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

@BaconsLaw haven't read all
replies but I think I know why he thought this...back in the day there was pet food that was Good Boy was the name for dog food and Good Girls for cat food

@EveryPlanetHasAYorkshire

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

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?

Cows actually eat a lot of insects and worms. So do sheep and basically any livestock herbivore. It is thought that this accidental aspect of their diet is necessary for their health in terms of regulating the digestive system and for the provision of trace nutrients.

Pigs are also very fussy eaters, contrary to popular belief, though one can often con them with a plentiful supply of custard creams.

"Your answer wasn't actually that correct. The majority of a farm cows food will be soya. Cheap reliable protein."

In the uk they are in fields all day, constantly eating grass.

That's where the term "chewing the cud" comes from. They are chewing grass. There stand there doing it all day.

@Orchidsindoors the vast majority of cattle in the world aren't in the UK and even in the UK grass-fed is not guaranteed. Most cows in the world live on intensive factory farms where they don't see the outside world let alone grass. A lovely practice we are increasingly adopting. Farming is a very nasty business globally.

In the uk they are in fields all day, constantly eating grass
Except the ones you don't see which are raised in industrial scale beef farms, many of which have no access to pasture. A cause of animal welfare concern to those who disagree with the practice.
And the diet of cows who are predominently fed grass is routinely supplemented with other foods.

@Orchidsindoors

That's where the term "chewing the cud" comes from. They are chewing grass. There stand there doing it all day.

Not strictly correct. The cud isn’t just a mouthful of grass that they’ve just acquired, it’s a partially ruminated and regurgitated ball of grass that they’re chewing some more before swallowing fully to digest completely. And not all cows are out in the field in the U.K.- ours aren’t!

I have never eaten meat that tastes of custard creams, but with bacon as a non-smoker I always prefer unsmoked bacon. The thought of pigs walking around with a Silk Cut hanging out of their mouths just to flavour our meat is a bit too much for me.

@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.

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

He's not one of those people (usually bimbo girls though) that think it's cute and funny to pretend they are thick as fuck is he?

Has nobody heard the nursery rhyme Little Bo Peep? Last line “dragging their tails behind them”.

I convinced my DH that it was one shep, two sheep, three sheep etc.

For 20! Years.

Had a bugger of a time trying to prove it is really just ‘sheep,’ no matter how many there are.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar

It's not advisable to let dogs eat whole plums. If they eat a plum stone it could cause a digestive obstruction, which will be an expensive trip to the vets. Plums are also high on sugar so it's not a good idea to plot them eat plums to their hearts content.

@BaconsLaw

My husband grew up thinking dogs were male and cats were female.

Hahahahahahahaha this is the best thing I have EVER read on MN !!!

You do know that cows stand eating grass all day?! They might give them a top up in the winter of hay, generally its grass all the way.

You think the nice farmer lets the cute cows have a lovely life standing eating grass all day. Erm...no.

Except the ones you don't see which are raised in industrial scale beef farms What do you actually know about this? Do you farm?

@user127819

*Ex 2: How Do! babies hold on when they breast feed??

I don't think this is such a ridiculous question from a man (or even a woman who hasn't had children).

Yeah but he actually thought they could climb up your body with their tiny hands and just sort of sucker on to your nipple dangling off. He was surprised you had to hold them. He wanted to know how they were that strong, when their finger sucker disappeared and how they got your bra off. Wish I was lying. Definitely did not reproduce.

This is where I see the dubious benefits of being a lifelong listener to The Archers. There was a major storyline a few years ago when a large agricultural company invested in a megadairy on the outskirts of the village where cows would be indoors all the time. Now replaced by an intensive pig farm where the pigs are indoors all the time. Most of the livestock in Ambridge are out in the fields most of the time.

@August20

Reminds me of (Link opens to youtube).

🤣🤣🤣 I was in the audience for this!

@Trisolaris

I think I’ve got you all beat. . . My dp thought that dinosaurs and Neanderthals lived at the same time.

This is why watching The Flintstones does not count as Home Educating.

I'm actually crying laughing reading this

Yeah but he actually thought they could climb up your body with their tiny hands and just sort of sucker on to your nipple dangling off.

There is actually a phenomenon called the 'breast crawl'; placed on its mother's abdomen, a newborn is instinctively able to crawl to her breast and latch, so he's not a million miles away from the truth.

Thanks, blackamericano got it now! I was getting confused between there being a side that we never see, and a side that the sun never sees. Thanks for highlighting that, I would have gone through life thinking dark side meant no sun.