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Clan Culture expansion for WindClan on dealing with cows when???/jk though throwing out to the crowd that WindClan's moorland territory usually borders multiple farms (and the forest territories have every Clan pass through them to get to the Moonstone) there is So Much Potential for rumor, legend, and WILD misinterpretation for the cats wondering what cows are. Perhaps linked with the Rouge of Rot story, the touch of Twoleg taint makes the black-and-white ones forever starving, rotting inside..

ADMITTEDLY, I haven't put nearly as much thought into having cows present in either the Lake or Forest territories as you'd have expected. This is because I am actually not super familiar with conservation grazing revolving around cattle yet.

Re: Moorland is a managed biome which requires burns and/or grazing to maintain.

In my research, I found that specific animals are deployed to accomplish certain tasks. Cows and pigs are considered more "intense" than sheep, and risk turning the moor into grassland. So, I backed off and focused more on sheep.

That said...

I visited Elan Valley recently, and they are actually beginning a conservation grazing program using highland cattle. In the three hours I spent eith an expert asking questions, I barely scratched the surface of learning about all the different ways that livestock animals impact the environment.

I walked away from that realizing that I need to get more educated on what ALL the livestock animals contribute to British ecosystems. For example-- logging using horses leaves scores in the ground that mining bees use for habitat. Cattle are more effective browsers than sheep, so they're probably more suited to sparse woodland grazing.

SO, livestock in BB are under active construction right now. I have a lot to learn.

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Hey, I saw your post about Holstein cows and your knowledge about cows seems enciclopedical for someone who doesn't know shit about them like me. I was kind of wondering if you have an opinion about nelore cows. They are the most popular breed in my country, and I wanted to know more about them👉🏻👈🏻

YOU 🫵 are going to BRAZIL 🇧🇷

The Nelore is an absolutely outstanding cow. Able to withstand extreme heat, thick-skinned and insect resistant, intelligent yet easy to handle, it's hard to find a better beef breed for a humid, tropical environment.

Naturally, it's become popular all across South America, but the Nelore is the pride and joy of Brazil. Bred from a breed of zebuine cattle called the Ongole, the quality of the Nelore is what makes Brazil SUCH a powerhouse in meat production, globally. In fact, they've been the NUMBER ONE exporter of beef several years in a row!

Bask in the shape of this beautiful woman.

You'll probably first be drawn to the elegant dewlap and folds. This is how the cow manages to be so tolerant of high heat; lots of skin and lots of pores makes for more surface area to cool down quickly! Even her coloration helps-- white fur reflects the sun, but black skin underneath protects her from the rays that aren't.

If you're a bit more discerning, you might also be noticing her sculpted muscles, long legs, and humble udder. Nelore are bred to be healthy and athletic above all. They can survive just fine in a pasture year-round, very rarely needing medical care-- especially not when it comes to the care of their calves!

The Texas Longhorn (a breed which was developed in feral conditions) has an unassisted calving rate of 86%. The Nelore is 95%!

Lastly... do you see those bulges on the hump and on the rump? Those make for wonderful cuts of beef; Cupim and Picanha. Cupim is unique to Brazilian cuisine, but Picanha is sometimes called sirloin cap or rump cap in English.

I also really like the fact that sometimes they have gray bag markings under their eyes, so they look kinda like tired, wrinkly grandmas.

This is Yzma, to me.

As even better news, there's been a ton of progress in terms of lessening the ecological impact of cattle grazing since Lula unseated the weird fascist whose face I don't respect. Brazil produces a downright staggering amount of beef (only slightly less than the entire USA!) on a decreasing amount of land, swapping over to a HIGHLY efficient form of sustainable farming called ICLF, or Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forestry.

It's really inspiring, if you'd like to read about people doing good things in these troubled times.

If I have any beef with Nelores, it's simply that I do also wish for there to be more room for heritage breeds like the Indu-Brasil... but also, it's hard to condemn actual efficiency and real results, unlike the horror show that's going on with Holsteins. Nelores are a fantastic breed of wonderful, happy animals with very few problems. I must love them.

...just please appreciate this droopy thing too. Bloodhound ass Snoopy cow. my heart would break if we lost the Indu-Brasil </3

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Exposing myself as a horse girl lol but the Belgian blues remind me of halter quarter horses that look like they lift 300 lbs vs an actual working line quarter horses

EURGH. Yeah you're dead on the money; that's the same myostatin mutation causing double muscling.

It's also worth noting that hypertrophic animals are not actually much stronger. Their large muscles are for show, the same way a bodybuilder on steroids is weaker than an olympic weightlifter.

=

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I've seen your discourse about holstein.

Pun not intended, but is there any other cow races you've beef with ? And what do you think of the limousine, if you've any opinion on it.

