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

And you can insist that they’re not mothers and not babies as much as you want to make yourself feel better and help you believe that they’re simply there for you to use as you wish 👍

@MsWonderful

You surely can’t pretend to be heartbroken about a lamb dying if you send animals off to be killed or use animals for your own gain all the time Yes this is what I couldn’t understand about the foot and mouth thing...but you were going to kill them anyway at some point. But I suppose we all have cognitive dissonance about different things in our lives. I know I do.

So because something is always going to die we should never be upset at it dying before it’s time? I take a massive amount of pride in our end product. It’s the reason why I’m willing to go out in any and all weathers to do the work that is required to keep everything happy and healthy. The same applies for most other farmers I should hope. That end product is what we spend every single day working towards, then a disease turns up and you have to cull your entire herd/flock before the point where you get to see your hard work come to fruition? Yeah you’re damned right I’d be upset. I’d be even more upset if I was one of the many taken out in a firebreak cull zone to try to stop the spread even though my animals were healthy. Huge numbers of the animals killed were perfectly healthy. No amount of “generous” compensation would retrieve the now lost bloodlines, the years of hard work you’ve put in to your stock and your product only to see none of it come to fruition. Yeah sure you’d probably get the price you were always getting for them in compensation, but I think you can probably ask any farmer in the U.K. if the price they get is worth their effort and the answer is likely no. It certainly isn’t with us- yes it pays the bills but we don’t earn even minimum wage when you consider the hours we put in. We do it because we love our way of life and we are proud to look after our animals and produce a high quality end product. I think it’s perfectly understandable why someone would be upset in that situation.

And of course it’s your prerogative to refuse to believe that. What you don’t get to do is outright call me a liar when I know for absolute certain that you have no first hand experience of our farm or our animals which would be the only possible way you could ever have any basis to call me a liar.

I do get to call you a liar because what you are saying is lies. Your farm isn’t special. The cows and calves will cry.

And they’re not babies. They’re calves as in the offspring of cows, not babies as in human offspring. You can call them mothers and babies all you like, it doesn’t make them human anywhere other than your head.

Just my own terms for them. Quite telling that it bothers you so much though. Non humans feel pain too.

I think it’s perfectly understandable why someone would be upset in that situation.

Nope. Still makes no sense to me at all.

So because something is always going to die we should never be upset at it dying before it’s time?

All farm animals are killed before their time.

The average lifespan of a hen is 5-10 years, they are slaughtered for meat at 6-8 weeks old.

The average lifespan of a cow is 18-22 years, they are slaughtered at 1-2 years for beef cows. Male dairy calves may he slaughtered at birth, or if they got for veal then at a few months.

All farm animals are killed before their time.

Ha ha. As long as the farmer has chosen to kill it, it’s all fair and good. If it dies before the farmer has had chance to fully exploit it and make money, then we should all feel sympathy for the ‘poor farmer’. Bollocks to that.

@MereDintofPandiculation

My Mum also thought that you should put butter on burns That used to be the standard way of treating burns. Until it was worked out that it was a bad idea.

Oops! Dangers of skim-reading! I thought that said peanut butter rather than just butter! Mainly because I'm thinking of peanut butter on toast I think! 😁

@ClaraJude

So because something is always going to die we should never be upset at it dying before it’s time?

All farm animals are killed before their time.

The average lifespan of a hen is 5-10 years, they are slaughtered for meat at 6-8 weeks old.

The average lifespan of a cow is 18-22 years, they are slaughtered at 1-2 years for beef cows. Male dairy calves may he slaughtered at birth, or if they got for veal then at a few months.

But there is no such thing as a natural farm. Farming explicitly means that the animals and crops are domesticated. There can be no such thing as a natural lifespan for something that can't exist outside of a manmade environment.

If all farm animals were released chickens would last days, dairy cattle till either winter or till the water ran out, sheep maybe months, pigs depending on food source. No chicken ever lived to 10 without a huge amount of intervention from humans - that could be many things, but natural it ain't.

Daftasabroom

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you are just a bit ignorant on the subject but I’m not so sure. 🤔

There’s just so much I could say in response to your post but I’m not even sure where I’d start

But there is no such thing as a natural farm. Farming explicitly means that the animals and crops are domesticated. There can be no such thing as a natural lifespan for something that can't exist outside of a manmade environment.

