jdhmnovel Chapter 46 The calf lands and bows to the eight directions
Chapter 46 The calf lands and bows to the eight directions
The calf had only been born a short while when it stood up shakily. After taking a few unsteady steps, it suddenly knelt down in front of Magistrate Yang Shaofeng. Wu Qiba squatted down, stroked the calf's head, and laughed, "This little thing is quite clever; its first bow is to the magistrate!"
Yang Shaofeng was very curious and was about to squat down to touch the calf's head when he saw the calf stand up shakily again, then stagger a few steps, repeating this several times, and kneeling down several times in a short while.
Wu Qiba said, "This is what the old saying means: 'A calf is born and bows to all directions.'"
Yang Shaofeng found it very interesting, but Wu Qiba pointed to the calf's back and said, "Your Excellency, look, when calves are in their mother's womb, there is a layer of flesh on the outside of their hooves so as not to hurt the mother cow. But after they are born, the calves have to kick off that layer of fleshy hooves, otherwise they can't run."
Yang Shaofeng looked in the direction Wu Qiba was pointing and saw that there were indeed four hooves that had been kicked off behind the little calf.
Just then, the farm workers brought over six eggs. Wu Qiba found a large basin, first mixed some tender grass into it, then cracked all six eggs into it and stirred them well. He then brought the basin to the cow, smiling as he stroked her big face and said, "Eat, eat quickly. The master has rewarded you with six eggs, so you must eat well and have your fill."
The cow shook its huge head, then lowered it and buried it in the basin to eat the fodder. At this time, the calf, which had already "worshipped the eight directions," also wobbled over to the cow's body, raised its head, and began to eat.
This was the first time Yang Shaofeng had ever seen a calf eat, and also the first time he had ever known that eating could lead to a beating for the calf. The calf didn't eat obediently all the time; instead, after a few bites, it would nudge the bottle upwards with its head. Occasionally, the mother cow would kick the calf away with her hooves, but the calf would always run back to continue eating and nudge the bottle.
Seeing Yang Shaofeng watching the calf eat with great curiosity, Wu Qiba said with a smile, "The cow's feeding isn't very smooth. When the calf feels that there's no more food, it will nudge the cow with its head to make the cow continue feeding. But the calf doesn't know its own strength and sometimes it will hurt the cow. It's normal for it to get kicked."
After watching the calf eat its feed for a while, Yang Shaofeng asked again, "Should we have someone prepare some tender grass for the calf?"
Wu Qiba said, "Your Excellency, there is no need to prepare tender grass for the calves in the first few days. The feed produced by the mother cow is enough to fill them up. Generally, the calves only need to be fed grass after about a month. If grass is fed too early, it may hurt the calves' stomachs."
Great, I've learned something new again. I learned that when a calf is born, it bows to the eight directions to kick off its hooves; that calves will nudge their mother's feed sack with their heads when they eat; and that calves don't start eating grass until they are a month old, otherwise it will hurt their stomachs.
After the calf finished eating, it staggered to its mother and slowly knelt down. The mother cow turned her head and ate a few bites of feed mixed with eggs, then turned her head again and licked the calf. Every now and then, she would lower her head and touch the calf's head with her own large head.
Yang Shaofeng observed carefully and noticed that even while the cow was eating fodder, her eyes were always fixed on the calf, never letting her guard down for a moment.
Wu Qiba said with a smile, "It's probably a mother's instinct. At this time, the mother cow is the most protective of her calf. Only when the calf is a little older and can walk and run will the mother cow relax a bit."
Yang Shaofeng nodded, giving up the idea of petting the calf, and turned to Wu Qiba and said, "I will have someone send two...one egg every day. Please have Brother Qiba crack it into the fodder so that it can eat better."
It wasn't that Yang Shaofeng was stingy; rather, the entire Ningyang County was experiencing a severe shortage of eggs.
The batch of eggs that Limpy Five brought back from Yanzhou Prefecture were mainly used to make steamed buns and egg drop soup for the able-bodied men who were digging the artificial lake. They were already in short supply, so they could not be used to feed the cattle.
The neighboring chicken farm produced a very limited number of eggs each day. Before the batch of chickens and ducks sent by Chang Yuchun arrived in Ningyang County, the farm only had about seventy chickens, of which about forty were newly hatched chicks. Among the remaining thirty or so, there were more than ten roosters, and only about twenty hens that could lay eggs. Moreover, not every hen laid eggs every day, so it was already quite rare to harvest twenty eggs a day. Several of these twenty eggs were needed to hatch chicks, and the rest were basically used by the able-bodied men who were digging the artificial lake to make steamed buns and egg drop soup.
As for buying eggs at the market...
According to the Ming Dynasty's "Records of Food and Commodities," when a large, fat chicken cost only 26 coins, an egg could sell for 3 coins. Officials or wealthy and powerful local gentry naturally didn't care, but in ordinary people's homes, even when a new mother needed to rest during her postpartum period, eggs were in short supply, and she might not be able to eat many eggs during the entire postpartum period.
The thought of the egg shortage in Ningyang County, coupled with the sight of the adorable calves and the mother cows licking their calves from time to time, suddenly made Yang Shaofeng feel extremely displeased.
Damn it, back in the day when I ate eggs, I fried them, boiled them, put them in soup, stir-fried them, and ate them in all sorts of ways. I could eat as many as I wanted in one meal. When did I ever have to worry about a few eggs?
No, we must speed up the breeding and sorting process at the neighboring chicken farm. I not only want Ningyang County to get rid of the egg shortage as soon as possible, but I also want the people of Ningyang County to be able to live a life of egg freedom as soon as possible!
After pondering it over, Yang Shaofeng decided to go to the chicken farm once again.
How can I make chickens grow fast and well and lay more eggs?
Feeding chickens too much bran is definitely not an option, because bran is now considered human food, and nobody would be willing to feed chickens bran.
Feeding chickens with clams or similar items seemed impractical, as Ningyang County was already facing a shortage of manpower, and Magistrate Yang Shaofeng couldn't spare any more people to find clams or similar items for the chickens.
Feeding them insects is also impractical—there's no manpower to catch insects for the chickens in the shed, and letting them find insects on their own would require switching to a free-range system, which goes against Yang Shaofeng's original intention of breeding them by category.
After frowning and thinking for a long time, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng suddenly slapped his forehead and said to the strong woman in charge of the chicken farm next to him, "Go back and find Zhang Wangshi in Widow Village. Her steamed bun shop uses a lot of eggs every day. Go and get the eggshells, crush them and mix them into the feed for the chickens."
Yang Shaofeng suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
What's the difference between an eggshell and a clam shell?
It's highly likely, but it doesn't seem to make much difference. Anyway, it's fine for feeding chickens; at the very least, it can supplement their calcium intake.
Besides eggshells, Ningyang County seems to have another good thing in a few months. This stuff can be used to feed chickens, pigs, cows, or horses. In a year of famine, it can even be used to feed people. It can be called a multi-purpose wonder.