The Limousine is mid.

Solid-colored cow that used to be a great working breed that could also be good meat at the end of its life, but has been intensively bred for the past century to be nothing but food.

They're a really common meat breed in the modern day, but they're only "good" because of modern fertilizers and grain feeding. France is actually the most nature-depleted country in Europe, and the """improvement""" of breeds like the Limousine is one of the reasons why it's so bad there.

My cow endorsements are for hardy, environmentally low-impact breeds which are well adapted to the regions they live in. I also personally give points for unique traits and genes, interesting patterning, and intelligence. Limousines have none of these.

I can't hate them like I do some other breeds, though. They're healthy, grow fast, and they produce good meat. I simply don't have many good things to say about them. Lame.

A different breed I DO have beef with though? Belgian Blues.

They took a perfectly good cow with a gorgeous blue coat and turned it into something out of Akira. Through INTENSE inbreeding, a gene for double muscling has been forced into this breed, turning them into these stomach-churning FurAffinity rejects.

You may have seen them called "super cows," but I think they're more like Frankenstein's Monster. They were literally created in a lab, in the 1950s, at an artificial insemination center. Their "myostatin" gene is broken, so their skeletal muscles grow to double the size that they should be.

The good news is that, thankfully, these animals don't seem to be in any chronic pain. Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy in humans does not hurt, nor lead to secondary health problems. It's been studied in lots of animals, too, and they seem to be able to live healthy lives.

The bad news is;

They are UNABLE to give birth on their own and need c-sections to have calves.

Their necks are so stiff that bulls can have a hard time turning their heads.

Some calves are born with tongues so large they can't suckle.

The myostatin gene prevents them from developing good fat distribution, so they freeze to death easily.

Their skin is thinner than usual, too, so they're susceptible to parasites

They're bad grazers and need supplemental feed, so they have a larger impact on the environment.

Btw, as a comparison, here is what the original dual purpose Belgian Blue is supposed to look like.

We had a GOOD COW going, BELGIUM! It was BLUE! We had all the MILK AND MEAT WE NEEDED. And you just had to go and BLOW IT UP. YOU AND YOUR PRIDE AND YOUR EGO.

Luckily, modern Belgian Blues are not economically viable. The fact they need so much medical care and maintenance makes them more of a "status symbol" breed than one that will actually get adopted on a wide scale. THANKFULLY we're not working against market forces for this one.

But I think we need to go further. I think people who breed or advocate for modern Belgian Blues should have tomatoes thrown at them. I yearn for a world where every time one of those double-muscled beasts is shown at a livestock event, the audience loudly cringes.

I am pro-bullying but ONLY for Belgian Blue breeders. That is my beef.

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[ID: Ask from @storiesandsquirrels, transcribed in alt text]

also: link to Cow Lore

There's one major misconception here I've gotta correct before answering earnestly; Holsteins do need Super Duper Food. This is one of their major problems as a breed, you need to give them high quality feed for high quantity, low quality milk.

But! That said! These are valid questions that deserve real responses. In spite of the quick correction, I actually want to answer them as you phrased them because I think it would be more illuminating. I'm going to try and summarize them as I go along;

Question 1: "Why wouldn't we want to use The Most Efficient Cow?"

The simplest answer is disease. My ""prediction"" came true, and bird flu has mutated to spread extremely easily through the infected udders of Holsteins. No one has died of bovine-contracted HPAI yet, but with Brainworm Bobby and his love of raw milk in charge of the CDC...

well. my last prediction was prophetic. let's hope this one's not.

Minmaxing a breed for one specific purpose always means intensive inbreeding. Like I mentioned, 9 million Holsteins are genetically equivalent to 60 individuals. A more genetically diverse population is one that will be better at preventing disease outbreaks, and reducing their severity when they do.

And what even is the Most Efficient Milk Cow? If you're only selecting for pure milk production to drive down its cost, you get a breed of cattle that lacks every other important trait that would make it good livestock;

They get sick more often, due to inbreeding depression and lack of physical fitness, requiring more antibiotics and veterinary care.

They are bad parents who will need more human intervention to birth and raise calves

They won't be good grazers, meaning they need a specific food grown for them, increasing how much "functional" land is actually dedicated to cattle husbandry.

Their carcass won't yield as much meat, so more cattle have to be raised and slaughtered to meet demand.

Their bodies will burn out much quicker than a healthier animal, meaning you need to replace your livestock more often.

When it comes to living beings, "efficiency" is "fragility." It's not a stable system to begin with.

Even with the pure logic aside, just, step back here and look at the situation with a heart. We'd be making unhealthy, short-lived animals lacking critical instincts to lead good social lives. AND we probably haven't even fixed the "less land" problem, just shifted the land off-site.

