8 July 2022
The cow's day of honour
From the perspective of an Aiderbichler
Written by Gisela Pschenitschnig
I will never forget a guided tour in Henndorfwhere a little girl took me by the hand during the tour. She hung on my every word and didn’t want to understand why they “eat the beautiful cows”. A few years later, she visited the animals at Gut Aiderbichl again and said: “Do you remember me? I was on your tour with my grandparents and you talked about the cows and pigs. I decided then that I would never eat meat again in my life!”.
The cow is clever and remembers the voices of her humans
Nature doesn’t “do” stupid things – everything has a purpose. Cows are intelligent and extremely social animals and are also revered in many cultures. In some cases, owning a cow is believed to be the oldest form of wealth. They are definitely getting rich, the multi-billion dollar industries based on cattle farming.
Long gone are the days when a farmer still had three cows in his barn. He fed his family with their milk and every two to three years a cow was slaughtered on the farm. Today, a “turbo dairy cow” lives to be 5 years old at the most and then the calves and therefore the milk yield are over. The last road leads to the slaughterhouse.
The pain of separation after calving
Immediately after calving, the majority of calves are separated from their mothers. Calves without a mum to cuddle and suckle are nervous, make more noises or stick their heads out of the barn in search of food. In large barns, the bond between the cow and her calf lasts a few days at most, then the animals are separated. Many of the calves are reared in the igloo and then sent to slaughter after a few weeks.
Our Ruby came with quadruplets to Henndorfand really got to know the four calves here. Baba came to us with her slightly impaired calf Lotte. These two wonderful cow families prove to us just how much love and good behaviour cows are capable of.
Ferdinand with the five legs and his friend Gustl
Little Ferdinand, who we took in with five legs, and his best friend Gustl have now been at Gut Aiderbichl Henndorffor about three months. The fifth leg on Ferdinand’s cervical spine was surgically removed. His and his friend Gustl’s horns are growing and will soon have reached three to four centimetres. Of course, we won’t have them burnt off because we have learnt how important the horns are for the cattle: for orientation, for regulating heat in the body, for fighting and also for gas digestion in the cattle’s body.
It's not about a sentimental cuddly animal mentality
How many times have I wanted to overtake a “live animal transporter”, stop it and let all the calves go free? Whether calf, cow or bull – cattle are highly sensitive and intelligent and roar and defend themselves when they approach the slaughterhouse because they can smell what’s coming. Consumers should rethink and not exploit and “burn” cattle as mass-produced goods.
I look forward to the next guided tour with you to our calves Ferdinand and Gust.
Sincerely,
Ihre Gisela
