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When I was a kid our cat had kittens. One day one of the kittens was not to be found and the cat started searching, emitting a particular meow. It was like the kitten had a name (or identifying sound) and mom cat was calling for it. Kitten eventually was found, IIRC. Don’t remember ever hearing the cat making the same meow again.

Stoaty, did you see those micro cattle? I think might complete your little farm.

This reminds me of a movie, Temple Grandin, had Claire Danes in the titular role & was (is?) available on Amazon Prime. Pretty good flick (coming from someone who never watches stuff like this).

Apparently she was all about making cattle happy & contented during their life, and then knocking their brains out and making steaks. One of the points was, it can be cheaper, easier, and yield better quality meat to raise and process animals that aren’t constantly having their survival instincts activated.

Did the study mention if it was funded by the US government?
Or do we only fund studies for non binary gender cows and their behaviors in non binary gender cow bars in Argentina?

Actually, dangerous path, we’re going to discover animals do actually have feelings (say it’s not so!) and really don’t want to be sausage.

The old ‘life goes on, animals is for eatin’ philosophy is long since replaced with the “animals are people and food comes from the grocery store” culture.

Just wait till they can meter the response a head of lettuce has as it’s being cut from the stalk.

The neighbors across the road recently put two Holstein drop calf steers in to graze a front paddock. They bawled for a few days and was pretty heartrending. However since I’m buying beef from the neighbor, I calls them T-bone and Sirloin.

I’m afraid the only way you can get 100% guilt free chicken is to buy locally from a farm that keeps and harvests them humanly. The lady I buy eggs from also sells 14 wk old Cornish Cross pullets for meat, you can buy them alive or they will process them if you order a dozen. Like eggs, they taste sooo much better than store bought.

@Durned I can attest to the fact that when harvesting a carrot patch the first few come out really easy, the rest not quite so. Coincidence?

@BJM – we could wait and get funding, or you could try the next harvest starting from the center to see if the patch itself is the difference.

I’d try it, but I’ve NEVER been able to grow, well, pretty much anything except Cilantro, and weeds.

@Durned: Our valley has sandy alluvial soils chock full ‘o rocks and pebbles. I tried raised beds and the gophers ate the ends that grew through the gopher wire and/or the wire stopped normal growth. So after a few seasons of gnawed stubby, forked and crooked carrots I grow them in 40 gal food grade tubs, the kind used for feeding horses, the soil is loose & fluffy and I was kidding. ;>)