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I opened the back door and turned on the light in the garage. Shadow and Speedy, our much-loved pets, stirred. They earn our respect for the roles that they carry out; Shadow to guard the house and yard and Speedy to manage the farm animals.
I was surprised to see that snow was falling. The silence of it was lovely. I could see the plant shapes in the garden too, as branches and twigs were highlighted by the snowfall. It resembled a white pencil drawing on a black canvas, against the darkness of the morning.
I wondered if I would have baby calves, but the shed was quiet. I put a 30-litre bucket of milk warming and went to check the sheds properly. The upper shed, where the cows are close to calving, were practically all still asleep. I walked between them easily. I am no threat to them, as I do it every morning, and they don’t bother to get up. The lower shed are close to calving too. I stood at the top and surveyed all.
By now a watery sun was coming up, providing a multi-coloured tapestry of tones and shadows through the legs of the waiting milking cows in the passage.
The bellies all around me rise and fall in time with the cows breathing. I stood there transfixed and seizing the moment. Outward breaths quickly freeze in the air, creating swirls of magic. There’s the odd uncomfortable sigh that only a woman could understand, when you feel like a house and there’s no room for your organs anymore.
Right on the edge of the shed I see one belly softly undulating and then pausing, going hard and then heaving again. There’s no fuss, she’s getting on with nature’s call to have her calf. As I stand there I think of the horrible tweets that have been shared during Veganuary against dairy farming by some members of the vegan community.
For those of you who don’t tweet. It was a move to promote the vegan diet during January. The lack of understanding or tolerance for our business of dairy farming has really shocked me. We are seriously concerned about the health and welfare of our animals.
These weeks there is at least one of us in the shed until midnight, or beyond if there is a cow calving. I am usually first there in the morning, shortly after six. I tend the baby calves with utmost care, to keep them well and healthy. All my free time is spent with the baby calves.
What I have heard on the radio and read on social media leads me to believe that farmers should avoid getting into the vegan debate. By engaging in the argument, we only stress ourselves.
There is no place for abusive language and we should not entertain such attacks on our way of life. We must stand up for ourselves by promoting how well we take care of our animals.
FREEDOM TO CHOOSE
That said, people who eat a vegan diet are quite entitled to do so. It is each person’s prerogative to eat whatever food he/she likes. There is room for us all. I have very good friends who follow a vegan diet, but they don’t feel it necessary to attack my way of life.
I respect people’s right to choose what suits their individual bodies, or their personal ideals. In our house we have diet restrictions due to intolerance and health concerns; one gluten-free diet and one renal diet. It is challenging to cook meals that can be served to everyone.
I had a look at the vegan.com website and there is a section there that encourages vegans to get their nutrition right. It is important for everyone. The picture of the foods did not entice me though. It included sweet potato, almonds, pasta, pumpkin seeds, avocados, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried apricots, oranges and marmite. It would be rather difficult to support local producers.
SEE TWITTER
So I returned to my work after my morning sojourn with the cows. The first batch of milk was hot and I began the morning feeds. The shed remained silent. The calves are still too young to recognise the sounds of feeding time.
Another week and I will be greeted with an almighty din. The calves are coming quickly, as planned. There are already over 60 born. We need 35 heifers. Any heifer born in February and with an EBI of over 160 will make the cut.
Farmers look after their calves and lambs because they care about the welfare of their animals and want to run a profitable business. One element cannot exist without the other. Each of our calves is carefully tubed with its mother’s golden colostrum to protect it against disease.
It is taken from the cow so that its system is not contaminated with various nasties shed in the mother’s dung before it starts to build immunity against disease. E-coli, salmonella or cryptosporidium are all risks to the baby calf. Some are also risks to humans.
The farmer rushes to get the colostrum into the calf within two hours of birth. The calf needs a certain volume of it. If the calf sucks the cow, the farmer has no way of knowing how much colostrum that calf has received.
It’s business, good practice and welfare. Some might not agree, but that doesn’t give people the right to use abusive language or isolated incidences to damage our reputation or way of life. Farmers are sharing some great material on social media using #februdairy. Take a look. CL
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