For what? For more milk? We have SO MUCH milk we don't even know what to do with it!

Question 2: "Isn't an overabundance of cheap milk a good thing?"

no.

Under the infinite genius of Capitalism, thousands of gallons of milk just gets poured into the sewer daily because there's too much of it. Transporting it to a processor would cost more than it's worth, sometimes the processors turn milk away because they don't want to overproduce products, and even the US government can't subsidize every last drop; it still has 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in various caves and warehouses across the country.

The price of milk cannot get any lower because it's already being sold below the cost it takes to produce it, and yet, we're still here literally pouring it down the drain.

[photo from bill ulrich who photographed a farmer dumping milk back during the pandemic. this isn't even a recent photo. this happens every time there's a milk surplus. im using this photo because i like the farmer's cunty little pose. look at him. "just ain't right"core.]

And milk being dumped into the sewer is more than just wasteful. It's a biohazard.

Milk doesn't stop rotting when it's dumped. If you live downstream of a milkhouse, improper milk disposal reeks.

It's full of nutrients, too, which causes diatoms, cyanobacteria, and other types of algae to go into overdrive-- causing a Harmful Algal Bloom event in the water, or HAB.

HABs are horrific. There's HUNDREDS of different types. They can suck up oxygen and create "dead zones" which kills all aquatic life, they can poison the water supply for an entire town, and some can even cause toxic fumes that make it hard to breathe on land.

Now, listen, I don't want to scare you into never dumping out rotten milk or anything! It's that on an industrial scale, it's REALLY REALLY bad if a farm overproduces milk-- especially crummy milk that can't be made into decent cheese or other dairy products.

In fact, if we did produce milk on a smaller scale, it would be better for everyone! Unless you're a Milk Guzzling Fiend like I am, you probably wouldn't need to buy a whole gallon at a time. In countries like Italy, it's sold fresh and in smaller containers, and you're just expected to pick it up as you need it.

This is why milkmen used to exist, and still do in places that are cool; they'd deliver your supply fresh from the creamery. Less waste, less stress! The "subscription model" is actually sooooooooooo much better for milk production, since it helps to stagger out those "surges and drops" of demand that leads to milk dumps.

Question 3: "If the cow eats less, doesn't that mean less land for pasture, which is a good thing?"

There's a lot to unpack within this sentiment. It's actually based on a couple of common assumptions on a few levels, which are incorrect in fascinating ways. Challenging this means opening up your worldview on how complex keeping livestock actually is!

I'll start with the simpler part;

You could cut fresh pasture out of the equation entirely and shove a cow into a concrete pen with a food box-- but are you counting the land growing the fodder?

When you grow corn the way that we do on industrial farms in the US, it's unbelievably destructive. Unending oceans of monoculture. Fogged with pesticide, pumped full of fertilizer which causes HABs like dumped milk does, sprayed with thousands of gallons of wasted water.

When you look at this image, I need you to understand you are looking at a dead zone. Like a suburban lawn, just because it's green doesn't mean it's good. Nothing grows here but corn and pests of corn, which gets poisoned and dies without returning any of that energy to the ecosystem.

This is usually what is being given to "grain-fed cattle," either when they're sent to a feedlot to hit their slaughter weight, or when they're lactating so they need the extra nutrition. It's also so nasty it's inedible to human beings.

Now, a lot of cattle farmers will just supplement their cow's diet, doing a mix of pasture feeding (much cheaper) and grain feeding (quicker gains). But the facts on this are clear; pasture-kept cattle result in LESS emissions and need LESS total space than cows in confinement.

In fact, there were a LOT of benefits!

Overall gas emissions from the cows dropped by 8%

Ammonia pollution was down by 30%

Not needing to run farm equipment for fodder planting and harvest reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 10%

Rotated crop fields didn't sequester carbon; but the newly converted perennial grasslands store as much as 3,400 pounds per acre.

The outside cows did produce less milk volume, but the milk they did produce was higher quality. So, looking at all the benefits here, it's clear that pasture is actually something that should be embraced for ecological reasons, not rejected.

In FACT, it should be EMPHASIZED. Because, this is the mind-blowing part,

Pasture can ALSO be an ecosystem.

In fact, I'm a Warrior Cats guy who once did a deep dive on moorlands just so I could write WindClan better. There are entire biomes that only exist because of grazing, and British lowland heath is one of them!

Keeping cattle in a sustainable, ecologically sound way is going to look different depending on where in the world you're doing it. So many earnest, good-willed people have bought into the lie that humans are a problem, and that everything "associated" with us becomes a barren wasteland as if we are tainted. YOU are not the problem! The problem is, and always has been, exploitation. Unsustainable relationships with the land we're part of.

