Why are cows that won't breed called Free Martins?

Question

A slow night at work last night and the subject came up as we have a lot of dairy farmers in our little community.

Answer 1

Let's see.....
A female calf (and later, the resultant adult cow) that is sterile and shows masculine traits because it was the twin of a male calf.
It's kinda confusing got something to do with the birth and twins.

Answer 2

Hmmm is this an ethical question or a vetrinary one? On a Vertrinary level - Yes, dairy cows do need to be milked regularly. Regularly scheduled milking is good for the health and comfort of the cow and keeps the level of milk production up. Ethically it's a bit more complicated. Humans and domesticated animals have a symbiotic realtionship going back at least 5000 in our recorded history. Humans need the milk, meat, hides, bones and scat of cattle to survive. In turn for thexe things humans kept the species alive and defened them from predators. The fact that cows are edible gaurenteed the perpetuation of their speices. The same situation is tru for chickens, pigs and other livestock. The utility of animals meant that they got a helping hand in surviving the evolutionary game. On the other side of things... Many factory style farms are barely humane places. Most modern independant dairy farmers take VERY good care of their cows. It is in their best interst to do so as the cows are the farmer's livelyhood. It is usually only in factory farms where animals are routinly abused. The workers and supervisors at such places are employees and as such have no vested interest in the welfare of the livestock. If you want to stop unnescisary harm being inflicted on animals in the agriculture industry then you need to lobby your government to curb corporate agribuisness. Keep in mind that family farms produce costlier food. Every thing has its tradeoffs. The cows traded off being eaten for continued existence.

Answer 3

Never heard that before. They should change the name to Frigid Martins

Answer 4

No one's really sure. It might be related to the Irish Gaelic word for heifer - mart.