplant the role of commercial dairies in American society. Industry has little to fear from Rosebud, Bessie and Priscilla.

This month, the State of Arkansas appears poised to pass legislation to allow limited sales (100 gal/per month) of raw milk from small farms. This amount equates to the high end of Miniature Jersey production for one cow. In these times of economic hardship, this is exactly the right thinking.

Photo of Tom, Jorg and Bessie from: "Old Picture of the Day" at: http://old-photos.blogspot.com/2009/01/milking-cow.html, Just kidding about the Jorg and Bessie part.

"Where are the snows of yesteryear?"

The "Ballade des dames du temps jadis" ("Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past") is a poem by the fifteenth-century French poet François Villon which celebrates famous women in history and mythology, and from which came the line "Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan". In French they have the expression "triste" which is a wistful sadness rather than outright depression, and Villon is commenting that, like the snow, life fades away almost without us noticing.

Well that was a long segue into the fact that snow, in depth, finally came to Triskelion Farm last night - all quarter of an inch of it! But worth sharing, as it was real springlike snow, pretty without being a nuisance (or worse) and it too will fade quickly. In the meantime the ravages of rain and cold are hidden for a few brief hours and we can believe that spring is around the corner (even if Punxsutawney Phil says otherwise, and the weather forecast is for 16 degrees tomorrow night!)

Most of the menagerie were tucked up in stalls, just the youngsters braving the flurries. When dawn broke they were happily munching the hay I had put out, and take the snow along with most weather conditions with equal equanimity. They too have comfy stalls when it gets cold and when ice storms are likely; but their preference is for wide open spaces, as evidenced by the rodeo that went on last evening that caused my neighbor to phone and ask if everything was OK. The thunder of hooves across the paddock could be heard half a mile away, but it was all play. The call was appreciated, however, as accidents do happen. Another neighbor, a few miles away, just earlier in the week, had gone through the floorboards of a barn and broken his thigh bone. Unfortunately, he had left his cell phone in his truck and it took him over an hour to get out and call for help. I guess we have all heard of similar stories in rural communities so a watchful neighbor is always welcome.

Well, I for one won't be sorry to see winter bow out, and perhaps the longer days and brighter weather will cheer us all up, and instill some optimistic thoughts. Let's dwell on the good things ahead rather than feeling sad about the past. In that spirit , White Bird is holding its first volunteer orientation of the year on Sunday, having put out "come and volunteer" notices on line and locally. We have had a great response so far and it will be a fun day with the promise of warm weather, as well as refreshments. See the notice on the sidebar.

Call 'Em Anything but "Late for Dinner"

From: Pull the udder one? Calling cows names 'makes them produce more milk'
Matthew Weaver
Wednesday January 28 2009
guardian.co.uk

"Cows with names such as Ermintrude and Daisy produce more milk than cattle without names, researchers claimed today.

The study, which has prompted a pull-the-udder-one attitude among sceptics, said cows treated with "the personal touch" are happier, and produce higher milk yields than cows treated as just one of a herd.

Researchers from Newcastle University asked 516 British dairy farmers about their attitude to the behaviour and welfare of their cows. Those who called cows by name said they had a 258-litre higher milk yield than those who did not.

The study was published in an online journal called Anthrozoos, which is described as a "multidisciplinary journal of the interactions of people and animals". Critics claimed the study was flawed and confused a correlation with causation.

Dr Catherine Douglas, who conducted the research, said: "By placing more importance on the individual, such as calling a cow by her name or interacting with the animal more as it grows up, we not only improve the animal's welfare and her perception of humans, but also increase milk production."

She added: "Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention. What our study shows is what many good, caring farmers have long since believed."

Dennis Gibb, who co-owns Eachwick Red House Farm at Dalton, near Newcastle upon Tyne, with his brother Richard, says he believes treating every cow as an individual is "vitally important". He said: "Collectively we refer to them as 'our ladies' but we know every one of them and each one has her own personality."

Hank Campbell, who set up the blog Scientific Blogging, said the study had "too many logical flaws for me to tackle without being insulting". He wrote: "Basically they asked farmers how to get more milk and whatever half the farmers said was the conclusion."

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2009."

We found this study interesting for a number of reasons. First, every dairy farmer has an interest in doing whatever is necessary to get the optimum production from his or her cows. This might mean naming them, feeding them treats when they are being milked, waving incense over them or dancing a Seekrit Magical Milk Dance around them. There is already evidence that cows are sensitive animals and there are many studies documenting that stressed animals do not produce as well. The conclusion of the study is not necessarily wrong, it’s simply unsupported in a way that is scientifically defensible.

