edited by Jeff Wilson & Jim O'Neil, layout by Jeff Wilson
(with thanks to all who volunteered information)
Cattle cost anywhere from $1,000 for a strong young Ox (40% of what a Draft Horse costs) to $5-600 for a middle aged milk cow. An Ox can do about 2/3 of the work (in terms of pulling) that the Draft Horse can do. It is slow, given to problems with rocks in it's cloven hooves, and fair to poor eating (after a life as a draft animal). Cattle are cheap to graze with no special needs. The Ox is a poor man's draft animal; sturdy, slow and easy to care for, and able to use a crude and simple harness. But cattle/oxen are of no use as riding animals and little use as a long distance transportation source. Six to eight Oxen can pull a heavy plow thru very dense clay soils (lack of a heavy plow means subsistence farming at best in these soils) while lighter soils can be plowed with two or at most four Oxen if the grounds very wet or has not been turned in two or more years. An Ox is a Bull that has been castrated. A Steer is a young Ox. An Ox can exert about 900-1,000 pounds of tractive pull and it will not carry much of anything on it's back. They weigh as much as 2,500 pounds (figure weight divided by 32 equals ST) and can be up to ST 80; their relatively poor pulling ability is due to skeletal limitations.
Cattle live up to 20 years, although most go to slaughter by 15. They are relatively expensive to maintain as Beef sources alone, so those that are raised, are for milk or draft animals and go to slaughter when they no longer produce milk/work efficiently. Cheese is an important byproduct of milk and in Tacitus some farms are set up to produce dairy products as a significant portion of their output. This is an unusual case, not found in other kingdoms or the Megalian Empire. Most cows produce 1.5 gallons of milk (about 5 liters) twice a day. Milk fat runs about 4% and there is a definite light yellow tinge to normal milk on Yrth. There are no specific breeds on Yrth, although some farmers are noticing that certain cattle have certain better attributes than cattle from other areas. 1 sq. Km. of land can graze no more than 8 Cows/Oxen, and fewer would be desirable. Note that Cattle cannot graze land after sheep, as the sheep crop everything down to the ground. These numbers are for average land and weather, twice as many could be grazed under very good conditions. Cattle that graze are not as good eating as grain fed cattle, but at 16 pounds of grain per pound a Cow/Ox gains, you can see why they weren't raised for food.
The Draft Horse is comparatively expensive, costing 2.5 times ($2,500) as much as an Ox. It can pull twice as much, but only if it is provided with a specially designed harness that will not choke it. It is limited to about 550 pounds (250Kg) of pull without this harness. With the harness a draft horse can exert a pull of about 2,500 pounds (1135 Kg). A pair of draft horses should be able to pull about 11,000 pounds (5,000 Kg) of free rolling load with out too much trouble. Note that total load pulled can exceed the amount of tractive effort (pull) by several times, so long as there are no steep or long hills to be negotiated. Working Horses require grain (oats, barley, beans, apples or wheat; no corn) and hay, in addition to limited grazing, for extra energy. Large quantities of green grass can cause the horse digestive problems (bloating) and limit it's ability to work.
Another problem is that Draft Horses are very closely related to what the Knights ride, due to their load carrying ability; in time of war, many of the better draft animals may be taken into service. A large horse can carry up to 500 pounds, while smaller horses carry about 210 (ST X 6) to 350 (ST X 10) pounds on their back (see B144).
Horses range from 5 to almost 7 feet at the shoulder and are about 8-9 feet long from nose to tail. A medium riding horse will range from 950 to 1,400 pounds, while a Draft (or War) Horse will go anywhere from 1,800 to 2,300 pounds. They require about 2 pounds of feed per hundred pounds per day, 1/3 of which is grain, fed in at least three smallish meals. Grain provides many more calories per pound than hay or grass, making it the most efficient feed, but no more than 4 lbs should be given at one time. Hay is preferable to grass/grazing for riding animals as this reduces gas & bloating, although they may be turned out to graze when the grass is available. It takes around 6-8 hours for a horse to graze up enough food in good grass land, for 1,200 pound horse to eat as well as it would with the 24 pounds of hay (about a half a bale) and 8 pounds of grain it would get if being ridden or worked to any extent.
