[GTALUG] Right to Repair Article in NYT

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: ac via talk <talk at gtalug.org>

| what is the diff between male and female bovine excrement? :)

Male cattle are bulls (or steers, if castrated).
Female cattle are cows (or heifers, if young).

OT: "mankind" includes females.  "Cows" is often used in a way that
includes males.

The distinction in the case of excrement is just a matter of idiomatic 
English.  "Cowshit" is just not a common expression.  I've 
never heard "steershit" or "heifershit".

No such distinction is made in the equine or porcine cases.

Chickens are another interesting case.  Female chickens are chickens.  
Males are roosters (or capons).  I will leave the application to excrement 
as a exercise for the reader.

Cows are normally smaller than bulls.  In literal terms, they have
less excrement per individual.  At least in dairy herds (what I have
experience with), there are way more cows than bulls (for obvious
reasons) so the balance of excrement tips the other way.

Cattle excrement may vary depending on the situations in which it appears.  
Partly this is diet and partly it is due to post-evacuation mechanical 
factors.

- grazing

- feedlot

- in stalls in a barn

- loose in a barn.

- on the bottom of your shoes

Bulls are usually kept in stalls (if at all).  This is to control their 
propensity to fight and to breed in ways not controlled by the herdsman / 
herdswoman.  This has an effect on the excrement.