Stress free animals

I had no intentions of writing this, but then I read an article on stress and livestock.  I was going through some old pictures of when we first got started, and we could NOT believe the difference in our animals from when we first got them to now.  We give all our cows names.  The guineas don't have names, and the chicks don't have names, but probably will someday.  Beef cattle are given generic names that are reused for emotional reasons.  All other animals are named out of respect, telling them apart, and it is required for registration.  I had a customer ask us why we named our animals.  He found it as odd to name them as we did not to.  The article also mentioned that animals named and talked to and treated as more than lawn ornaments produce better.  I believe it.

Here is Fargo now.

 For those not in the know, he's a GOOD looking bull!  He would win prizes for sure, but I refuse to put a ring in, and regulations require one on bulls.  I understand why and don't dispute that, but I can't do it to Fargo.  That's Booger to the front/left, and Betsy is the black one behind him.

Here is Fargo when we first got him.

 The big one is Betsy, and the little one is Booger.  We figured he must have been younger than we thought.  We checked his papers, he was over a year old when we got him.  He looks like a tiny little thing, like a calf.  Arlis refused to believe is was him.  Then I showed him more.

Here's Betsy when we first got her.

 Skin and bone.  Here she is just a year or less later.

 Not the best picture, but you can see that our cows are NOT skin and bone now.

When we looked through, we wondered what on earth do we do differently?  We don't grain feed or supplement or anything.  But Arlis works with them every day, and I used to.  They are respected and loved, that's all.

I've also noticed the chickens were fatter, laid more, and healthier looking when I was at home.  I spent the time with the birds the way Arlis does with the cows.  There must be something to it.  Less stress also makes better meat because of less adrenaline.  One we raised from birth was FAR better in taste and texture than one we bought as a calf.  Just another reason to buy from the right places.