Cows can be forgiving.
Cows can be obstinate.
Cows can be wise.
Twenty things you ought to know about hens
Hens sing when they are happy and enjoy listening to music.
Hens chop up food into small pieces for their chicks.
Hens ‘cluck’ constantly to reasssure their chicks.
Hens stretch, flap, fly, run, paddle and sunbathe.
Hens are fastidious and preen their feathers regularly.
Hens dust-bathe as part of their cleaning process.
Hens are inquisitive.
Hens are playful and can always amuse themselves whatever the weather.
Hens are sociable and have many different ‘speaking’ voices.
Hens suffer badly from fear and shock.
Hens respond to kindness and attention.
Hens love a varied diet …
… and clean, pure water …
… and (preferably) ripe fruit …
… and meat, raw or cooked …
… and some hens like brassica …
… and all like wheat and barley, whole and sprouted.
Hens need grit in their diet.
Hens make friends …
… and sometimes spurn newcomers.
Twenty things you ought to know about sheep
Sheep can be very companionable and amazingly compassionate.
Sheep can be highly intelligent.
Sheep can be very dim.
Sheep always run uphill if they sense danger.
Sheep are usually gentle and unaggressive.
Most sheep have long, woolly tails to keep them warm.
Sheep can live on grass alone but like other things too such as …
… tree leaves and apples.
A sheep’s thick coat protects it from heat and cold.
Sheep can stand very cold weather better than cows, pigs or hens.
Some sheep have good powers of concentration and can watch television.
Some sheep have butterfly minds and can cause accidents.
Sheep seem to prefer running water to still water to drink.
Sheep have very long memories.
Sheep play almost continually when they are young …
… and sometimes when they are old they have pretend fights.
Sheep have several different ways of ‘speaking’.
Sheep like fresh air and wind.
Sheep can be conceited.
Sheep can be delightfully affectionate … and, of course you cannot pull the wool over their eyes.
Twenty things you ought to know about pigs
Pigs take life easy, like comfort and sleep a lot.
Pigs like to be waited on.
Pigs like being allowed to build nests before farrowing.
Pigs cover themselves in wet mud …
… and let it dry and fall off leaving them clean.
Pigs are very particular about personal hygiene …
… and always keep their living quarters clean …
… and are the only domestic animal to make a lavatory outside.
Pigs ‘make’ their beds every day.
Mother pigs make the beds for their piglets.
Pigs need clean water to drink and plenty of water to wash in.
Pig’s tails are curly if they are happy …
… and straight if they are not.
Pigs hate draughts.
Pigs can get sun-burned.
Pigs are very strong.
Pigs are usually gentle and make very nice friends but …
… pigs can be dangerous if threatened or hungry.
Pigs need a varied and interesting diet.
Pigs always choose the best, most organic food if given the chance.
Kite’s Nest Farm
Kite’s Nest Farm has been a focus of media attention over the last forty years:
‘Don’t smile when you read this, because the implications are serious enough, but what the Young family have discovered is this simple fact, cows love each other.’
Adam Nicolson, Sunday Telegraph, 1995
‘Through long family experience, by intelligence and humanity, Richard Young has shown that organic methods work. Every farm should be like his Kite’s Nest. Animals there have space and liberty.’
Jane Grigson, Observer Magazine, 1989
‘The richest wildflower meadow at Kite’s Nest is a remnant of English flora on a scale that is rare indeed … they allow livestock to graze it in August only after the flowers have seeded.
The cows are allowed to remain in family groups and their names tend to reflect a family connection.’
HRH The Prince of Wales interviewed in Highgrove: A Portrait of an Estate by Charles Clover, 1997
‘The Beatles had it right. All you need is love. Rosamund knows every one of her cattle by name, has their monkey puzzle of a family tree in her head and loves them all to bits. Throughout their lives they are subjected to as little stress as possible. They wander as they like from one field to another, choosing whatever grasses and herbs take their fancy, sheltering behind a hedge here, picking a sun trap there. Rosamund can walk up to almost all the animals as they stand in the field … and talk to them. As a level-headed observer, I can testify that some come close to talking to her too.
Rosamund swears that one of the more junior cows hung around the house for days with a look on her face which said, “I think I am going to have a difficult calving”, before wandering off to do just that.’
Big Farm Weekly, 1989
‘The placid natures, glossy coats and sheen of good condition demonstrate more than anything the effectiveness of the traditional management system followed at Kite’s Nest.’
Home Farm, 1986
‘The beef animals are left to take their own choices as to rearing, feeding and housing. And they make a better job of it than with human interference. In winter they are not forcibly cooped up but are allowed to come and go as they please … Feeding is completely grass-based. The wealth of diet available on the grassland contributes to the health of the animals.’
What’s New in Farming, 1986
‘All the animals at Kite’s Nest have names and very definite personalities.’
Guardian, 1987
‘No scientific study of cow psychology could equal Rosamund’s account. She has made the term animal sentience come truly alive. We can only be thankful that she has.’
Joyce D’Silva, Farm Animal Voice
‘The key word at Kite’s Nest is contentment. Stress is something to be avoided at all cost and man takes a back seat in nature’s affairs … Cows boasting sleek coats and sheep whose clean tails look newly brushed wander leisurely around the hills.’
Evesham Journal, 1986
‘The cows and calves loomed up out of the darkness for their evening feed of hay, some helping themselves from the back of the Range Rover … Rosamund spoke to cows by name as she did the feeding, demonstrating the rapport she has with all the animals at Kite’s Nest.’
Gloucestershire Echo, 1988
Bibliography
Anderson, L., Genetic Engineering, Food and Our Environment, Green Books, 1999
Balfour, Lady E. B., The Living Soil, Universe Books, 1943
Carson, R., Silent Spring, Hamish Hamilton, 1963
Cato, On Agriculture, Prospect Books, 1998
Cicero, On Old Age, On Friendship, On Divination, Harvard University Press, 1923
Engel, Cindy, Wild Health, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2002
HRH The Prince of Wales and C. Clover, Highgrove: Portrait of an Estate, Chapmans, 1993
Harvey, G., The Killing of the Countryside, Jonathan Cape, 1997
Harvey, G., The Forgiveness of Nature: The Story of Grass, Jonathan Cape, 2001
Lampkin, N., Organic Farming, Farming Press, 1990
Mansfield, P., and J. Munro, Chemical Children, Century Hutchinson, 1987
Schlosser, E., Fast Food Nation, Penguin Books, 2002
Wynne-Tyson, J., The Extended Circle, Cardinal, 1990
Young, Rosamund, ‘Britain’s Largest Nature Reserve?’, Soil Association 1991
www.sustainablefoodtrust.org
www.pastureforlife.org
About the Author
Kite’s Nest Farm is on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment. It is run by Rosamund Young, her brother Richard, and her partner Gareth. Nature is left to itself as much as possible and the animals receive exceptional kindness and consideration. Kite’s Nest Farm produces beef and lamb from 100 per cent grass-fed animals which are butchered and sold in the farm shop.
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2003 by Farming Book & Videos Ltd
First published in this edition
by Faber & Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2017
All rights reserved
© Rosamund Young, 2003, 2017
Foreword © Alan Bennett
Cover design by Faber
Illustration © Anna Koska
The right of Rosamund Young to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
ISBN 978–0–571–33678–4
The Secret Life of Cows Page 10