The first problem here is the assumption that correlation is the same as causation, in other words, the assumption that because two events have a relationship with each other, one must cause the other. For example, Merlin, our rooster, crows in the morning. I get up and go to work in the morning. Most mornings, both are true. I do not get up because Merlin crows, I get up because if I don’t, neither he nor I will have enough to eat, shortly. But someone confusing correlation with causation might assume that I wake up in the morning because Merlin crows, rather than considering other factors, like “dog needing to go out right now,” or "retaining job,” or "Tom booting me out of bed." In the cow study, it is possible that the farmers who named their cows were also more likely to provide a calming milking environment, which could also result in greater yield with or without a name. There are many other factors that might result in greater production.

The second problem is in the model that was used to support the conclusion. The fact that every farmer that names his cows thinks they produce more milk for that reason and will tell you so isn’t proof that they do. Opinions aren’t science. Sometimes, it can be very difficult to conclude, in a scientifically defensible way, things that are fairly obvious.

We can’t swear that our cows like their names well enough to give us more milk (except Priscilla, who picked hers through an animal communicator). But we think the authors of the study are headed in the right direction. We know that cows like to be talked to. We know they are smart and can learn some words, including their names. Happy cows are likely to produce more milk. That’s enough for us to suspect that the authors have a reasonable foundation for asking this question.

Tom looks really silly doing that Seekrit Magical Milk Dance out in the barn and possibly just calling the cows by their names would be more effective. But then again, Tom really likes doing the Seekrit Magical Milk Dance and production may not be the reason he does it at all. It's easy to confuse correlation with causation.

Penny Writes Home

Dear Humans:

Above is a picture of me and my new best friend Bella. In case you forgot, I am the small, dark one, peaking around the pole. Bella was really glad when I arrived, as she was living all by herself. She used to hang out by the fence so she could talk to the cows in the neighbor's field. All that changed when I came. We made friends right away. I hardly even noticed when you left. I'm not sure I even remember who brought me here. What are your names again?

Things are good here. I haven't seen any of those frightening animals they call "cats." The food is delicious, there is lots of grass, a toasty shelter and people are nice to me. I do miss my cousin Annie and I wish I had some more chickens to watch. You probably haven't noticed it, but I think that big black one is maybe a rooster. It has a strange way of looking at the hens. And two of them might be sick. The poor things are laying blue eggs. Annie wrote recently to tell me that she is doing well and living in Appomattox. She has developed an interest in analytical chemistry and is taking courses on-line. She's hoping to patent a process that produces cheese directly from the cow, skipping all those unpleasant intermediate stages having to do with fungi. I knew you'd be pleased to hear that.

How is everything on the farm? How are Mom and Bessie? Before I left, I heard them whispering about someone named "Son of Fat Louie." I had to put my hooves over my ears. I don't want to worry you, but there is a picture of him hanging in the stalls in the red barn. I also heard the name "AI Tech" and then lots of giggling. It's probably none of my business, but you might want to check your phone bill for long distance calls to Ohio. This just can't be good. And do you think it wise to encourage a relationship with someone who has, at least on the face of it, a genetic predisposition for excessive weight gain? I think Bessie is a really bad influence. When no one is looking, she gets all painted up and then looks for ways to get out of the fence. I think she's headed for trouble.

I hope all the horses are okay. The blind ones in the paddock next to us were nice, especially the really old girl who speaks "cow." I don't miss the "minis," though. They were mean to us and called us names through the fence. I told them that one of these days, I am going to grow up to be twice as big as they are, then I am going to come back over there and butt their little equine behinds so hard they won't land until they reach Mecklenburg. I am cow. Hear me roar. The little creeps.

I have observed some troubling developments in the economy lately. The GDP has declined sharply, the unemployment rate is still rising and we appear to be headed into a protracted recession. This is a good time for you to invest in bonds, buy undervalued stocks, keep your money in interest-bearing money market accounts and diversify your portfolio. Also, I think you should buy lots of molasses cookies and send them over, wrapped in plain brown paper and labelled "For Penny Only."

Well, that's about all I can think of for now. I have to go tidy up my resume in case milk prices continue on their present downward slide. I'm thinking about working in the alcoholic beverage industry, which tends to be relatively recession-proof.

Love,

Penny