Indigenous people in Europe, Asia, and Africa have been keeping cattle for thousands of years. In North America, cattle can be used to maintain ecosystems that have been badly affected by the colonial eradication of the American Bison. In South America, Brazil specifically has been making incredible advances with highly efficient integrated crop-livestock-forestry farming.

Generally, pastures here in the US are not as intensely managed as an equivalent crop field. Some people fertilize them, or water them mid-summer, but absolutely not to the same extent as industrial corn farms. Cattle are typically rotated between pastures, allowing each to re-grow before they come back to graze again.

Obviously, yes, overgrazing can be an issue. Not every open space should be converted into a pasture, and the destruction of other environments to turn into cow land is a problem. But that is an issue of bad land stewardship, not the mere practice of keeping livestock.

Bottom line, though? Cattle who can graze and survive outside are better for the environment than cattle that can't.

...but hey, you know what Holsteins happen to be really bad at?

EVERYTHING. GRAZING.

They are notoriously terrible grazers. They can't do megan THEEEEE thing that cows are known for. Fragile frames, a lack of fat to keep them warm outside, increased demand for food, distaste for any rough forage, horrible mothering instincts, the list goes on. Holsteins are a NIGHTMARE to try and keep outside all year round compared to other breeds.

(especially heritage breeds, like the Milking Devon, Florida Cracker, or Texas Longhorn. Between these three, you'd be totally covered in 80% of American climates.)

I've already explained why it's not actually very good or important that we minmax milk volume, but even if that was actually something we should value, there are so many downsides that they would absolutely not be the dominant cow breed in a truly "efficient" system.

"Less cows means less cow food and cow land" is sound logic, but Holsteins are not the right cow for that job.

Question 4: "How could this be done in a way that doesn't increase cost of living?"

I'm not sure how to answer this question, simply because I'm not Bonestar, Leader of AmericaClan. Wish I was. I would rule tyrannically.

It's worth noting that Brazil is the second largest producer of beef in the entire world, AND the number one largest exporter of it, AND only puts 30% of its land to total agricultural use. The USA dedicates over 50%. And also Brazil is net reducing its amount of agricultural land while increasing output.

It seems clear to me that the USA actually has a massive food waste and resource distribution problem, to the point where the price we pay for stuff is actually wildly disconnected from the actual value of the goods and labor.

I think the way that us Americans tend to frame our conversations on these topics as "growth" vs "cuts" instead of asking how to minimize waste by making existing systems more efficient prevents us from solving problems. We're also just... really culturally resistant to the idea of anything being more "expensive," even if it ends up costing us a lot more money in waste or mismanagement later.

Penny wise and dollar foolish ass country.

Question 5: "What can we personally do about this?"

I mean, I wasn't making a call to action in Cow Lore, I was just explaining to one of my regulars why I don't like Holsteins LMAO. Since you're asking though...

I don't think we can change the wider trend in the dairy industry without actual government intervention and regulation, though, and that's very unlikely in the current political environment. they just sent random dudes to Ausalvador-Birkenau and when the Supreme Court said "bring this specific person back" they said "nuh uh." fellas I don't think we're getting better dairy regulations in the foreseeable future.

So I think the most productive thing to do is focusing on supporting small farms and heritage breeds. Get involved in your community garden or heritage society if you have one.

Not only is that generally a very rewarding thing, but it will be helpful to you in case The Situation Gets Worse. Knowing your neighbors and having real human connection is your best defense against economic recession.

Supporting the locals is always a great thing to do, which can be as simple as going to farmer's markets. You don't need to buy fancy food every day to make an impact on your community-- it can be a treat sometimes!

You could also subscribe to the Livestock Conservancy's free newsletter, where they talk about the work they're doing and upcoming events. If you're a knitter, crocheter, or any other kind of fiber artist, you could even join in on a challenge they're running where you make items out of rare wool for prizes!

Should you end up liking the work they do, you can become a member for 4$ a month, or go to one of their educational events.

Even just talking about the problem can do a lot! Did you know the Highland Cow was actually critically endangered in the USA within the past 10 years? It was the work of the Livestock Conservancy, plus a surge in their popularity, that helped to bring their numbers up. Word of mouth is a powerful thing.

All that said, remember, you can't solve every problem. It's a big world and there's a lot of them. Being made aware of an issue doesn't mean you have to drop what you were previously doing-- just care a lot about something that you want to improve, and let that guide you.

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I have a question about cows! Do you know if Holsteins produce milk with higher amounts of lactose? Because I know tons of people that eat dairy back in the home country but develop some strange lactose intolerance in the States, and I've been trying to figure out why. Thank you!

For a REALLY solid answer I'd need to know what your home country is so I could compare it to the US! There's a LOT of variation between the cattle and dairy production of different regions, from the sorts of breeds used down to the very way that milk sold on the shelf is preserved and classified.

