The Cowshed on Our Kibbutz
We
have been living on Kibbutz
Tuval for eight years and thus far, we hadn’t had the
opportunity to visit
our cowshed, although our son even worked there for
his post military
service job six years ago. To our delight, as part of the celebration
of the Shavuot
holiday, we received an invitation from the cultural
committee of Tuval to
have a guided tour led by the manager of the cowshed.
We
arrived, met the very pleasant
manager, and sat in the meeting room of the cowshed for a fascinating
orientation. We then went on a tour of the entire site, saw the milking
process, the cow nutrition center, and the various sheds, with loads of
solar
panels on their roofs to supply electricity and huge ceiling fans and a
sprinkler system for cooling the cows on hot days. We even saw the
cows’ food after
the cows – uh – processed it. It was a truly engaging and fun tour. The
pictures speak for themselves.
Although
we personally do not
consume meat, eggs, or milk and strongly oppose
violence against animals
we were happy to find that in Tuval they treat the cows humanely,
caring for
them in a kind and compassionate way (at least until their sad end).