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| catl:cattle [2026/03/16 19:17] – Simon Grant | catl:cattle [2026/04/06 12:04] (current) – Simon Grant |
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| # Cattle | This topic is part of [[gt:gardening|Gardening, smallholding & farming]]. |
| | ====== Cattle ====== |
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| ## What are cattle? | ===== What are cattle? ===== |
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| They are those familiar four-legged bovine animals, kept for [meat](/butc/butchery) or [dairy](/dair/dairying), or both – plus their extremely useful by-products, leather and dung. Oxen, the term used for any trained bovine, have also performed an important role as draught animals throughout history and even today throughout the world they still outnumber horses as the primary draught animal. The ancient forerunner of almost all domestic cattle was the [Aurochs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs), which roamed Europe, Africa and Asia, and was ancestor to all European breeds, plus the African Zebu cattle. The Aurochs became extinct in the 17th century. | They are those familiar four-legged bovine animals, kept for [meat](/butc/butchery) or [dairy](/dair/dairying), or both – plus their extremely useful by-products, leather and dung. Oxen, the term used for any trained bovine, have also performed an important role as draught animals throughout history and even today throughout the world they still outnumber horses as the primary draught animal. The ancient forerunner of almost all domestic cattle was the [Aurochs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs), which roamed Europe, Africa and Asia, and was ancestor to all European breeds, plus the African Zebu cattle. The Aurochs became extinct in the 17th century. |
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| ## What are the benefits of keeping cattle? | ===== What are the benefits of keeping cattle? ===== |
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| - traditional / rare breeds are usually easier to manage, with less to go wrong; they tend to be hardier, can be outside all year, and breed for longer (Belgian Blues commonly breed for 7 years, Dexters for 15) | - traditional / rare breeds are usually easier to manage, with less to go wrong; they tend to be hardier, can be outside all year, and breed for longer (Belgian Blues commonly breed for 7 years, Dexters for 15) |
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| ## What can I do? | ===== What can I do? ===== |
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| **Preparation:** cattle are big animals and therefore need space, but they don’t require much work. Make sure you have storage space for hay. It’s cheaper to buy hay in bulk straight off the field and store it yourself, than to buy it after it’s been stored somewhere else. If you have the shelter of trees and [hedges](/hedg/hedges), you don’t necessarily need a shed, but if you don’t, you can build a 3-sided shed for them to find shelter from the worst weather. You’ll need a trailer or a friendly local farmer / smallholders’ group to borrow one from. Find one of these groups first if you can, and go and see cattle kept on a small scale, or go [WWOOFing](/wwoo/wwoofing) on a farm or smallholding that has cattle. | **Preparation:** cattle are big animals and therefore need space, but they don’t require much work. Make sure you have storage space for hay. It’s cheaper to buy hay in bulk straight off the field and store it yourself, than to buy it after it’s been stored somewhere else. If you have the shelter of trees and [hedges](/hedg/hedges), you don’t necessarily need a shed, but if you don’t, you can build a 3-sided shed for them to find shelter from the worst weather. You’ll need a trailer or a friendly local farmer / smallholders’ group to borrow one from. Find one of these groups first if you can, and go and see cattle kept on a small scale, or go [WWOOFing](/wwoo/wwoofing) on a farm or smallholding that has cattle. |
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| ## Further resources | ===== Forum ===== |
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| | This topic belongs to the section [[gt:gardening|Gardening, smallholding & farming]]. You can ask questions or add information on the corresponding [Forum section](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/gardening). |
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| | ===== Further resources ===== |
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| - [Gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-recommendations-for-the-welfare-of-livestock-cattle) - welfare of beef and dairy cattle | - [Gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-recommendations-for-the-welfare-of-livestock-cattle) - welfare of beef and dairy cattle |
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| ## Related topics | ===== Related topics ===== |
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| - [Cheesemaking](chee:cheesemaking) | - [Cheesemaking](chee:cheesemaking) |
| - [Biogas](biog:biogas) | - [Biogas](biog:biogas) |
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| ## Specialist curators of this topic | ===== Specialist curators of this topic ===== |
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