As examples, Italy uses different preservation methods that assume the consumer is buying less milk at a time so it can be fresher, Kenya's market is mostly small producers using traditional open-pasture methods (though this is changing and please for the love of god do not move towards holsteins it's a fucking trap), India's milk mostly comes from native cow and buffalo breeds, etc.

But I can say for certain;

Holsteins typically produce slightly less lactose than other breeds because their milk is practically boob water. There are also studies that show that crossing cattle with holsteins makes their milk less nutritious.

Milk taste and nutrition is influenced by a TON of factors, including diet, exercise, mental health, and even time between milkings.

American food safety standards are terrible, and are about to get even worse because of the current administration.

Anecdotally, I've heard a LOT of stories about American milk making visitors and returning travelers sick. I can also confirm that milk in the UK just plain tastes better.

In fact as a personal story, here in the states I only ever buy Lactaid brand milk, which has lactASE added to break down the lactOSE. Regular milk here gives me problems when I drink more than a glass of it.

(store brand lactose-free milk works too, and is cheaper, but this is one of those situations where the off-brand stuff doesn't taste as yummy imo.)

While I was with my partner overseas, I was drinking regular whole milk from the regular convenience store with ZERO problems. Straight chugging it daily AND adding it to every cup of tea I had. I'm already a milk fiend here but I was a milk SUPERVILLAIN over there.

So I recommend trying lactose-free, to see if it works. I'm not even lactose intolerant, but it helped me.

There's also a budding discussion about a protein structure found in the milk of certain northern dairy breeds, including the holstein, called A1 beta-casein. This protein is extremely common in American milk, and there is evidence that some people have a negative reaction to it.

but PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN YOU RESEARCH THIS TOPIC.

It's one of those nutritional subjects that's still being heavily researched, but snake oil salesmen and brain worm warriors are trying to turn A1 milk into the newest Hash Slinging Slasher. Y'know. The autism-causing, diabetes-making, heart-attack inducing boogeyman which is the reason why we should all be afraid UNLESS you buy my product.

SO, be very skeptical of the "health benefit" claims, and keep an eye on study bias with the knowledge that a lot of research was funded by organizations trying to sell milk without A1.

THAT SAID, a type of milk that's A1/A2 (has some A1 beta-casein) or A2/A2 (contains absolutely no A1 beta-casein) might help. MOST traditional breeds produce A2/A2 milk-- unless, of course, they were outbred to certain European cattle breeds. Non-cattle animals, like goats and camels, also produce A2/A2.

TL;DR

Try lactose-free milk or A2/A2 milk, those might fix the issue.

(Also this is NOT a raw milk friendly space. If anyone attempts to respond to this post with the endorsement of raw milk, I will unzip you throat to tail in front of all four Clans of the forest. Brainworm Bobbies DNI)

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I just saw your Holstein hate reply, and wanted to share that my mom hates Holsteins because she grew up with Guernseys and loves cows, and everyone knows she loves cows, so they get her cow themed gifts, and 9 times out of 10 it's a Holstein, and she's has to hold her tongue and not be like "I DON'T EVEN FUCKING KNOW THEM WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THEIR PICTURE." Thanks for sharing why everyone else should join her in her ire <3

Me and your mom are connected on a spiritual level. No one understands the ABSOLUTE agony of being a True Cow Fan and having people give you well-meaning cow gifts, and having to hold back The Anti-Holstein AM Speech. Our mortal vessels were not meant to contain this amount of RIGHTEOUS RAGE.

My partner finds this very funny, btw. And they torment me.

They were gifted a large portrait of a holstein at one point just as a kitschy decoration. When they were tidying the house for me to visit, a member of the fam suggested hanging it up because it's A Cow Painting. Partner explained my beef with Holstein cows specifically, how they send me into an infodumpering rage.

Fam found this hilarious.

They hang up the painting in various parts of the house, always changing, so I get Holstein Jumpscared. Bathroom? HOLSTEIN. Hallway? HOLSTEIN. Closet? HOLSTEIN.

I am going to begin displaying American stress behaviors at this rate. I'm gonna throw all their tea in the bathtub and dig oil holes in the garden. Thatll show them.

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Hi.

1) You're writing a warriors thing I want to read. How do I do that?

2) Do you have opinions on the Dexter breed of cattle? I want to keep a small herd (like 3-9 cows and maybe a bull) someday and I am considering either Dexters or Devons.

QUESTION 1: "How does one read Better Bones?"

First, let me explain what BB is a little bit, because it'll make "why is this thing so hard to find" make sense.

