DH asked me what do cows eat. AIBU to divorce him immediately?

[TheIckabog]

We were watching a program about a fancy hotel where they have their own cows. There was a clip of the cows being hand fed apples.

DH exclaimed in surprise ‘I didn’t know cows eat apples!’ He then paused and said, ‘What DO cows eat?’ whilst looking genuinely puzzled.

I said to him what do you think they do all day in the fields? They eat grass/hay etc, how do you not know this? DH then shrugged and said he’d never really thought about it.

He is a well educated intelligent man in his 40s. We also grew up/live in a place where dairy production accounts for a large percent of the export, so it’s not like he’s never seen a cow in a field or on a farm before.

I am aghast. AIBU to divorce him immediately? I really can’t see any other option to be honest

Sheep have naturally long tails but if left long they get dirty with poo and flies lay eggs on them causing maggots. The maggots will eat down to the flesh and will travel up to the back and underneath of the sheep and basically eat them alive. So a very tight elastic band is put round their tails when they are a few days old so the end falls off. The farmers (by law) always make sure the tails are still long enough to cover their 'bits'.

Our cows quite like potatoes, carrots and parsnips as a treat but they mainly eat grass, either in the field in summer or as silage in winter.

Our breeding cattle don't get fed anything else. Our 'store' cattle get some concentrate feed in the few weeks before we sell them.

@hadtojoin

Sheep have naturally long tails but if left long they get dirty with poo and flies lay eggs on them causing maggots. The maggots will eat down to the flesh and will travel up to the back and underneath of the sheep and basically eat them alive. So a very tight elastic band is put round their tails when they are a few days old so the end falls off. The farmers (by law) always make sure the tails are still long enough to cover their 'bits'.

Actually for hill sheep breeds it's customary to leave the tails undocked, mostly because the risk of fly strike is less anyway at higher altitudes.

Sheep have naturally long tails but if left long they get dirty with poo and flies lay eggs on them causing maggots. We've had some fly strike cases this week. Bloody horrible. I love brushing out maggots

@ThickFast

Re cows, can everyone just agree that some cows spend some of their time out doors eating grass,and be done with it?

I’m on board with this

DH thought babies didn't open their eyes for 6 weeks, our DDs are 18 and 22 now and he's still not totally convinced he's wrong.

My DP thought that 2 in the evening was an appropriate way to describe 14:00pm

Whereas you find it perfectly appropriate to add pm to a time given using the 24-hour clock. 🤦‍♀️

@Seeleyboo

Dated and subsequently dumped a bloke who said Champagne was made from apples.

I can hardly speak now! I'd like to see him say that to a French person.

Lweji

Bedwetter, are you?

It could be much worse than ignorance about cows. He could be a flat earth advocate, for example.

@NoParticularPattern

Hang on what? Since when don’t they? I mean I’m pretty sure that’s how it works since we are dairy farmers so probably know? Obviously doesn’t have to be just fresh grass or even grass at all (grain, cake- not cake cake, pelleted feed cake) but whatever they eat does make the milk?

Not sure if you're taking the piss but no, cows don't make milk as a result of eating grass. They make milk for the exact same reason humans and all other mammals do...to feed their young and they need to give birth to produce milk.

www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/dairy-cows/

I get how the average person on the street might not know this (even though when you think about it it's kind of obvious given that cows are mammals) but not sure how a dairy farmer doesn't know this

[quote RiteAid]@NoParticularPattern I expect she means that they produce milk to feed their calves, not as a ‘result’ of eating grass. Just like human mothers turn food into milk when breastfeeding their babies, but producing breast milk isn’t the consequence of eating food - it’s the consequence of going through pregnancy and having a baby to feed.[/quote]
Did I misunderstand what that poster was saying? I did think it was strange that a dairy farmer wouldn't know why cows make milk.

[quote derxa]ust as long as he doesn't think cows make milk as a result of eating grass
Of course they have to give birth first but how else would they produce milk if they were not fed and watered. They're mammals just like you.
www.cafre.ac.uk/2020/04/making-use-of-grass-for-cost-effective-milk-production/[/quote]
Well obviously. Buy he thought that they made milk as a result of eating grass. He didn't know they had to give birth first and didn't believe me when I told them they did. That's the point.

*But

Not sure if you're taking the piss but no, cows don't make milk as a result of eating grass. They make milk for the exact same reason humans and all other mammals do...to feed their young and they need to give birth to produce milk. She doesn't mean that she doesn't know that the cow has to give birth for her to lactate. Farmers feed their cows to optimise milk production. Milk production is dependant on good nutrition hence feed making milk. I haven't explained it well but I know exactly what the poster means.

@derxa

Not sure if you're taking the piss but no, cows don't make milk as a result of eating grass. They make milk for the exact same reason humans and all other mammals do...to feed their young and they need to give birth to produce milk. She doesn't mean that she doesn't know that the cow has to give birth for her to lactate. Farmers feed their cows to optimise milk production. Milk production is dependant on good nutrition hence feed making milk. I haven't explained it well but I know exactly what the poster means.

But obviously cows need to eat. Otherwise they starve to death. But that's not what I meant in my post at 11:38:27...I meant that he didn't realise cows needed to give birth to produce milk and that it was all a result of grass eating.

Maybe I didn't make my original post clear enough .

I will try again:

Just as long as he doesn't think cows don't have to give birth and make milk as a result of eating grass...yes I have actually met a grown man who believed this.

You can’t eat star of abuse? I’ve been eating it.

I meant that he didn't realise cows needed to give birth to produce milk and that it was all a result of grass eating.

So did he think that if cows didn’t eat grass they wouldn’t make milk?

One thing I’ve heard said that might have lead to this thinking is that grass is abundant but humans can’t processes it, so cows are in a sense a means of processing grass into a form that humans can eat, milk and meat.

Star of abuse? Star of anise, I mean.

@FlamingoAndJohn

I meant that he didn't realise cows needed to give birth to produce milk and that it was all a result of grass eating.

So did he think that if cows didn’t eat grass they wouldn’t make milk?

One thing I’ve heard said that might have lead to this thinking is that grass is abundant but humans can’t processes it, so cows are in a sense a means of processing grass into a form that humans can eat, milk and meat.

To be honest, I'm not sure. He was just convinced that cows were different to other mammals and didn't need to give birth to make milk and their milk production was entirely down to eating grass and nothing else.

Sorry that last bit wasn't very clear again.

The nothing else at the end was to drive home the point that he thought they didn't need to give birth.

@serenada

Star of abuse? Star of anise, I mean.

This thread is never ending joy 🤣

I am autistic. Communication is not my strong point .

I am worse in real life .