The Secret Life of Cows"Within a day of receiving this book, I had consumed it... Absorbing, moving, and compulsively readable."—Lydia Davis In this affectionate, heart-warming chronicle, Rosamund Young distills a lifetime of organic farming wisdom, describing the surprising personalities of her cows and other animals At her famous Kite's Nest Farm in Worcestershire, England, the cows (as well as sheep, hens, and pigs) all roam free. They make their own choices about rearing, grazing, and housing. Left to be themselves, the cows exhibit temperaments and interests as diverse as our own. "Fat Hat" prefers men to women; "Chippy Minton" refuses to sleep with muddy legs and always reports to the barn for grooming before bed; "Jake" has a thing for sniffing the carbon monoxide fumes of the Land Rover exhaust pipe; and "Gemima" greets all humans with an angry shake of the head and is fiercely independent. An organic farmer for decades, Young has an unaffected and homely voice. Her prose brims with genuine devotion to the wellbeing of animals. Most of us never apprehend the various inner lives animals possess, least of all those that we might eat. But Young has spent countless hours observing how these creatures love, play games, and form life-long friendships. She imparts hard-won wisdom about the both moral and real-world benefits of organic farming. (If preserving the dignity of animals isn't a good enough reason for you, consider how badly factory farming stunts the growth of animals, producing unhealthy and tasteless food.) This gorgeously-illustrated book, which includes an original introduction by the legendary British playwright Alan Bennett, is the summation of a life's work, and a delightful and moving tribute to the deep richness of animal sentience. |
Contents
A little bit about ingenuity | |
A brief note about sleep | |
Fat Hat II | |
Difficult calvings cows are never wrong | |
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allowed Amelia apples Araminta Audrey barn became Beef Shorthorn Black Black Hat bovine calf calves cattle Charlotte Charolais choose clever Cocoa cold comfortable cows and calves daughter decided diet Dizzy Dolly drink eat hay factory farming farm animals Fat Hat II feed field friends friendship gate gentle Gloucester grass grazing Grey Hen grooming happy hedge heifer herd homeopathy house cows human individuals intelligent Jake Jane Jane Eyre Kite’s Nest knew lambs Land Rover later learned licked Little Dorothy lives look milk Miss Bumble months old mooing mother never night Nuffield once Penguin Piggy pigs playing Pritchard realised reared recognise RED RUM Roan Bonnet Rosamund Young round seemed sheep sleep sometimes soon stare stinging nettles suckle Sunday roast Sybil took tree turned Twenty things twins walk watched weather weeks Welsh Black winter Worcestershire yards