Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Adapt the Critters or Adapt Yourself?

One thing confuses me about the time change... Okay, everything confuses me about the time change, but until we can get the government to stop doing this to us, we're stuck with it... Anyway, what confuses me is why we even attempt to make our animals adapt to it.  Isn't it easier to change the feeding schedule so they never even notice this weird human thing we do?

This hadn't occurred to me until years ago when I was talking with a woman whose husband worked at the local feedlot.

Now, if you're not familiar with a feedlot, it's where the farmers send their young steers to fatten up before they head to market.  Imagine huge pens with thousands of cows each, standing around waiting to get fed.  And they get fed on a schedule.  Which they're used to.

Then comes the time change.

So, anyway, she was telling me the worst part of the time change is getting all those cows to adapt to the new feeding schedule.  Easily a hundred thousand cows waiting an extra hour for their feed every fall.  Apparently, it's quite the loud and raucous affair.

And it occurred to me.  Why force all those cows to adapt when it would be easier to set the feeding schedule to when the cows expect to eat? 

At home, I adjusted my own thinking.  I mean, it's a real pain to get Kira to move her expectations an hour.  She meows.  She carries on.  She gets in my personal space and pats at me.  Way easier for me to feed her an hour earlier. 

If one cat can make that much racket, imagine what a hundred thousand cows can do.

Around here, we have scads of turkey raising facilities.  Little Butterball signs at the ends of the driveways point them out, but you can see the long, low buildings as you drive down the highway.  Right now, I'm guessing those turkeys are having to adjust to being fed an hour later than they're used to.  And the Tyson farms with all those chickens.  And birds are dumber than cows. 

Wouldn't all these animals be under less stress if we were the ones to adjust?  Contented animals make for more plentiful and tastier meat. 

Speaking of feeding, Kira is reminding me that it's time for her morning food.  She got fed at around 6:30am before the time change, so now it's 5:30am.  I'm up by this time most mornings, so it's no big deal.  And if I wasn't up, she'd wake me up - just like before the time change.

How about you?  Do you adapt or do you make them adapt?  How's that working for you?

3 comments:

  1. I adapt.
    It's strange that the feeding lot people make the cows change. I knew a couple of dairy farmers who must adapt to their regular milking schedule despite the time change. Maybe because changing the schedule could affect milk production.

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  2. SEE?!?!?!?! All the more reason to do away with the stupid bureacracy madness that is DST.

    Like me, the fussy critters (and yes that was intentional) eventually adjust. Until they do, they are loud and obnoxious. The boys want out. The cat wants feeding. The boys get fed at night after our dinner and they are more adaptable to feeding but not that first-thing-in-the-morning pee o'clock. The cat eats through out the day but she's insistent her food bowl be filled at her demand--which currently is around 5 am. *sigh*

    Since today is election day, a word to all politicians: I would vote for ANYONE who promises (AND delivers) on getting rid of DST. I would even send your campaign money. Seriously.

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  3. It's silly to expect the animals to adapt to such an artificial time constraint. Of course, feeding animals only once or twice a day is completely unnatural for them. Cows are built to graze all day long. Predators hunt when they're hungry, which in the wild is probably most of the time.

    But I'm spoiled. I leave kibble out for Churchill 24/7, and he never overeats. :-)

    I agree with Silver 100% -- if a politician can get the time change killed, they have my vote!

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