Dairy Diary

So yesterday we had a pretty mammoth day on the farm, most are pretty uneventful, but yesterday was probably worth writing about...

We were up shortly after 5am, due to Ant and Suzi being away for a couple of days, for morning milking. Ant's cousin had come round to get the cows in and set up the shed, so we started just before 5:30. About halfway through the herd of 360-ish cows and a few bulls we normally swap positions in the shed, so one of us is cupping the cows and one is round the other side making sure they don't walk off still attached to the gear. While Robyn was cupping I nipped off to feed the calves and chucks (chickens), and round up any calves that had got out. After the herd has been through the shed I fetch the lameys (cows that are a bit gammy and what not), then lock everyone away until afternoon milking.
After a break for breakfast we popped into Hokitika to do our weekly food shop, then drove the 25KM back to the farm. Before lunch we just had time to clean lots of poop off the walls in the milking shed, have a wipe round in the dairy office, and drop the three fresh eggs on the floor we had collected that morning.
After lunch Robyn set up the shed for afternoon milking while I rode off on the quad bike to fetch the cows in, which takes about 25 mins as they don't walk very fast when the sun is out. Another 90 mins of milking later it was time to hose the yard down, and it seemed like every other cow had dropped its guts on the way to the milking platform.
Vat-wash done and it was time to lock away the herd again, but not before chasing one of the bulls back towards the paddock he'd escaped from. It looks like he'd just walked through the gate as it was hanging off its hinges. While chasing him back he decided the gate wasn't for him and ran through the elctric wire, snapping it in the process. A second bag of feed for the calves and another escaped one put back in its paddock and we were done, roughly 12 hours after we had started.
To be fair we are being rewarded today with fresh home made pizza for tea and possiblyy a trip to the local pub which services all of the valley, so not bad.

The West Coast

This year for James' birthday we camped at Lake Mahinapua a really nice DOC campiste on the lakefront near Hokitika. We did a few walks around the lake and then went to the beach. James was very excited to be at the beach on his birthday because back home who goes to the beach in November? We went to the pub for a few jugs of Monteiths original and had a yummy pizza for tea. A very different birthday than normal and great fun.

Since being back at the farm we have been taught how to run the milking shed on our own and we now milk every other afternoon. We are still feeding the calfs, although they are getting a bit old to still be fed milk and this will stop soon. Tomorrow we will be de-horning the calfs, which will require all 4 of us to hold them still while one person de-horns them. Sounds interesting, but should be fun.

We have been into Hokitika a couple of times now and its a very nice town on the beach. It's full of galleries, jade shops and cafes and also has a cinema where we saw the new Harry Potter film much to James' delight! This afternoon we are going to Lake Kaniere to have lunch and relax seen as its a lovely sunny day....again!

The Farm

We are currently living and working on dairy farm near Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island. The farm has 370 Jersey X cows which get milked twice a day (although so far we haven’t had to do a morning milking)! The farm is also home to plenty of calves, 2 pigs, 5 sheep, chickens, 2 dogs, a cat and 4 kittens - one of which we have adopted!

Every morning we get up and fill up the calf feeder with the calf milk, then attach it to a quad bike and drive this through to the calf paddock. Then we feed the pigs and the chickens and pick up any eggs before going in for breakfast. After breakfast we drive the calf feeder to another paddock and then clean it out when they are finished. We are going to be milking every other afternoon and in between doing odd jobs like putting up fences or measuring grass growth in the paddocks.

So far the weather has been lovely so its been great to be outside all day in the sun, even if we are a little red from it. The town Hokitika is on the beach so plenty to do with our spare time. Although we were supposed to be at the farm for week and at Lake Paringa for the summer, there has been a slight change of plan and we are now spending all summer on the farm!