A hell of a day - going back tomorrow

That was it. First day of work. I bloody work in Hobbiton! Except that the hills are dotted with cows. But it is wonderful.

I began at eight, so not too early. First we milked the colostrum cows (= cows that have just calved, and therefore produce milk, called colostrum, that has many antibodies in it. This milk preserves relatively well and is used to feed young calves). The other dairy cows were milked in a different shed and earlier in the morning.

Then we fed the calves their milk. Some of them have been sick and wouldn't suck on the fake teats. These were given electrolytes. (I didn't do that; you have to stick a pipe through their throats and pour the liquid down their throats.) The calves are really cute. The only thing they know is to suck. So, if you let them, they'll suck on your fingers. These things are greedy: give them your little finger and they take the whole hand. Literally. Some of them have teeth, too, and, ouch, that hurts (well, they all have teeth, but not all of them use them). If you don't let them suck on your hand, they'll suck on your clothes. There were about 160 calves to feed.

After lunch, we moved some calves from the pen into the paddock, and some calves from one pen to another. I will never learn that. The guys (the farm has two full-time employees and one who's helping out now that the boss has his foot in plaster) just lifted the calves and threw them onto the trailer. These calves weigh as much as I do, or more. And plus, I'd be afraid to hurt them, the guys are so violent. I know, the cuties are very robust... but still! Poor calvies!

Then there was the afternoon milking. We milked about 300 cows, it took about two hours. I was watching the line of cows coming down the road from the paddocks over the hill (not the Hill, unfortunately). It seemed never-ending. Thankfully, it wasn't.

When I finished, it was already getting dark. When I got back to Malcolm and Alison's, it was dark. That was one hell of a day. Enjoyed it though, and I'm going back tomorrow :)


There are some things I won't get used to. Like darkness coming so early. Like driving on the left (the wrong side of the road). Like getting in the car on the left. Like spring. Like turning clocks one hour forward soon. Like school being halfway through the school year.