An example of a day in a trip by horse might be: before the players eat their breakfast, the horses are fed 3-4lbs of grain. While the players are eating their breakfast, the horses are allowed to graze, providing another 4-5lbs of fodder. The horses should not be worked hard for at least an hour at the beginning of the day. For example, a walk should be all right, a gallop is probably a bad idea. When the players stop for lunch, before the players eat, they feed the horses another 2-3lbs of grain, and again allow them a small amount of grazing during the players lunch. Finally, at dinner, the remainder of the grain should be available, as well as grazing to the horses content. Horses don't graze much during the hours of darkness, so don't count that as feeding time. Failure to feed grain to a working horse, or allow enough time to graze means it suffers effects similar to that of a human. The first day should make the creature uncomfortable, the second day, and health roll would be called for other wise a loss of fatigue, the third day, and a health roll at a minus, etc.
The horse does not normally (and should not be allowed to) eat a large amount at one time, as it might try to do if not fed regularly. This also applies to water, if the horse has gone several hours without drinking. If a horse does eat or drink without control they founder (get ill, have cramps and can't be ridden or worked) for 2D hours, if doubles are rolled, keep the total and roll again adding the two rolls for a total number of hours the Horses are incapacitated.
Riding horses are generally cheaper than Draft animals, although specialized & pure breeds can be much more expensive. The average nag suitable for riding will cost about $1,000 (40% of what a good draft horse runs), if you want a better animal with some ability to run well, expect to start at $1,500.
The Donkey is considerably smaller than the horse (3.5-5 feet at the shoulder, about 7 feet long and up to 550 pounds) and more sure footed on narrow, rocky or slippery paths. It is a less fussy eater and can get along on minimal feed and water for long periods (if it's not being worked hard), but still benefits from some grain in it's diet (figure 2 pounds of hay/grass per 100 pounds of animal weight; substitute up to 25% of this with grain). It will suffer a harness but will not work together with another Donkey, making it of limited use as a draft animal. It can be ridden (but watch that weight) and will pull a small cart with up to 800 pounds (365 Kg) on it. It is not strong enough to pull a plow, and since it won't work with another of it's kind, it can't be teamed up to do anything. It does make a fine pack animal, carrying up to 250 pounds (112 Kg) maximum (ST X 10, Pg B144) and 100 pounds less for long distances (more than 3 or 4 hours travel), but handlers must be alert around other donkeys, lest they fight. It is not fast, in comparison to a horse, and it can be feisty and difficult with it's owner. It is perfectly able to give a potent kick any antagonist or unwary passer-by, if angered (kick = 2d+2 Cr). Despite it's stubborn nature, it is its inability to carry the heavy loads of the Horse, that is it's major failing, or it would be far more popular as a caravan and draft animal. Donkeys come in colors ranging from grey to reddish brown and the mane and tail will be wiry and a darker shade.
The Mule is a cross between a Horse and a Donkey (or Ass). The more prevalent method is to have a male Donkey mate with a female Horse. This gives a horse sized animal (1,200 to 1,500 pounds, ST= Weight divided by 30), which resembles a horse in color, but with a shorter, thicker head and long ears like the Donkey. It brays like a Donkey, but can do 65-70% of the work of a draft horse with less upkeep/special food and the like (it requires 2 pounds of food for every 125 pounds it weighs and will not require grain, tho it will fatigue more easily without it (calculate grain as for the donkey)). It can be used in teams, can be ridden and carries a considerable load (400-450 pounds) as a pack animal. It is not as fast as a horse in a run, but will out last a Horse in stamina over long periods of travel and work.
The other method is to have the Male Horse impregnate the female Donkey. This gives an animal generally called a "Hinny" . This animal will be smaller (800-1,200 pounds, ST= weight divided by 30) and resembles a Horse more closely in shape, to include it's head and short ears, but it will have coloration of a Donkey along with it's stripe across the withers (not always present). Hinnies are more difficult to breed than Mules, and since they are smaller and less able to carry/pull heavy loads, they are also less desirable. They do make a better riding animal, although they cannot carry a very heavy rider (160-240 pounds maximum load depending on ST). Normally male Mules and Hinnies are sterile; although they may still display a normal sex drive. Occasionally a female Mule or Hinny will come into heat and produce a foal. Mules and Hinny's will cost anywhere from 40 to 75% of what a draft horse costs. Mules can carry the same load as a large horse, while Hinny's can carry less and do the work of a small riding horse.