The Better Bones AU essentially started as a series of posts where I would casually talk about small fixes and changes I'd make, and the themes I'd want WC have, in a very "Here's what I'D do if I was tasked with fixing it!" way. I LOVE talking with people, so folks would come into the ask box with follow-up questions, suggestions, feedback, and so on.

It's a very collaborative project, and I've been adamant from the start that I always want the ideas and discussions on this blog to be open-source because of it!

That was over two years ago. Since then, this blog's exploded in size and scope. Because I love all sorts of worldbuilding and have a skill for research, I incorporate education about ecology, nutrition, medical biology, and so on. I also build out the culture of the five Clans, expand on relationships between characters, revamp the family trees, and so on.

The majority of these posts come as responses to asks, and I respond in a mix of bullet format, links, and prose.

This is a blessing to me, an extroverted writer with ADHD who is motivated by people's interest and kept interested by jumping around to different topics, but an absolute curse to try and summarize to newcomers.

Every few months I attempt to update my masterpost, collect all the "character summaries" of individual cats, or make a place to keep posts of a specific topic... but, as I alluded to, this is extremely difficult because of the way my brain works. And also Tumblr's editor changed for no discernible reason so I can't even add links to my old masterpost >://///

There is a Miraheze wiki, which uses citations as links. @halogenwarrior's TVTropes page is also a great place to visit. Otherwise, the main way people follow along is usually by asking for refreshers on changes they don't recognize, or scrolling the archive.

So... it's a known issue that it is hard to give people a particular "jumping off" point, but you should start with the History Lesson. It's a simple timeline of the major changes, and has some links to other posts.

QUESTION 2: "Do you recommend Dexters?"

Dexters are a downright fantastic breed to keep if you're new to keeping cattle, AND if you're interested in rare breed conservation!

As the smallest breed of cow, Dexters are usually under 3 feet tall when they're fully grown. They're very healthy and don't need a lot of pasture, shockingly hardy and able to survive outside year-round in New England weather, AND have a gentle nature that makes them easy for newcomers to handle.

Plus, you get all of that with great milk and meat quality. Their creamy milk is on the same level as a Jersey's, because they're actually a close relative of the Kerry breed! You get fantastic cheese and butter from these little guys.

HOWEVER; there's an important thing to know. Never EVER purchase a Shortleg Dexter. It is a harmful trait that results in unhealthy animals, and lethal birth defects.

This is a healthy Dexter, a cow that lives a long and healthy life up to 20 years;

And this is a "Shortleg" Dexter with chondrodysplasia.

Shortlegs are VERY easy to avoid once you are aware of this, because you only get this gene when one of the parents is an "affected" Dexter. But sometimes new keepers end up purchasing these without knowing there's anything wrong, because of the Dexter's status as a small cow breed.

To learn more, you can read this article. But, CW, it does contain a gorey image of a stillborn "bulldog" calf, which is what happens when you cross two shortlegs.

If you're more experienced, though? I would go for the Devons. Specifically, go for Milking Devons.

These cattle are BRIGHT red, with soft, mossy fur, and a sharp wit. Other Devon strains have been bred for more focus on their meat-- but Milking Devons are closest to the original stock as a true triple purpose breed.

They were bred without compromise. They produce great beef, excellent milk, and are easy to train. These are draft animals that can pull carts and plows while also thriving on rough, cold winter pastures. Their milk is even higher quality than the Dexter or the Jersey, packed with protein and fats that make fantastic butter.

(US English funfact; the reason why we use "biscuit" to refer to fluffy buttermilk biscuits is because a "biscuit" was a ship ration. When settlers got off the boat and started baking breakfast rations, they would mix it with the buttermilk that was left over from the butter churning process. A TRUE American biscuit is one made from Devon buttermilk!)

Unfortunately, they're also critically endangered. So if you've got land and are looking to get a herd, you would be making a big difference by keeping Milking Devons.

Both are great choices, though. There's also communities dedicated to helping people who are interested in keeping them, they can help you get set up and answer any questions you have.

First of all, if you're in the USA and thinking of keeping heritage breeds, check out The Livestock Conservancy. The amount of resources they offer is staggering.

Comprehensive information on nearly a dozen species and their breeds; Rabbits, chickens, donkeys, pigs, everything.

Grants and education support for small operations

Search engine and listings of heritage products for sale, their websites and contact info, and livestock sales

Hosting for fun events and challenges, like the one they're running RIGHT NOW where they give you a sticker for making stuff out of heritage yarn and fiber

Networking, networking, networking

You can become a member for 4$ a month, but at 25$ a month, you actually get a monthly newsletter, discounts at their events, support for your organization, access to apply for grants, and you get a listing with their search engine.

In fact, if you want to get better answers than what I can give you? Or you really wanna get started?

