this has been a fun thread to follow! i follow all threads in this forum. but rodney, now, as a former child slave & having shoveled many mountains of noxious, both bovine & equine, fecal odiferousness, i have always been taught by elder, no longer enslaveed, gardening experts, that bovine stuff preferrable to equine as the former passes thru 3 guts and there are less weeds seeds in finished outpourings. also, this old cowgirl also knows that cattle ranching and feedlot cattle damaging methods of bovine meat production do not equate. grass fed beef is more nutritious than feed lot, studies have shown. i had never heard of or seen feedlot operations until i moved to washington state. disgusting. i could go full vegie quite easily now!

a fun fact - "Macybaby" is actually the nickname of a horse I use to own. We sold the horses a few years ago as they had become nothing but pasture pets. They went to a camp that specializes in suicide prevention for troubled NA kids - nothing like the outside of a horse for the inside of a kid!

In the fall we'd have a large stack of hay - but spring we'd have a large pile of digested hay. Been adding it to the garden each time it gets worked up.

I've nothing against slave labor or chores as punishment but suffice it to say when it is done with sadistic pleasure by and for the punisher then it goes too far. 'Nuff said.

Horses over cows any old day of the week except I like my milk. :p

My daughter has 3 goats. Her children have learned a lot and yes they do all kinds of, gasp, manual labor. They have all have gone to the doctor dirty - but their doctor says she would rather see dirty, happy, some what scrawny, skinned knees children with good imaginations and good work ethics.

My personal opinion is that all children should be taught the ethics of work -- after all, the world owes no one a living! There were five of us when I was a child. From the oldest to the youngest, we all had things we had to do. There were lots of times when my mother was unable to do anything due to poor health, and I had to do the cooking. The first biscuits I made could be classified as lethal weapons they were so tough! LOL! Try doing laundry for 8 in the old wringer washer and rinse tubs! When I say this, I don't regret it! I think it prepared me for life in general!

Jeanette