They all live a full life and are not killed under any circumstances

Not killing the cows or bulls or oxen is a fundamental principle of Cow Protection. It means that once they are a part of  your herd they will be guaranteed a full life and will die naturally. These males and female cows are not being bred as food from their flesh but they are being bred to produce food from their milk or from their draft work to produce grains and vegetables etc.

The cows will live naturally for about 20 years with some living much longer and some passing away naturally much younger. I kept records of the cows dying on one farm over 20 years and had a figure of 16.25 years as an average lifespan of a cow. This figure took into account any deaths at birth, accidents and natural deaths. If you don’t include the calves lost at birth then the average life is about 18 years. The breads were European types (bos taurus) and I don’t know what the statistics would be for Zebu types (bos Indicus). We had a cow that lived until it was 23 and I have heard of cows on another farm that lived somewhat longer than that. It was not unheard of to lose a cow at 10 years old naturally passing away peacefully over the night to be discovered the next day without any warning she was going to leave us.

Once you buy a cow or produce a calf then  you will need to make plans to ensure the cow is protected for its whole life. This will require a clear plan on how they will all have their needs met not just when they are productively giving milk or providing draft power but when they are young or dry or retired or not well.

Each person who takes up Cow Protection may have different philosophy about why the cow should live out its full life.  This website is dedicated to those who have a philosophy of protecting cows for the entire life of the cows and not just when it is convenient. If milk is going to be produced using the title of Cow Protection milk then it will be a great dishonor to the name and potentially mis-marketed if the producer does not in fact protect the cows for the full life.

There is a great need in society to produce milk and food from protected cows and oxen but it is very important that it is done properly with forethought and appropriate business planning. Once it has begun there is no opt out until the entire herd has passed on. This will add a burden of love on the protectors for many years and reduce the flexibility of choice. There is no choice to kill them or sell them on to anybody else other than another cow protector.