Go through their search engine, sort by the breeds you're interested in, and go to the farm websites. Most of them have a "contact us" there that you can send questions to. I just did like 4 clicks and bam this farm has a waitlist for Dexter heifers at 1,400$. Less than rent in NY.

(and also the prettiest rabbits i have ever seen in my life helloooo👀)

If you REALLY wanna make my day though, go to the Accokeek Foundation. Especially if you live near Maryland. They manage Piscataway Park, do education on ecological and farming sustainability, provide resources for research, and sell a select few heritage breeds including Milking Devons.

They will help you get set up with Milking Devons, AND you can support their work. Email them. Talk To Them.

[bonefall]

how's it feel to have broken containment?

[bonefall]

Not an ask, but I am a big fan of how your description of Better Bones reads like a Minecraft bug fix update

You're actually the first person to notice that lmaoo.

It wasn't a completely intentional choice, I just came up with the name Better Bones (to replace the term Bonefall Rewrite) and then realized shortly afterwards that it was absolutely inspired by a popular style of minecraft mod naming. I really like modded minecraft.

I'm the kind of nerd who daydreams about Clangen But In Minecraft. With Farmer's Delight, also.

[bonefall]

*sounds of being dragged* nooo !! i dont want to go down into the plant disease rabbithole!!!!!!! NOOOOO

(/lh)

YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE. DISCOPAW WAS THE GATEWAY TO BEING FORCED TO LEARN ABOUT ASH DIEBACK DISEASE. YOU WILL BOOGIEOOGIEOOGIE INTO LEARNING ABOUT ECOLOGY

[bonefall]

I don’t remember, did you ever decide if you’re going with Night(cloud)Star or Crowstar? Was rereading through Nightcloud’s summary and saw it in the trivia section.

Every time they shove Canon!Crowfeather at me I inch closer and closer to Nightcloudstar, who would get a conflict rename to Sowstar.

I want to share more details of Nightcloud's Pannage but it is so close to being releaseable that im punishing myself with silence. Nico and Harespring have a more defined in-law relationship. Nico has friends who are girls. Brain keeps saying that Harestar is king of the lesbians. I can't say more.

[bonefall]

Howdy Bonefall!! Great work wanted to start with that

I'm trying to come with a hyena xenofiction (+ other canid-likes), and I'm struggling with like... Not doing the stupid shit Erins did with the sisters of "in a WORLD where MEN are OPPRESSED". "Actually all the guys are okay with being second class" feels like a cop out, and I don't want to erase such an interesting aspect of hyena hierarchy.

So... I guess I'm going to you sorta for advice? Because you're super cool, and the only xeno worldbuilder I really follow. If you want, feel free to use this ask as a pass to infodump about the sisters instead, instead. Like, your version or the Erins.

Sorey for the long ask bye now

This is a neat question without a totally straightforward answer, but my advice would actually be to look very closely at historical systems with rigid gender roles, and try to understand the role it played in society.

What usually makes xenofiction sexism so rancid is the way that an author states (by assertion or just by subconscious assumption) that their ""natural world"" is bioessentialist, and this is justified because It's Natural. For a clear, STARK example, the Ginga series asserts that male dogs are better than female dogs, just by matter of biology, while also assigning gendered human behaviors (vanity, whininess) to its female characters to make its point.

In Cheek by Jowl, Le Guin points this out as "cheating." The author both describes the world they're writing as "natural," while prescribing their own human biases to it.

With the Sisters, the Erins did this lowkey fascinating thing where they sort of did the reverse. They described realistic, normal cat behaviors, but they're SO repulsed by the idea of not portraying heterosexual, monogamous marriage as ideal that they got scared of their own concept.

Hence the way they've turned on the Sisters, using human values to have the Warriors react with disgust and hostility when they don't have husbands, don't raise kids in nuclear families, send teen males away at 6 months, etc. They're doing the same thing Le Guin pointed out, just in a different flavor.

So-- that's why my advice is to look at societies. If you're anthropomorphizing animals enough for them to consider high concepts like justice and equality, they aren't just working on raw biology. Gender roles can be influenced by sexual dimophism, sure, but look deeper.

WHY do those roles exist? What purpose do they serve to society? Hunting, food preparation, spreading news. Are there materials to be prepared, like clothing or tools? Are there social laws to be taught and remembered?

Are these gendered? How? Why are they divided in the way they are? Are these divisions rigid?

These sorts of questions in humans are not answered purely by biology. Gender and roles are different across cultures and, while most have common trends, nothing is truly universal. Why do Xenofiction writers assume that would be the case for fantasy animal cultures?

Be thoughtful. The phrase "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History" wasn't a victim-blaming call to action for every girl to start 'misbehaving' to appease the historians-- it was to implore people to appreciate the contributions that women HAVE been making since the dawn of time, even within oppressive roles that downplayed those achievements.

