People in Krasna also had many domestic animals. The large farms and other conditions merited this. Aside from horses and cattle, people raised pigs and sheep, as well as poultry. There was plenty of pasture land and lots of hay, as well as chaff and other plant foods. According to official statistics of 1827 Krasna had 265 horses, 1,335 head of cattle and 367 sheep. ¹⁾) Cattle was kept in pens called Harmans and almost all of the farms had such Harmans.

Contrary to other national groups, the Germans started using horses as work animals instead of oxen. Horses were a colonist’s pride and joy. They performed all draft work on the field, on the street or while threshing. They also were utilized in the few hours of leisure for horseback rides and as draft animals on coaches and sleighs. For many farmers the horse was also a status symbol, much like cars are today.

The colonists began early on to produce a horse for their specific requirements, called the “deutsche Kolonistenpferd” (German colonist horse). The colonist horse was a light horse. According to available sources it was a cross of Arabians, Orlow Trotters and other breeds. It was strong and tough and had an elegant gait. It had to work very hard. Over time this horse became famed beyond the Bessarabian colonies and it was sought after at markets.

Image 55: Orlow Trotter

Krasna farmers also raised horses which became famed beyond the settlements. Florian Müller ²⁾) writes: Until the Resettlement Karamurat people bought their pretty horses in Krasna. After the feast day of the Holy Three Kings, several farmers took the train to Krasna every year and returned with a wagon and 20-30 horses across the frozen Danube.

Image 56: Stud horses

In the early years, the German villages bought stud horses at a cost to the communities. These studs were mostly bought in Cherson and Tauria, east of Odessa. The same was true in Krasna, but in Rumanian times stud horses were only kept by individual farmers.

After the foundation of the colony, Krasna had 265 horses, meaning that each farm had at least two horses and in 1940 the roughly 500 farms had between 1,500 and 2,000 horses. Small farms had about four horses, medium ones six to eight and large farms even more. A minimum of four horses were required for threshing. In emergencies two horses were hitched to a wagon. Note: For horse feed, See further below, Feeding of the Livestock

At the settlement in 1814/1815, each farm received a pair of oxen and a cow. Oxen as draft animals were soon eliminated since the colonists believed horses were better suited as draft animals. Cattle were used as a source of income. In the beginning German farmers still had a surplus of pasture land and it was used to raise the young anmals. Colonists bought young animals, raised them at pasture, fattened them up and sold them in Odessa in the fall. There, butcher cattle was sought after, and until the turn of the century when cattle production was a better source of income than grain cultivation.

At first the colonists raised domestic livestock, which they deemed excellent for the conditions of Bessarabia. The Ukrainian cow produced only little milk, but this did not matter since the colonies were mostly concerned with meat production until the 1890s. Milk was only used for the home.
The situation changed at the turn of the century and people raised more milk producing cattle. The so-called red cow of Molotschna, South Russa, was preferred since it did well in the steppe climate.

After annexing Bessarabia to Rumania, beef cattle lost importance but milk and buter fetched a good price, so the Bessarabian farmers began concentrating on raising milk production for cows. Stable feeding increased and the pastures were improved by the planting of better grain. This was also important since pasture land was reduced in Rumanian times, due to land shortages and farm land was preferred.
At the turn of the century the red Molotschna cow dominated, but in the 1930's the so-called Angeler Cow from Schleswig Holstein was added.

The increase of milk production and the income sources related to it led to the founding of dairies in the German villages, which took over the processing of the milk. This was also true for Krasna.
See also 4.4, The Guilds, Trade and Bank Management of Krasna

The colonist learned sheep raising from the Moldavians, who already raised sheep when the colonists arrived. Aside from producing wool and meat, the Bessarabians used sheep to produce a sheep cheese. Lamb meat was eaten with gusto and it also sold well. Lambing time was in March.
See also 5.5, Food and Clothing

The sale of sheep pelts was also a source of income and the foundation for clothing manufacturers in Tarutino and other places. Sheep were taken to pasture with shepherds in the summer and kept in the Harmans (pens) in the winter.

