Farmers

I bought 'The Cow book' as a Fathers Day present, well kind of. My Father is dead , it was for boyfriend who minds my daughter like his own. He's not a  reader but I thought he might appreciate the sentiment of it. He actually prefered the 'Who gives a crap toilet roll. Saving the World one toilet at a time and his bottle of whiskey. I'm reading it now. And I think I'm jelouse that he wrote a book about time on his parents farm. I grew up on a farm but could not write how he does about the life and death on it or the personality struggles between him and his family. I'm too guarded to be that honest and deal with the fall out.
He reminds of Penelope Trunks descriptions from her ex husbands farm. she talks of  'being shipped' or 'going to market' as being euphenusism for slaughter. And killing her cat as he kept eating the other cats food that was making him ill instead of the expensive medicated one they bought. He kept getting sicker so she decided it was better to euthanase him. Ditto with the goat that had feet problems which would take far too much mantainence and might still leave him lame.John states it clearly that they will all end up in the food chain. That is why there are so many cows , who knows they might even be extinct if we didn't breed and tend to them? They are an expensive pet as they require tonnes of feed , gallons of water ,dosing, tagging etc. In Ireland many do still get to graze the fields but quite alot are fed by zero graze. the grass is mown and lifted into the shed to the cows. The cows don't trample the grass and you don't have to walk the cows in to be milked.I do very little farm work . I used to stand in gaps etc whem moving animals . It can be stressfull, farmers are tense that they will break . If they do get past you it isn't fun trying to gather them again.
I have seen calves ad lambs beng born. Most alivea nd cesareans performed by the vet. I don't remeber being particulary squemish about it.