Cows And Ice Cream
Strawberry, chocolate or vanilla? That is the question faced by cows on a farm in Victoria, Australia, according to All About Feed.
Farmer Ross Sheppard uses ice cream, and other excess products from local confectionary manufactures, to boost the energy content of the brewer's grain ration he uses for stock feed. Mr. Sheppard reportedly checked with a veterinarian and an animal health nutritionist before proceeding. As to the cows, “They love it but I think it makes them appear a little drunk and I was told it was the essences in the ice cream fermenting in the storage tank and it
wouldn't do them any harm as long as they didn't get too much.” Hope so too, so the herd doesn’t get too much of a good thing.
Stored in a special 25 000 litre cooling tank, cows are currently fed two litres of ice cream daily. And their favourite flavour? Chocolate.
Milk: Nature’s Power Fuel
After exercising at home, in the gym, in the sports hall, or in the forest, drinking milk could be one of the best ways to help you recover.
According to recent work done by Kevin Tipton and an international team of researchers, 2.5 decilitres of milk is enough to get the body’s protein balance back to positive after working out in gym. Their article titled “Net muscle protein synthesis is stimulated by milk ingestion during recovery from resistance exercise,” is one of many studies to recommend milk as a recovery drink.
The Swedish Dairy Association recommends 3 decilitres of milk after training, plus some raisins, to optimise recovery time. A non-industry source, the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC), also recommends milk (14 times in 16 pages) in the diet of elite athletes. Globally, dairy-based sports beverages are part of a fast-growing niche category. And the key to success? Milk inside. Nature’s very own power fuel
The Moose Milk Cure
If you feel unwell, a visit to the Ivan Susanin Sanitorium could be the answer. This place, close to Kostroma in Russia, is not your regular medical facility or health resort. All Ivan Susanin residents are served daily with moose milk. Moose milk is believed to help people recover from disease and manage chronic illness more effectively. The moose milk cure is especially targeted at adults with stomach ulcers and children with digestive disorders.
As to the science, the main explanation is the effect of a high level of enzyme (lysozyme) activity. Compared to cow's milk, moose milk also has a higher fat (10%) and protein (8%) content, and much higher levels of aluminium, iron, selenium, and zinc.
The bad news is that moose are relatively low yielding and hard to find.
Cow Power TV
Methane digestors have never generated as much interest as they do today. And even if television presenters are not comfortable handling manure, a recent item on NBC Today shows how Cow Power from methane can fully capture the imagination. A reporter from the show visited Joseph Gallo Farms in Atwater, California, where manure from 5 000 dairy cows produces 80% of the energy needed to run the farm’s cheese factory.
The manure digester is a 2.8 hectare anaerobic covered lagoon which generates bio-gas, which in turn is piped to two power generators. Heat from the generators is also recovered and used to warm up water.
Cow power still has an eccentric ring to it. Yet with environmental sustainability at the top of the agenda, and with estimated energy savings of US$1 000 per day for the farm owners, the real business potential does not appear to be that bad.
Body Language
Do you really understand what your cows are telling you? Cow comfort is the topic of a recent article in Hoard’s Dairymen, authored by Dutch veterinarian Jan Hulsen, a true expert in the field.
Mr. Hulsen asks those straightforward questions regarding cow behaviour: What do I see? How does this come about? What does this mean? And then makes some more specific points to train the eye; for example, can you see a cow hesitating in an I-Want-To Movement? This hesitation may represent a simple obstacle to free and natural behaviour, such as the feed table being set too low, or the water trough too high.
Although time pressures may limit the number of observations, the benefits of continuously training the eye to read cow (dis)comfort signals are significant. An experienced eye will take you far, whatever your profession – or species!
Camelbert
The Rajasthan Dairy Cooperative Federation is working hard to market dairy products. From camel milk. The Indian co-operative is promoting camel milk as suitable to fight diabetes and as a delicious ice cream. And reports suggest that YouTube has an array of videos for the camel enthusiast.
In August 2006, the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) suggested that camel milk could be the next big thing in dairy. Camel milk is lower in fat and lactose than cow’s milk, while higher in potassium, iron and vitamin C. There are, however, a few hurdles to overcome before this next big thing becomes big. The present annual global supply, of approximately 1.5 million tons, is already insufficient to meet demand, primarily from the Middle East. Camels are also hard to milk without the presence of a calf and, probably, a tall milker.
Regional Cow Dialects
What noise do your cows make? English dairy farmer Lloyd Green has suggested that his cows moo in a specific regional dialect, according to the BBC.
Although little scientific research is available on the subject, to verify Mr. Green’s claims, there are recorded observations of dialects among birds. John Wells, Professor of Phonetics at the University of London, comments, "This phenomenon is well attested in birds. You find distinct chirping accents in the same species around the country.”
The Swedish Dairy Association takes up the subject of cow dialects in a recent article. Although light-hearted in tone, one area of support comes from the way different nationalities interpret the sounds cows make. The article notes that while most say moo or something similar to their children, Bengali cows say “hamba”.
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