The Camel is valuable only in the desert, where it's ability to live off the moisture found in plants and stored in it's body is of paramount importance. It is uncomfortable to ride, has a nasty disposition (and the inclination to spit on handlers), smells bad and carries about the load of a large a horse (400-500 pounds, double that in overload for short distances). It can be ridden, can be harnessed to pull small wagons, although it's tractive effort is only 25% that of a horse, and works well in caravans. A novel trait is that it's smell will startle and unnerve horses unused to it, making it useful in fighting cavalry from non-desert climates. A Camel is a bit slower than a horse (80% of the speed) but it can out run almost anything on soft sand due to it's wide hooves. It is 1.5 times as fast as the best horse on soft sand. It must be well cared for and fed after a long journey as it will have used much of it's fat reserves to augment the limited rations it is normally fed. Figure a day of rest for every two on the trail and a pound of feed for every 100 pounds of weight plus all the water it wants (this is roughly double rations); more time at those rates will be needed if the trip was harsh. While on the trip, the camel can do with out water and survive off 4 pounds of food a day for as long as twelve to fifteen weeks (if it's not fed at all, it loses 1 HT every other day after the third day without food).
Pigs can be raised on about 9 pounds of grain per pound of animal weight gained. Obviously no Lord could afford this, so Pigs are herded through the local forests and fields where they can forage on their own. Some care must be taken lest the pigs get free and become feral, since a feral pig is as dangerous as a wild boar. Pigs are frequently taken through the fields after the harvest and anywhere else it looks like they could be fattened up a bit at no cost. Because of their relative ease of feeding and low cost, pigs are popular animals on the farm/ manor.
It takes about 1 sq. Km. of grazing land to raise 40 sheep, assuming average conditions. Sheep can graze behind cattle with some loss of food, say 20 sheep can live off a sq. Km. after cattle have grazed it. Note that these numbers are for average lands / weather; in a very good case three times this number could be sustained. A sheep gives about 1/3 of a pound of wool each spring. It takes about 8 pounds of feed for each pound a sheep gains, fortunately this can all come from grazing. Sheep are popular farm animals, offering wool, meat and milk/cheese at a limited cost in care.
The numbers and uses for the goat are very much the same as for sheep. Goats can live on much poorer land than sheep, but do not provide as much or as good quality of wool.
Chickens are relatively easy to raise, provide an egg every day or two per hen on whatever they can scrounge up in the farmyard plus about a 1/2 pound of feed a week in the warm months. In the winter, it's feed requirements go up to 1.5 pounds a week, and it must be provided a draft free, dry nesting place. Egg production falls off in the winter, as it is driven by the amount of daylight. A Chick will grow to a useful eating size in about 8-10 weeks depending on how much outside forage it can find. Figure about 4 pounds of grain/food for each pound a chicken gains, again, the grain requirement is much reduced if the chickens can forage on their own.
Chickens are not smart and are fair game for every sort of predator that lives near by. A farmer can spend a lot of effort trying to keep them alive long enough for him to eat them. Wings are sometimes clipped to keep them ground bound, although even with full feathers, a chicken will not fly far, typically they are able to fly up to about 10 feet high or about 15-20 feet horizontally. This can be a pain for a farmer, however, if the chickens start laying in the rafters.
In the winter, the Chickens feed requirements are greater than the potential "gain", so flocks are thinned down by getting rid of all the Roosters (except maybe one). The Farmer may sell some off and eat the rest over the fall. A Farmer will let any setting hen alone, so many of the eggs hatch. A flock of 5 hens will normally hatch about 30 chicks a year. Chickens are very popular farm animals.
Ducks & Geese are basically the same as chickens although they both require more feed per bird and some sort of pond/water. Geese are often kept as "watchdogs", something they do very well. Their bite is painful, although hardly lethal, but they can strike a sharp blow capable of breaking an arm with their wing. Ducks & Geese must have their wings clipped to keep them from flying off. These birds take about 5 pounds of grain per pound they gain, which of course is much reduced if they can forage. Since these animals prefer water, they are less favored than Chickens, although if there is water around, they are popular.
The early method of farming was a two crop rotation, with one field planted and the next fallow (unplanted, unplowed and just resting). This was typical of feudal times in the Middle Ages, where the Lord's fields were mixed in among the serfs' and freemen's. In difficult country (mountains for example) the closer fields would be extensively and intensively cultivated; using manure, compost and plant material brought in from outer fields to enrich the soil. Slag from iron smelting and other additives were used to help maintain soil quality. The outer fields were used to graze the animals.
