I could hardly think. It was one of those very busy days. Tim was away at a meeting in Kilkenny and I was on midterm break from school and I was busier than ever.

Colm was going to China on an EU trip for two weeks and he was trying to get “everything done” before he departed! Now, we know that doesn’t work. He made a list. It had at least three days’ work on it.

The morning began with us coming together for milking. Afterwards, the plan was to dry off the first lactation cows. I headed out for the cows that were nearby in the Big Field. The three dogs were in the garage; Shadow, the Pyrenean Mountain dog, Speedy, our excellent sheep dog, and Nala, who was on a sleep over. Nala is Philip’s dog and comes to us regularly. She was locked into the corner, so I released her. I went to the yard, got things ready and struck off for the cows.

Colm had put them in via the back end of the paddock, so there were two exits that they could take out of it. I opened the nearest exit’s wires but, cows being cows, they like to choose where they would exit, so half of them were coming behind me and the others coming out on to the laneway. Speedy is an absolute gem when it comes to these situations. He knows exactly what to do. He’d bring one group out first, I’d close the wires and he’d bring the others.

I roared for him, having seen him 20 minutes earlier. I kept up my calling while struggling to keep one set of cows behind me and the others moving. After a while, Nala came bounding across the field. Now, she hasn’t a clue about cows being the double doodle that she is! Her head was up and the ears were flopping as she searched for Speedy so that she could follow him. With no sign of him, she sat down. He obviously thought he’d a day off when Tim was gone. Dogs are loyal but often only to one person.

NEW PRACTICE

We had breakfast and hurried back to separate and dry off the first calvers. Sometimes a young farmer about the place changes the work practice. There has been a lot of research done on dry-cow therapy and its benefits and so on.

Colm started talking: “Last year we had a 100% cure rate following dry-cow treatment, Mom.” That was just to put Mom on her marks. So I asked him to go through the procedure that we would follow as we were both putting on the gloves.

Colm is very good at explaining a technique when he wants you to follow it exactly. To be honest, I was flattered to be considered good enough for the job. He had spray bottles filled with methylated spirits, two stock markers and one spray bottle of teat dip.

“So, right, Mom, first you put a red line across the back of her udder. This is not for marking, it is to tell you exactly where you are.” There was no time for getting insulted, I had to listen. “Next you get several pieces of tissue from one of the dispensers and spray one with loads of meths. Wash the cow’s teats several times until you are happy she is clean. Then do a final wash on the teat ends.” I’m all ears.

“Draw each teat to make sure there is no trace of mastitis. We’d have to treat that first. Next, get your four tubes and keep them together in your breast pocket. That way you will know that you have them all done. Keep the same pattern – front right, front left, back right, back left; that way you won’t miss one.

“Now, just because there’s a long pipe coming out of the tube does not mean that you push it in all the way. Just put it in about half way. Close the top of the teat with one hand, between finger and thumb. With the other finger and thumb, push the cream up and massage it into the udder around the top of the teat. When done, spray loads of teat spray on the udder. Do it several more times as you’re doing others to be sure.”

INTERRUPTION

And so the process began. I began to grow in confidence when I realised that I was nearly as fast at Colm. He was at pains to emphasise that it was a slow job and had to be done correctly. With a couple of cows done, Colm got a phone call. A few heifers had crossed a fence in an outside place. He had to let me at it. I smiled. That item was certainly not on his list. I could take all the time in the world! By the time he returned, I had my skills perfected.

We dried off 41 cows, which will make a significant difference to the workload. Next we will go once-a-day milking. By the end of the day, Colm had got through about half of the list. Tim assured him that the rest would be handled while he was away, and so the packing began.

Opportunities

It’s a great opportunity for him to visit China along with other young farmers from across the EU. We look forward to his return and the opportunity to learn through his experience.

We want our children to achieve and that means that we expect them to be better than us. That is the way society advances. It is the way agriculture develops. We consider it important to support their opportunities. CL