I saw these calves in these outdoor huts yesterday on my walk. Quite a few farms round here have been using outdoor pens over the last few years. The calves seem to do very well in them ....the worst thing for a calf's health is poor air quality leading to pneumonia. Although sometimes you would think they would get cold the calves don't seem to mind at all. We never used them & had our calves in buildings which were well ventilated.
Nice sky, are they veal calves, if they are they look well catered for. Better than those on the continent kept in little crates. But I do enjoy the end product.
@cleanfreak No Carole these are female dairy calves to be reared on & kept in the milking herd. Veal is not a popular dish in the UK & I don't know any one who rears calves for the veal trade, Veal calves are now kept completely differently nowadays , much more humanely although I think it still has that same stigma.
Looks like you had a better day too (weather wise!) I must say you are a mine of information!! Lovely going out at the moment and seeing all the new born, some of our sheep farmers had had problems with the deformed lambs caused by the midge but wonderfully friends of mine their's were 100% perfect, must be fairly harrowing being a farmer.
@fannyb Schmallenberg Disease, I have read about this disease in the Farmers Guardian, awful thing for sheep farmers & very worrying too !! Hasn't reached as far as Lancashire thank goodness ! glad your friends have escaped !
So do they move on to fields? I buy veal from Waitrose sometimes - converted by The Archers! As I understand it it means the male calves get more of a life. I'd never buy it on the continent and 'our' veal isn't nearly as pale so I can only assume that that is because they aren't abused in the same way!
@judithg Yes you are right Judith it does give the male calves value so consequently are not destroyed soon after birth. The meat will have more colour because they are reared in a humane way & not in those awful crates. I have never actually tried veal, must look if any for sale in Garstang.
@kwiksilver They don't go out to grass until they are old enough Gillian & then onwards spend all the summers out doors for all their milking life , some of our cows were 12 years old !! We bring the stock in to large barns in the winter as it's too cold for them to stay out !
@happypat Thanks for the explanation, Pat - it makes me feel a bit better about seeing them in those pens :) I suppose it just doesn't get quite as cold in the southern hemisphere!
Here in the states when you see these you know it is for veal production, and it always makes me a bit unsettled thinking of those little ones. Glad to hear it is not a popular thing there.
Blimey! My question is do they not raise many? We had about 20 to a large pen with 5 pens and I see that they have added another 3 pens. I usually got 2 veal calves each year and would I named them bbq and chops. A roast leg is nice too with Lemon Pepper and oil rubbed on before cooking.
@farmboy9155 Hi Darrell, the difference between your system & ours is that you block calve whereas we calve all year round so this farmer will have lots of calves different ages in various buildings around the farm. The UK has a liquid market so milk companies need an all round supply.