The newer and better technique that first occurred around 1000 AD, was to use a 3 field rotation, with one in vegetables, one in a winter grain and one fallow. The fallow field could be used to graze the animals, gaining the benefit of their manure, while the winter grain might be oats to support horses, or winter wheat.
The two field rotation generally yielded a 2.5 fold return on the seed used to plant it. The shallow plowing and planting were typical for an early feudal society using Oxen. It will work much better in warmer (semi-tropical and tropical) climates and provide a bit better return.
The later three field system came hand in hand with the use of the horse as a draft animal, and the deep plow to turn the earth from as far down as 18 inches. The three field system was designed to feed the horses it took to pull the deep plow and returned 4 times the seed used on average. With it, came the first step in the downfall of the feudal system, as the lords fields were now separated from the others. The next step was to fence or hedge around the fields to control entry and grazing of the animals. Where in a feudal system the animals were all herded together over the grazing fields, they were now separated out according to who owned them, and grazed on the owners lands more often than not.
The Renaissance/Colonial period gave us water meadows (1635) which gave the cows and horses hay to eat, followed by the turnip (1662), and the utilization of clover (circa 1660) as a fertilizer.
I have given average yields in average soil, given average weather, but much higher yields were known in better soils, and in better weather. A really good crop on excellent soil could yield 10 or even 15 times the seed used. This is still well short of modern yields, but it was worth a lot in those times!
A 100 meter X 100 meter (1 hectare or 2.471 acres) patch of wheat, yielding a return of 4 times the seed used, would produce about 2,000 pounds of seed/grain. Allowing for one fourth to be saved for the next year, and at least one fourth of the remaining seed/grain to be given to the land holder/lord, the farmers would have enough off this plot to feed three people (although not very well). If the land were planted in Barley, a slightly smaller return might be expected (say 3 times the seed). A Bushel of Wheat is approximately 48 pounds, while a bushel of oats is 24 and a bushel of barley is about 42 pounds. Most dried Beans are about 42 pounds a bushel as well. Prices vary, but in a farming area, a bushel of wheat might bring $40, while a bushel of oats would be around $25 and barley around $30. Beans are normally about $12 a bushel, but all these costs can fluctuate wildly (as much as 50%) with bumper crops driving them down or prices going way up in a city where everything has to be brought in.
A typical serf might have two to three patches of 100 sq meters of ground, or as many as five or six; some under grain, plus other area's growing vegetables, and still others grazing animals. In good years, most all of the surplus would go to the land holder, but the serf would certainly be allowed some of the bounty to ensure his continued efforts.
A freeman would keep most of the bounty, if any, although he would pay 6-12% in transfer taxes to the local Lord when he sold his surplus off, as well as a portion of his harvest for the cost of the Lords protection. You can assume that the freeman ended up losing about one fourth of his "average" harvest to the local Lord. He might have anywhere from 5, to as much as 25 or 30 100X100 meter patches (i.e. 2.5 to 3 sq Km.). With some in grazing, some in grain, some in vegetables and maybe a small area of fruits/orchard, he could hope to live a hard working but decent existence.
For comparison, a hunter-gatherer society in a cold, northern temperate climate could need as much as 2.5 square km per person (that's over 960 acres or 1.5 square miles) to provide for a reasonable amount to eat, and long winters would be hard indeed, although special cases might alter this (the Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest did little more than gather abundant shellfish and sea foods and eat them). In a tropical climate, a hunter gatherer society would need about 1 acre/person to gather more than enough food to eat. Obviously, as you head toward the poles, the amount of available food per given area of land drops. Consider the latitude, vegetation, and special local conditions (such as fishing or hot springs that lure winter birds/animals) as well as severity of the seasons to determine how tough the hunter-gatherer might have it. Hunter-Gatherers are not going to stay where life is too hard, so if they live in an area, you must have a reasonable means for their survival.
| This page © 1999 by Jefferson A. Wilson. This page is an original creation. It is not official and the use of any trademarks is not an endorsement by the holder of the trademark of this work. The mention or reference of any companies or products in these pages is not intended as a challenge to the trademarks or copyrights concerned. |
| The author is a member of |
This page was created by Jefferson Wilson using the Programmer's File Editor (PFE) by Alan Phillips, and with the assistance of the Web Design Group's HTML 4.0 Reference. | Validated to |
| © 1999 by Jefferson Wilson. All rights reserved. This page last updated April 1, 2005. Contact Jeff_Wilson63@bigfoot.com with suggestions or problems. |