Postcode: 2580
Days of Work: 9
Dates: 19th August 2013 – 29th August 2013
People: Julia (Host), Adrian (House Guest), Jin (Chinese WWOOFer)
This WWOOF adventure was bittersweet, as despite the fact that I was always filled with dread, and fear, and panic, and worry, whenever I went somewhere new, in some strange way I was actually going to miss that. I also found myself nowhere near as wimpish as I had been at the start. The location was remote, the accommodation basic and the facilities simple. But amazingly, I was okay with it. My, how I have grown!
I was excited to find out there would be another male WWOOFer, Jin from China but living in Japan, at the farm – it’s always good to have someone else there to experience the same things as you, and talk about everything. It definitely would have been a harder experience to survive had Jin not been there. Originally I started off in the lounge on a camp bed, since the host didn’t want to force Jin and I to share a room, but in the end we decided it would be fine and shared, and I think had a better experience because of it! Thanks Jin!
As with any working animal farm, there was always something to do. Jobs either involved the animals directly, or their environment/lifestyle, so it was an interesting mix of tasks. The farm was a working dairy farm. There was a small collection of six milking cows, a bull and three babies that were kept in the pastures around the dairy yard, while another couple of large herds (100+) remained out in the more distance pastures, as none of these cows were ready to birth and thus become milkers, although there were a good few almost ready to come in to join the milkers.
Milking
We were milking only once a day, since the milking herd was so small. Despite the small herd, the task would take a good two hours, if not three, to complete. There was only one milking stall with a portable pump, so the cows had to be escorted, occasionally bribed, into the stall, then milked and then taken out again. Cows can be very stubborn creatures, so it was never a simple or easy performance.
Prepping the Milk
Once the cows were milked, we had to check the milk for any imperfections and remove them with a spoon. When the cows are not milked dry the previous day, residue milk remains in their udders and once they are milked again, this old milk ends up in the new milk as fatty lumps. These need to be removed, as only the new, fresh milk is required. The milk is then poured into bottles and placed in the refrigerator.
Cow Walking
A council license allowed us to walk the milking cows along the main road, so they could eat the grass/berries/trees/etc that lined the roadside. It provided them with something a little different to eat than just grass, which in the end results in better milk. So, every afternoon, we took the cows out and walked them down the road and back again, for at least two hours, giving them all plenty of time to munch.
There were a couple of occasions where Jin and I attempted to walk them back to the gate, and they ended up walking past the farm and carrying on in the other direction! The first time it happened, they totally got away from me and it was only thanks to a kindly local driver that I managed to get them back. He went through the herd in his car, then stopped ahead of them and started encouraging them back in my direction, at which point I was more successful at getting them back in. The second time it happened, I had learned my lesson, and didn’t go chasing after them. I simply walked quietly and slowly through them until I was on the other side and was able to usher them back to the farm!
Prepping The Barn
The second night I was on the farm, we attempted to try something a bit different – separating the mums and older babies (Ginger Tea, Splodge and the boy calf) at night, so that come morning there might be more milk. So, each night we had to prepare the barn, ensuring there was enough hay on the ground, enough feed in the trough and enough fresh water to last the night.
Hillside Herds
Of course, the cows on the hillside need regular attention as well. We frequently went out to the outer pastures with a truck full of hay to feed them. The hay also helped to keep them warm at night, as the temperatures were still bordering around zero, since spring had not yet arrived. The cows do love their food and kept following the truck, even after we had delivered the food, in the vain hope they might get more. On one occasion, we had a few escape through the gate in their quest for food! But we got them rounded back up again.
Separating the Mums and Babies
Well, it was a difficult task, and actually required a little bribery. The night time hay feed was handed out to each cow/bull first, so that everyone had their own and were distracted by the feast that had been set before them. Once they were all merrily munching away, we were able to steer the calves back towards the barn and shut them in for the night. The first morning afterwards, there was some serious mooing and from a very early time, so we were all up early to do the milking and reunite them. Once the mums realised they would get their babies back, they were much more co-operative at night/in the morning, and the mooing back much less over the next few days. Buttons and Spiffy, since Spiffy was only a few days old, were the only mum and baby not separated.
Cow & Calf Searching
There were a couple of cows in each of the hillside herds that were due to give birth in the coming weeks, so regularly had to check that none of them had given birth. On my first night, I actually managed to spot a calf, hidden in the tuft of bush in the middle of a field! With a black and white mother and Jersey bull father, we were expecting a white and something calf, but instead it was a chocolate-coloured calf that we almost missed because of her unusual colour. We tried to get to her, but she bolted for the hedge, and at that point earned the name ‘Spiffy’ since she was such a fast mover. We never found any other mums and babies after that, although since I left the farm, another three cows have had their calves.
Farm Maintenance
I also did a little bit of other general farm maintenance while I was there, like helping to fix some broken fences around the property, repairing the tractor prongs so a delivery of hay could be taken, fixing a wobbly, leaking tap and prevent unnecessary waste of precious water and a little bit of firewood gathering, since the old farm house had no central heating – just the fireplace in the living room.
Water Pumping
With no rain for a few weeks, the water tank that normally supplied the milking cows was empty, so we had to do regularly trips with the mobile water tank to the small pond at the far end of the property. We would fill up at the pond, where the water was very clean due to the large reed collection which filtered the water, and then take the tank back to the pasture and fill up the water trough.
Chicken Care
There was a small collection of chickens and roosters (9 and 2), that also needed taking care of. Daily we would collect their eggs, let them out of their pen in the mornings. They would wonder all over the farm during the day, although mainly remaining around the main house, garden and pasture, and then we had to ensure they were back in before dusk. We would feed them the household scraps at the end of the day, and make sure that the two roosters always remained in separate pens, otherwise they would fight!