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FREE RANGE DAIRY® |
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FREE
RANGE DAIRY is the registered trade mark of Free Range
Dairy cc Reg No CK 2009/085901/23 |
'Certify your cows
free-range' - Farmer's Weekly 16 April 2010 -
Father and son team Allan and Kevin
Penderis from the Natal Midlands have developed the first
legitimate, independent certification for free-range dairy
in South Africa. Kevin tells Robyn Joubert that it couldn't
have come at a better time.
Read more... |
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Mallards - "Rapists" of the Duck
World
- "The Mallard is very adaptable and can inhabit almost
every type of water body, natural and man-made. Mallards are
extremely aggressive and often kill ducklings of indigenous
species; they may also out-compete the locals for habitat
and food. The word ‘foreplay’ is not in the Mallard’s
vocabulary - male Mallards will pursue female ducks to the
point of exhaustion, and then force themselves on the poor
victim in what can only be described as rape!" -
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife |
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| The mallard duck
Anas platyrhynchos – possibly the world’s most numerous
duck – is native to Eurasia and North America. It has been
introduced to a number of countries outside this range,
where it poses a serious conservation threat by hybridising
with related species and causing genetic contamination of
indigenous duck populations. For example, the New Zealand
grey duck, once considered the most widespread and abundant
duck in New Zealand, today makes up only 5% of the total
mallard-grey duck hybrid population. The Mexican duck is now
listed as extinct, as all the remaining birds were found to
be hybrids. The mallard also hybridises with both the
American black duck and the Australian black duck. |
| The mallard was first
introduced to South Africa in the 1940s, and in the early
1960s was commonly sold by bird dealers. It has now been
recorded at more than 70 sites throughout the country, and
commonly hybridises with the
Yellowbilled duck, which fills
the same ecological role and has similar behaviour. The
Yellowbilled duck is widely distributed in Africa, and the
mallard invasion puts the entire population at risk. A
Yellowbilled duck banded in Cape Town was recovered in
Zambia, and it can be assumed that hybrids would have the
same motility. |
| The mallard has also been reported
to hybridise with the
African black duck and the
Cape
shoveler. Control efforts are underway in some centres, but
these usually encounter strong public opposition, largely
due to a lack of awareness around the dangers of visually
appealing and seemingly harmless invasives like the mallard. |
Yellow-billed duck |
Mallard hybrid |
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Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife give the following advice: "If you
have Mallards in your backyard, preferably remove them, or
at least enclose them totally so they cannot escape or be
joined by wild waterfowl. If you know of free-flying
Mallards on a dam or in a wetland, or if you would like
advice or assistance with removing them, please contact your
local Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife District Conservation Officer (DCO).
You can find out who your local DCO is by contacting (033)
845 1999, or going to
www.kznwildlife.com,
or alternatively you may send any sightings to
mallards@kznwildlife.com." |
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| Conjugated Linoleic Acid in
Milk
from Pasture-Fed Cows - Milk and
meat from pasture-fed cows can contain 3 to 5 times as much
conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) as that from animals fed
50% silage & hay and 50% concentrates, a typical TMR ration
(Reference). |
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CLA has
antioxigent
and strong
anticarcinogenic properties. It is also known for its body weight management
properties, which include reducing body fat and increasing
lean muscle mass. Other benefits of CLA include its ability
to lower triglycerides and
LDL
cholesterol,
to reduce glucose
output in diabetics and to strengthen the immune system.
Linoleic acid cannot be made in the body and must
consequently be supplied in food. It is an essential fatty
acid in human nutrition. |
| For further reading
please see the excellent entry with many references on Wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjugated_linoleic_acid#cite_note-34 |
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| Milk-Drinking
Weightlifters Gain Muscle, Lose Fat -
After 12 weeks of rigorous
weightlifting, young amateur weightlifters that drank milk
after each workout, lost nearly twice as much fat and gained
significantly more muscle than those that drank either soy
or carbohydrate drinks. (Reference) |
In a 12-week study of
56 healthy young men (ages 18-30) at McMaster University,
milk drinkers gained 40 percent (1.1 kg) more muscle than
soy protein beverage drinkers and 60 percent (1.5 kg) more
muscle than those who drank a carbohydrate beverage. In
addition to building more muscle, milk drinkers lost one
kilogram of fat at the end of 12 weeks, almost double that
of the athletes drinking the carbohydrate beverage. Soy
protein beverage drinkers lost no fat.
Athletes worked out five days per week and were provided
500ml of fat-free milk, soy protein beverage or a
carbohydrate drink after weight-lifting and another drink an
hour later. All drinks were equal in calories and the milk
and soy protein beverages provided the same amount of
protein, fat and carbohydrates, yet researchers noted
substantial differences in the muscle gained and fat lost at
the end of the study.
Dr Stuart Phillips, one of
the researchers at McMaster University, commented on the
results: |
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"I think the
evidence is beginning to mount. Milk may be best known for
its calcium content in supporting bone health, but our
research, and that of others, continually supports milk's
ability to aid in muscle growth and also promote body fat
loss. To my mind -- with milk being a source of nine
essential nutrients -- it's a no brainer: milk is the ideal
post-workout drink for recreational exercisers and athletes
alike."
See the report in
Medical News Today. Read
the full research report
here (pdf documant). |
|
Milk: The new sports drink? A Review
by Brian D Roy published in Journal of the International
Society of Sports Nutrition |
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