In the final years before resettlement, farmers experimented with raising Karakul sheep, a very valuable kind of sheep. The wool from their lambs was made into Persian pelts and used for the typical black pelt hats of the men.

Aside from the pig, cows were important to the diet of colonists. Raising pigs was not an econonical income source in the 19th or 20th century, because people did not raise pigs as a source of income. People raised Moldavian stock, not specific breeds.
After the turn of the century people still raised pigs from their own stock. Piglets were mostly purchased at market in Tarutino or Arzis. These piglets were raised up and fattened to be butchered in the fall or winter and the saying went, “the fatter the pig, the prouder the farmer.” Pork also produced tallow, smoked meat, ham and sausages. Pigs were kept in simple wooden enclosures, since they were butchered in the fall/winter.
See also 5.5, Food and Clothing

One has to differentiate between pasture and stable feeding.

In Krasna, as in other colonies, all livestock, including the geese (as well as the horses not needed for work), were taken to the community pasture in the summer to graze and eat. These animals were watched over by herdsmen, who took the animals to pasture, weather permitting, from early spring to late fall, Horned animals came home at night. Sheep, horses and young stock remained at pasture in Krasna.

The community pasture was owned by all of the community farmers and at foundation a certain number of desjatines per farm were put into a community pasture. Later, the amounts of land for this differed because the portions of the farms changed over the years. See also 4.3, Land Owners and Landless People in Krasna Each farmer according to landownership, not counting property outside of the community, was granted the number of animals he could graze on community pasture. For example, per cow sent to pasture a certain amount of land had to be provided (called a tax or tax land). People who did not have enough tax land could lease the land from farmers not using all of their allotment.

In the beginning years pasture was a large percentage of the Krasna land holdings. As land became scarce (See above) more pasture land was converted. E. Ruscheinsky notes that in 1927 the valley was still largely pasture and by 1935-1940 pasture land amounted to 1,363 hectares or roughly 20% of the Krasna property.

Pastures were not suitable for high performance livestock. Grass dried out in the long, hot summers and community property often meant that the individual farmer did not feel directly responsible for that land. Often the pasture was neglected.

Pasture administration was the responsibility of the herd mayors. They were responsible for all matters concerning the pasture and the herders were accountable to the herd mayors.

After the introduction of the Rumanian pasture law, pasture associations replaced the herd mayors. Their chiefs (pasture committee) administered the community pastures. Such an association formed in Alt-Elft in 1928. It is not clear when it happened in Krasna, but it existed in 1931 since the Staats Anzeiger newspaper reports:

• November 15, 1931: The pasture committee consists of six men: Philipp Materi and his representatives, Korbinian G. Leintz und Peter Leinz, son of Philipp. Cashier is Anton M. Söhn and the bookkeeper is Albert Jassmann, of Paris.
• May 13, 1932: We now have a pasture committee consisting of Michael Koch (president), Nikolaus Dirk, Johannes Bachmeier und Valerian Furch.

This institution was also called a “Hutweidegenossenschaft”, a “hat pasture association.” It owned two farms in Krasna. Krasna also had two herder houses, one in the Lower village at Hauptstrasse/corner of Mühlengasse and the other one in the Upper Village at the home of Josef Volk.

During the course of the reform of the above-mentioned law other changes came into effect as the Staats-Anzeiger newspaper of North Dakota reports.

