kamalktk
Antediluvian
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2011
- Messages
- 7,597
There were a couple of mentions of "Judas Goats" on the forums, but no information on what they actually were.
tldr: tobacco addicted goats led lambs to the slaughter.
https://www.agweb.com/news/livestoc...zarre-drug-addicted-masters-deceit-once-ruled
more at link above
-------------------
In one of the most bizarre spectacles in agriculture history, nicotine-addicted Judas goats once led sheep to slaughter down livestock’s version of the green mile. The aptly named Judas goats, rewarded with a single cigarette for every herd of sheep deceitfully escorted to the killing floor, were once key players in meatpacking plants.
It strains credulity to envision the surreal parade of a lone goat leading sheep across a meatpacking facility, coaxing the flock up concrete ramps, delivering the herd beyond the point of no return, and then hustling toward a nicotine fix and a repeat performance. However, Judas goats were part-and-parcel of livestock slaughter, and their history sheds a fascinating light on a bygone era. Betrayal by bleat and tobacco.
....
However, theory is tighter than practice. Getting large quantities of livestock to the top floor, a space bathed in the smell of death, required systematic efficiency. Cows could be cajoled; pigs could be coaxed; but sheep were a breed apart—an entirely different proposition.
Enter the Judas goat.
tldr: tobacco addicted goats led lambs to the slaughter.
Judas Goats: Agriculture’s Bizarre, Drug-Addicted Masters of Deceit Once Ruled the Killing Floor
https://www.agweb.com/news/livestoc...zarre-drug-addicted-masters-deceit-once-ruled
more at link above
-------------------
In one of the most bizarre spectacles in agriculture history, nicotine-addicted Judas goats once led sheep to slaughter down livestock’s version of the green mile. The aptly named Judas goats, rewarded with a single cigarette for every herd of sheep deceitfully escorted to the killing floor, were once key players in meatpacking plants.
It strains credulity to envision the surreal parade of a lone goat leading sheep across a meatpacking facility, coaxing the flock up concrete ramps, delivering the herd beyond the point of no return, and then hustling toward a nicotine fix and a repeat performance. However, Judas goats were part-and-parcel of livestock slaughter, and their history sheds a fascinating light on a bygone era. Betrayal by bleat and tobacco.
....
However, theory is tighter than practice. Getting large quantities of livestock to the top floor, a space bathed in the smell of death, required systematic efficiency. Cows could be cajoled; pigs could be coaxed; but sheep were a breed apart—an entirely different proposition.
Enter the Judas goat.
