"Fran Higham" writes:
"John Savage" wrote in message
and the ox, selective breeding over generations could give us a heavy-set
less-athletic 'roo---more tractable and less flighty---and ultimately more
manageable.

But why would one want to? They taste like shite (unless you get an
extremely young one) and only small sections of them are worth eating IMHO.

Taste is a matter of, well, ..... taste! There was a time when housewives
shunned the mass-produced chicken in favour of their home-reared chook
because of the comparatively bland, tasteless flavour of the former. Now
that the population is accustomed to the cardboard chicken, most would not
find favour in the strongly-flavoured chewy texture of the home-bred chook.
Perhaps we could come to accept a strongly flavoured farmed very dark red
meat? Modified recipes might be in order, making meat but one component of
the meal rather than the central feature. The popularity of our game meat
in Europe (Germany in particular, including it in their sausages), shows
that there are those who value meat with strong flavour. I believe Germany
will take as much game meat as we can export: wild pig, horse, roo, etc.
Didn't the Poms turn to roo meat when that Mad Cow disease scare was
running rampant? I am sure that the collective national taste can adapt,
it just takes time and appropriate encouragement (such as an economical
price). Much has been made of roo meat being healthier because of its
very low fat level. (I think I would take longer than most to adapt to
eating a strongly-flavoured meat, so I understand your misgivings.)

Camels, as someone else suggested might be more useful but then I've never
eaten camel and don't fancy Camel milk either. At current rates it would
seem that the marketing has been successful in one person out of 20 million.
That is not encouraging.

On the contrary. The Islamic world is a vast untapped market! We just need
a whole drove of halal butchers.

They do tail-docking of lambs and some dogs, and I am wondering about
the result on its speed of tail-docking a roo as a joey. Anyone ever
seen a 'roo without a tail, perhaps as the result of an accident, and
can say how this affected its ability to leap?

I wouldn't want to slow them down a lot, as sudden speed from a standing
start is their main defence against the dingo. (Now there's another soft-
footed bundle of edible protein: dog meat. Hmmm ....)

Anyway, GM experimentation should soon be able to create the ideal farm
animal for any region!

I can see you've got those pigs fed, suited up and ready for take off.

We are well advanced in our plans, Fran. Not only is the flock of porcine
fliers fed and kitted out, but they are flapping their little wings and
doing tentative practice jumps into the breeze. First circuits of the
airstrip will happen any day soon. Expect to see marinated pork wings on
your supermarket shelves by next Christmas!!! And remember--you read it
first here.
--
John Savage, keeping under wraps another of his GM projects: a rabbit that
lays eggs! Expect to see it in the news before Easter ....