And, I would also call for you to do some deeper research on hyenas, because here's a surprise-- the "male oppression" thing is actually an oversimplification!

Exactly like the concept of the Alpha Wolf, it's only partially true but largely inaccurate. Hyena clans are much more complicated than that.

Hyenas are not actually highly sexually dimorphic. Females are only slightly larger on average. In this way, they are quite like humans; we also aren't massively different between sexes.

Hyenas are so intelligent that they have theory of mind. Shenzi is capable of understanding that Ed likes Banzai more than Banagi, and uses that to her tactical advantage. Shenzi knows that she needs to befriend Banzai to have Ed's support, and then both of them will help her usurp Banagi.

Clans are not matriarchal, they are matrilineal. Cubs inherit their mother's rank, just below her. A male cub can massively benefit from staying in his birth clan because of this-- and that does include inheriting his mother's status.

So that thing about "highest ranking male is below the lowest ranking female" is not accurate. That applies to migrant males, not clanborn.

And here's the real kicker; size and strength is almost completely negligible to which hyena wins a fight. It's ALL about SOCIAL CONNECTION. me and the girlies attending the ides of march

Males are more likely to leave their birth clan and females are not. Leave home and your mom won't help you beat up your bullies, and you can't rely on the other males because they aren't family. This is the reason why females "dominate," they don't disperse so they've got family watching their back.

The idea of hyenas being "bizarro world" where the big, mean sex oppresses the tiny, demure sex is just as much a misconception of spotted hyenas as it is a misconception of human beings.

It would make a downright delicious concept to play with, if you wanted to make a deconstruction of gender roles broadly.

(Disclaimer: this post is intentionally discussing sex in a binary way for simplicity in how it influences gender, especially in a historical context. Sex is not actually binary. Even "bimodal distribution" barely scratches the surface of the topic)

[bonefall]

hold up, jellicle cats are canon? what?

Yeah I LOVE xenomoggy like, as a genre. Xenomoggy is the category of xenofiction dedicated entirely to cats as the main character, like Warriors, Tailchaser's Song, Ratha's Creature, Cats the Musical, etc

So I reference jellicles (Shewakl in Clanmew) casually. They're from the south of Albion (BB!England) though, so they mostly come up when railways are mentioned like in tigerHeartstar's Rise.

Haven't been able to reference other Xenomoggy stories yet tho, but I do have my eye out

[bonefall]

How do cats know what disco is

NUT DISCO MY GUY.

Disco is a type of mushroom that makes use of particularly fruitful mast (mast = tree species that makes food for animals) species-- namely Beech and Oak. It springs off the nut in cute little cups! Yes, it is a real, actual name, fight with the mycology board of england or whatever not me.

There's two types of disco I'm aware of in England; Nut Disco, and Hairy Nut Disco. Again, fight with the mycologists, not me

(Nut Disco, picture on a beech nut taken by Stathern Wood in 2019)

(Hairy nut disco, picture taken from woodland trust)

What's also really cool is that it's related to Ash Dieback disease, which is a massive problem in the UK right now!! I don't know how these facts are linked, but something in my brain is trying to connect "native plant that helpfully breaks down uneaten food" and "invasive plant that kills particularly helpful trees."

Anyway I think disco is really cool and the sort of thing ShadowClan would totally take notice of, since I'm giving them that chemistry/fermentation perk :)

[bonefall]

I've been researching saints for a thing and I totally get why you're so into patronage as a concept now. So many descriptions of Orthodox saints are like "this is Peter. He was killed for doing missionary work, so we named a town after him. His feast day is March 3rd" but almost every other Catholic saint is like "this is Catherine. She survived being ATTACKED by a SNAKE, so now she is the patron of ANTI-VENOM and HERPETOLOGISTS" it's so fun and great for thematic imagery

SO TRUE!!! Saint Drogo, patron of Ugly People and Coffee, pray for me!!!!!!

It's really fun to play with. There's no rules for catholic-style saints (at least, not in the fun and silly way), just a template. So you're playing with "Patron of (subject) and (noun)" and unironically it makes for incredible worldbuilding.

Weedwater, Patron of Good Food and Laughter

Milkshake, Patron of Emergency Running and Anxiety

Tortail, Patron of Public Speaking and Quails

Off the top of my head, three fun concepts. It's that simple.

I feel like a major draw of WC and any other media that manages to successfully court fellow autistics is "good templates." You need to be able to play mad libs with it, without too much skill or effort. Not that skill and effort aren't important, of course, just that those in and of themselves are skills that need to be practiced so having "beginner level" prompts MASSIVELY massages your brain and gets the juices flowing!

[bonefall]

On a plane home and slightly under the influence, sudden influx of very silly ask answers incoming!