Odd Invention: Idle Livestock Hit the Treadmill to Generate Electricity For Farms

two cows could run a house!

It made me think of draft horses and old style mills, hopefully farmers that utilize this will be kinder to the cows!!

Finally.

Been thinking "why not?".

Way cool.

That is a seriously awesome invention.

poor cows

i think it IS a terrific idea, at least as far as the farmers are concerned.

i hope the cows will get alternated- some days in the pasture some on the treadmill... i would hate to think they'd be trapped indoors their entire lives, walking to nowhere.

Last Edited by Thoughts Faux Fodder on 04/16/2010 07:39 PM

Yes, I hate to think of any animal trapped on an endless treadmill. When I see a dog tied to a moving bicycle it makes me cringe when I see that.

How so?
Good exercise -> healthier & happier cow,
especially in the wintertime.


Peace.

=One tough Steak!

I'm thinking how awesome it would be to throw my goats on there. All they ever do is spend their time trying to break out. If we could make them productive instead that would be the bee's knees!

they are talking about milk cows, and say it may up production with possibly less methane production.
If we are going to continue farming livestock, it makes sense to become as efficient as possible in all ways,without increasing misery on those animals.
just my opinion.

Last Edited by Thoughts Faux Fodder on 04/16/2010 08:00 PM

i got a heck of a visual from that, i love goats, we used to have 2 and will be getting milk goats once we move :-)

Yes, me too.
But the real problem there is the insanity of the War On Small Scale going on,
methinks.

When I was a kid, we got our milk, all summer long, from a farm nearby our
cabin, where one lady farmer seemed to get by and thrive with 10 animals
or so...
Loved to hear her singing calls for the cows to get back indoors echoing along
the waterfront in the evenings.
Pure magic! :)
Nowadays, you'd need to multiply that number of cows with at least 20, before
you can even call it a farm.
A bit sad for my own kids, thay never got to experience that kind of thing.

That endlessly beautiful rural landscape has turned into something much more
industrial-looking...and I don't like it one bit.
The population of this country back then was 5 million.
We're still (minus the new...ummh...immigrants) about 5 mil.
So...why?

Seems to me the War On Small Scale is just another modus operandi of the
much bigger War On Love, that's been going on for Lord knows how many
centuries/millennia.

Sorry for long, off-topic rant.


Peace.

Give the cows a T.V. to watch and the barn would be just like a Gold's gym or Bally's.

Didn't occur to me,
since I do not eat meat myself.

i agree with you - we live close to what used to be a dairy town but most of the farms are long closed. My mom used to get raw milk from them when we were small , that is a crime now, due to food safety laws.
Gotta protect us from everything y'know .........

It's not a new idea...I saw a 'treadmill' for draft animals in a museum once, I think it powered a thresher

You don't generally eat milk cows.



Though old ones, beyond milk producing, are used in ground beef sold to instituions and fast food chains.



Awesome invention BTW!

... next up on Bovine tv, the cud report...

I didn't know that , thanks!

Maybe we should do this with congress

oddly enough , one of my first thoughts was, wow , this could open up a whole new job industry from people powered energy.
i bet people wouldn't be as consistent as the cows tho.

Do the cows have to have emissions testing done on them?

i bet so and bovine flatulence omission occurrence inspector may move to the top of my worlds worst job list....

the current holder is : Pig Titillator. [link to blog.ted.com]

Last Edited by Thoughts Faux Fodder on 04/16/2010 09:04 PM

so it's a new application for an old idea.. good to know, thanks :-) :peace: