Livestock Raised in 1920s Nebraska
Sheep
Humans have been raising sheep for their wool for thousands
of years. Domesticated sheep have been bred for their thick
coats of wool.
When their
wool is
long
enough it is shorn off, cleaned, and
woven into clothing. Some sheep are also raised for their
meat, called mutton.
Cattle
Cattle were raised for either beef or dairy products. Dairy
cattle needed to be milked twice a day. The milk produced
was run through a separator to get the cream. The cream
would be sold to a creamery to be made into butter, ice cream,
or cheese.
When beef cattle were fully grown they would be loaded
onto a train and taken to the Omaha stockyards. There, the
cattle would be sold to meat processing companies. These
companies would turn the cattle into steaks, hamburgers and
hot dogs to sell to grocery stores and restaurants.
Hogs
Farmers raised hogs to provide meat to eat and sell. Hogs
are butchered to make bacon, ham, pork chops, pork ribs,
sausage and other cuts of meat. Some farm families deep fried
the pork rinds to make crispy treats called "cracklins."
Horses
On the farm, horses provided manual labor and transportation
for the farmer's family. Since most farmers in the 1920s
didn't have tractors they used horses to pull their plows,
planters, wagons, and cultivators. Keeping the horses healthy
and rested was critical to farmers. If their horses got
sick from poor care, it could cost the farmer dearly.
Farmers would hook up buggies to their horses to drive to town. Some farmers kept horses for their children to ride to school. As more farmers bought cars, horses were used for transportation less and less.
Chickens
Chickens were raised for their eggs and meat. Most male
chickens, called roosters, were usually eaten as soon as
they were
large enough. The female chickens, called pullets, were kept
to lay eggs. The eggs they gave were sold in town. By selling
eggs, farmers could earn cash while they waited for the crops
to be harvested.
Cleaning the chicken coop was dirty, smelly work but the manure they cleaned out was used to fertilize the fields.
Written by Claudia Reinhardt.
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Livestock
Raised in 1920s Nebraska