I do understand where you’re coming from. I get that cows have been selectively bred to produce far more milk than a calf can consume, meaning if they aren’t milked they are at risk of things like mastitis. I know that hens have been selectively bred to produce 30 times more eggs than their wild counterparts, meaning they’re likely to die prematurely from reproductive cancers. I understand that sheep have been selectively bred to produce such an excess of fleece that if they aren’t shorn, they will die of heat exhaustion. I know that these animals now require human intervention to survive.

What I don’t understand is an argument that suggests this human intervention somehow makes it ethical to continue to breed on a huge scale these virtually deformed Frankenstein animals only to kill them years before they would naturally die because we want to use their products and their bodies, all the while causing vast destruction to the environment.

Breeding something just to kill it is wrong, in my opinion. I can’t accept any moral justification for it. Even before I consider the fact that the cost to the environment is simply too high, it seems inherently immoral to me. And the fact that these poor animals would likely die young anyway because we have engineered them to produce more of what we like at the expense of their health and wellbeing doesn’t change that.

OK that's me out. She(?) is totally bonkers and utterly unwilling to see any nuance.

Breeding something just to kill it is wrong, in my opinion.

Not just to kill it. To provide food.

Arguably a better reason to breed living beings than pets and humans.

Not just to kill it. To provide food.

We don’t need to eat animals to survive. So really it’s breeding them to kill them because we like the flavour. It’s not really a morally justifiable stance, is it?

I agree that animals should also not be bred for pets. We don’t ‘breed’ humans so not sure what the relevance of that is.

@Marshmallow91 that made me laugh far too much

It’s not really a morally justifiable stance, is it?

It’s not, not for me anyway. Some people’s morals fit whatever they want to do though.

@queenoftoast my DH still refers to towels as cloths and can't tell the difference between the two. After 12 years of trying I believe it is utterly hopeless for him to know the difference now.

Also, driving through the forest yesterday, I saw a load of sheep with tails and was completely shocked! I think it was the first time I've ever noticed/realised!

I agree that animals should also not be bred for pets. We don’t ‘breed’ humans so not sure what the relevance of that is.

But we now have a surplus of cats and dogs (and kittens and puppies) in rescue centres waiting for loving homes. Maybe animals shouldn't be bred as pets, but it would be even more immoral not to find homes for these animals.

Wonder why some people don't like vegans!

But we now have a surplus of cats and dogs (and kittens and puppies) in rescue centres waiting for loving homes. Maybe animals shouldn't be bred as pets, but it would be even more immoral not to find homes for these animals.

Absolutely. I think rescuing pets is fine, but breeding pets is not a good thing - especially when, as you say, so many are unwanted in shelters.

I’d like to point out that I’m vegetarian but I’d never ask farmers to stop or argue the toss. I just don’t eat meat.
I make my choice and others make theirs.
Please don’t assume all vegans and vegetarians are the same.

We don’t need to eat animals to survive. So really it’s breeding them to kill them because we like the flavour. It’s not really a morally justifiable stance, is it?

Although we strictly don't need, meat is important for a balanced diet. Vegans have to take extra care to acquire nutrients that meat provides, and sometimes supplements.

For example, iron is absorbed better from meat or animal products.

@Lweji true. I do consider it a small price to pay, however. All I really do is eat lots of leafy green veg. I’m currently pregnant so have my iron checked regularly and my midwife says my levels are perfect

@BadTattoosAndSmellLikeBooze

And of course it’s your prerogative to refuse to believe that. What you don’t get to do is outright call me a liar when I know for absolute certain that you have no first hand experience of our farm or our animals which would be the only possible way you could ever have any basis to call me a liar.

I do get to call you a liar because what you are saying is lies. Your farm isn’t special. The cows and calves will cry.

And they’re not babies. They’re calves as in the offspring of cows, not babies as in human offspring. You can call them mothers and babies all you like, it doesn’t make them human anywhere other than your head.

Just my own terms for them. Quite telling that it bothers you so much though. Non humans feel pain too.

Jesus. I mean I know I’m never going to win over any vegans because I’m a cow raping, calf murdering, heartless bastard who exists only to rape and pillage any and all land and animals in order to make piles and piles of cash. But come on! Are you just being goady for the hell of it or do you not notice it now it’s happened for so long? You are allowed to say you don’t believe me. You are allowed to say you think I’m lying. You don’t get to outright tell me that I am when you have absolutely no idea if that is the case or not. You know what they say you do when you assume anything don’t you?

Have a nice evening chaps. I’m off to abuse some more animals just to piss the vegans off before having a super nights sleep in my ivory tower built from the remains of my victims!

Lol at dogs = male and cats = female . When I was little I also thought that 😀

Lol at dogs = male and cats = female . When I was little I also thought that 😀