Britain's first commercial slaughter-free dairy farm is to be set up in Leicestershire.
Seven bulls and five retired milking cows are already enjoying life on the designated site – 52 acres of farmland near Groby.
But the Ahimsa Foundation, which is behind the project, is hoping a milking herd will be moving in next year.
It will produce a range of dairy products alongside fruit, vegetables and other crops.
Foundation director Sanjay Tanna said: "Our aim is to work in partnership with the animals."
The foundation already produces milk products to a subscription-only customer base in the South East in partnership with an organic farm in Kent.
Mr Tanna said: "We now have land in Leicester where we can establish a dairy farm run entirely to our own principles."
They say the Groby project will be the first commercial slaughter-free diary farm in Britain.
Normally, male calves born to dairy cows are killed or sold for veal, while cows are killed when they get older and cannot produce as much milk.
Mr Tanna said: "We see our cattle as more than commodities and want to respect and engage with them as sentient beings.
"A key aspect will be meaningful employment of bulls. We are hoping to train them to pull carts or ploughs on our land."
He said the farm would be a commercial operation inspired by Bhaktivedanta Manor at Aldenham in Hertfordshire, donated to the Hare Krishna movement by George Harrison.
"Its vision includes cows being milked by hand rather than machine, and cows being retired following milk production, rather than killed.
"We have secured an excellent project manager, one of the top in Europe.
"He will be joining in September and he is both a hand-milker and ox-driver. He has over 15 years of experience running and developing a successful smallholding in Hungary."
Fellow director Nicola Pazdzierska said: "A cow can live until she's 20 years of age. But in a lot of conventional dairies they are culled when they are five or six.
"We think that's no way to repay the generosity of a cow after all that she's given us."
Calves will also be allowed to stay with their mothers for up to six months and they will not be de-horned. They will also be fed treats including carrots.
She said oxen power was also being chosen instead of conventional tractors.
She said oxen didn't contribute to climate change, use fossil fuel, or compress the earth as a tractor did.
She said: "The health and the quality of the soil is absolutely vital to being able to grow food."
An appeal has been launched to help set the farm up, but the plan is for it to become self-sustaining.
People interested in supporting the appeal can visit:
www.ahimsamilk.org/how-to-help/new-dairy-revolution/
