Keeping Animals Aboard Ship

We've discussed food preservation at length on this channel. The ability to store food for further down the line is a necessity for human life then and now, it hasn't changed one bit. How do you keep food from spoiling aboard ship? How about feeding yourself on the frontier? Find out right here!

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[TimChuma]

Captain Cook told his crew the pickled cabbages were just for the officers so they would steal and eat them, thus preventing scurvy or that is the story that was told.

[sheilam]

This food preservation information isn't repeated enough. When we hear how "tough it was in the old days" we rarely hear about this. When we hear about "going off-grid" we rarely hear about this. This information is far too often overlooked when talking about the "old days" or "going off-grid" and many other times this was important information for success. It needs repeating more often than it is. Thx for doing this, filming it and sharing it with us.

[williamromine]

Even in town, it was not uncommon for a dog to kill chickens if they are not caged at night. I am 82, and grew up in a small town in Wyoming, and before refrigerator trucks became common, such vegitables as fresh tomatos were not available in winter. We have become very spoiled when it comes to fresh produce in winter.

[wayneantoniazzi]

There's a very brief segment in that superb movie "Master and Commander" where you see the livestock on board HMS Surprise, a great attention to detail!

[kittyprydekissme]

It's always been amazing to me that the Polynesians were able to colonise the Pacific with nothing but giant canoes. It's even more amazing when you realise they brought chickens, pigs, and dogs with them.

[nancypine]

There was also the matter of getting those animals to America. When the Winthrop Expedition of 1630 landed in what would become Boston, several of the ships brought the horses and sheep and so on that they needed to start the settlement. Most of the other landings did as well, because they were so desperately needed.

[henriquebrenzinger]

I can't have breakfast on a Sunday without your videos.

[okancanarslan]

We often complain how monotonous our life is and want some excitement, risk and chaos while for people of the past, a monotonous life was all they wanted because their life was full of risks of starvation, disease and death.

[shanewaters]

The clipper ship City Of Adelaide was custom built to bring settlers to the colony of Adelaide. I went on the tour a while back (it's a museum now) and it literally had a barn on the deck.

The ship would set sail with 2 cows (a small breed, Shetland I think), half a dozen sheep and a bunch of chickens.

Apparently first class passengers were guaranteed a cup of milk and an egg daily, while the sheep were slaughtered for meat.

There is an old newspaper clipping on display about an event where some scallywag snuck one of the cows into a first class cabin.

They went back to their cabin after dinner and were greeted with moooo 🐄.

[ItsAVolcano]

One of the main reasons the Galapagos tortoise nearly went extinct was because of how good they were as ship animals. They were easy to collect, could go weeks without eating, and during storms would retreat into their shells allowing the crew to literally stack them in a cabin for safekeeping.

The biggest value of course was that they were incredibly delicious, and with how quickly "turtle" meat goes bad the large tortoises meant everyone in the crew got to eat at least some fresh meat. And as a final added bonus the tortoises have a special organ that contains up to 4 pints of what is essentially purified water, providing a premium treat for the captain's table or much needed fresh water for the ship's doctor to mix medicines.

[Beryllahawk]

I had no idea that ships commonly kept any animals on board until I played a video game called "The Return of the Obra Dinn." I learned a LOT during that game, including getting a much clearer idea of the actual scale of sailing ships. In point of fact the one cow they had on board was kind of a plot point...
Great video!

[tmalfieri]

Thumbnail pic: “Portrait of a Man and His Chicken”. A classic!

😂😂😂😂🐓🐓🐓❤

[MapleHillMunitions]

They are rebuilding our local early settlement fort here in KY.

Also my 5th great grandfather was charged with stealing a castrated hog in 1805, since he was a valley forge vet it was taken easy on him 😂

[richardrybicki]

I'm in Florida near Pana Fello DeNarvez's landing..Many cattle, pigs,sheep, small horses.Were left to survive on their own.We still have decendant pigs that are a problem.

[MsLeenite]

Thank you, Jon and crew. An important topic to ponder. As always, the prints and other artwork really help bring the subject to life. And it's fun to see you pop up like a time-traveling Forrest Gump on a sailing ship or in the wilderness. "Townsends is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get."

[ShermanT.Potter]

This may be of interest to someone. I'm primarily a hog farmer, but I have a few chickens for eggs. I keep them in the farrowing "birthing" house with the hogs. They get along excellently together, and just recently when I was in there, a chicken became caught in a gate and called out. The sows rushed to the chicken as if it was a baby pig. Whether they thought it was a baby pig, or they wanted to protect the chickens, I don't know, but I thought that was interesting.

[DIYenthusiastfreak]

Mr. Townsends, I always love your videos on food preservation. They help me appreciate that meal I don’t care for, I will always remember ship biscuits full of red worms and spider eggs and bottoms up what I have, how grateful I am.😊

[bradlafferty]

Learning about sailing shipboard livestock was through the stories of Patrick O’Brian in the Aubrey/Maturin series of the British Naval Napoleonic era. Great reading!

[torchris]

One animal you missed are pigeons! Apparently they were one of the easiest to carry and breed onboard ship and would cook up nicely. People used to eat them all the time.

[dwaynewladyka]

Food these days is something that we take for granted. We have canned goods, and other types of preserving methods that didn't exist long ago. Back then, they had to find other ways of keeping food fresh. Cheers!