• It notes on March 23, 1928: The community decided to parcel the remaining community pasture. A specialist was called and he will be paid 50 lei per hectare for a total of 60,000 lei…People owning 60 desjatines of land will receive a parcel of 12 desjatines of pasture. If two or three farmers combine their land they can graze 35-40 head of livestock on the pasture assigned to them. But what of the small farms and the landless people? They cannot even raise a single milk cow, but their problems are of their own making. The average farmer has kept 2 horses, 2 cows and 4-5 sheep at community pasture up to now and for this he paid a tax per hectare of land he owns. Landless people also sent up to 4 head of cattle, 8-10 sheep and 50-60 geese to community pasture without paying a single bani (1 lei = 100 bani) for it in return. Years ago the farmers decided to let landless people graze cattle there, if they paid 25 lei per head of livestock. This rule worked well for a few years, but now they refuse to pay, reasoning that community pasture belongs to all and no one can ask payment for it. The pasture will now be divided according to land people own and the landless people will not get any. One can say that there is quite a ruckus going on in the village as opinions clash.
• It reports on October 30, 1928: August 28 a specialist completed the division of the community pasture and now every farmer knows how many hectares of use he is entitled to and who his neighbor is.

Image 57: A Herdsman with a Cow Herd

The Russian colonist law dictated: Each colonist’s village office shall employ herders for the calves, pigs and poultry and present bills to the community per specie. This is mandatory to ascertain that none of the young fruit and mulberry trees, as well as grape vines and vegetable gardens are damaged or destroyed by livestock.

One or more herders were employed per specie of livestock and the community paid them. Most of them were Bulgarian or Moldavian nationals, sometimes Russian or Rumanian but even landless Germans. Krasna had a cowherd and a herd for young livestock, each, in the upper and the lower village. There were also three sheepherders and in early years there was a horse herder called a “Tawun.”

Often herders were paid according to the number of animals they watched and some of the payment was in produce. According to several chronicles of neighboring communities of Krasna, their pay was relatively generous, because people reasoned a good salary would prevent them from being in cahoots with the livestock thieves.

According to Mutschal ³⁾ in 1934 a horse herder received an annual salary of 6,000 lei plus a hundred Puds of wheat and a hundred puds of Welsh corn, the same salary was paid to the cowherd. A shepherd received 5,000 lei and 100 puds of wheat and 100 puds of Welsh corn.

In the first decades of the colony, a herder earned higher wages than a teacher.

In the winter a farmer used additional feed and as needed the rest of the year, according to what he had on hand:

• for horses: chaff, and a mix of barley, oats and hay;
• for cows: barley straw, corn stalks, chaff, beets and a mix of barley, oats and hay;
• for sheep: straw, corn stalks, grumet grass, and the fallout of the grain;
• for pigs: mostly corn, then barley, pumpkins and kitchen waste;
• for poultry: corn, barley and hirsute.

Note: Earlier, cows were fed mostly corn stalks and straw, but in the 1920's they received a mixture of chaff, finely cut beets, bran and crushed corn. Milk production increased visibly.

The large farms and the threshing methods used in Krasna created an ideal environment for poultry. The leftover grain from threshing found good use when the free ranging poultry ate it. Farms had various kinds of poultry, which the farm wife raised. Poultry was mostly for personal use.

• Raising chickens was not practised intensively, although there were often 100 or more free ranging chickens on a farm. They were raised at home and an important food source. Chicken eggs were available mostly in the spring, in the summer there were just enough for home use. The farm wife could add to the household income by egg sales. (Eggs were sold to traveling merchants, mostly Jews.)
• Aside from chickens, people raised ducks, geese and to some extent turkeys. Geese were valued for their down and the meat. Goose down was used in the personal beddding and the excess was sold. Goose meat was also sold. The geese spent the summers at pasture on the Kogälnik river, where girls watched over them. They were butchered in the fall.
• Ducks were mainly raised for meat and they remained at the farm, getting butchered as needed.
  

See also 5.5, Food and Clothing

Individual farmers raised donkeys, rabbits, turkeys, pigeons, etc, but these were not major productions. Almost every farm had one or more dogs, predominantly serving as watch dogs. Purebreds were rare. Most of them were mixed breeds. Home and farm also had a number of cats to take care of the mice and rat populations.