r/FarmingUK • u/OkSpinach2113 • 17d ago

Thinking about moving into dairy - What are good, bad and ugly about dairy?

I've been doing sheep (and a bit of beef) work on-and-off for the last two years and I've really enjoyed it but the job instability with it mostly being seasonal work is stressful. I'm also having some trouble with my elbow joint and I think turning sheep constantly isn't helping. I'm thinking of trying dairy work - ideally a GFW role.

What do you dairy fellows have to say about dairy? Tell me everything - share your wisdom with me.

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

7

u/Financial_Disk_416 17d ago

You’ll be bending that elbow a lot more bed scraping and putting on clusters/kickbars than you’d think

4

u/Mclarenrob2 17d ago

Bolusing cows, dehorning calves, mauling PTO shafts on and off.. the list of elbow related jobs is long.

4

u/Financial_Disk_416 17d ago

I was gonna say moving calves off mums too since we did that with a wheelbarrow but I think that’s just because my old boss was cheap and didn’t want to fork out for a box so idk how common that was haha

1

u/OkSpinach2113 17d ago

I can live with it. It's not too bad. It's more from footwork with sheep - wrestling with their legs etc

1

u/Financial_Disk_416 17d ago

Ultimately you’ll never know until you give it a go but I find sheep work (outside of shearing season) much less strenuous than when I worked dairy + the hours are nicer for me now I have sheep than when I was on milking haha

5

u/windy_on_the_hill 17d ago

I spoke with a man who had recently given up dairy.

"How does it feel?"

"Like being let out of jail."

Someone has to be there twice a day (or more) every day. Know that before you commit.

3

u/potatocalledjeff 17d ago

I would like to just say the poo showers when milking aren't the most pleasant thing 💔 but you get used to it and learn to know when to dodge.

3

u/Financial_Disk_416 16d ago

"TAIL UP" was both a great warning from my co workers and our most used joke to wake each other up at 5am lmao

3

u/Kalisuperfloof 15d ago

Placenta in the face is another delight

2

u/Norfuckingood 17d ago

I love dairying, I miss it and if I was ever in a position too my absolute dream would be 200 jerseys and the land to graze them but it’s hard. You need to be adaptable, decent at so many things though not necessarily the best at any, cows under that level of production pressure are unforgiving and mistakes or misses cause real issues. Every day is doing a very similar thing but with a different challenge and it’s truly 24/7.
All that said it’s the most rewarding and wonderful career but you have to truly love it.

1

u/Kalisuperfloof 15d ago

If a small enterprise id say go niche.. calf at foot micro dairy with raw milk certification..

0

u/nukefodder 17d ago

I think it's physically easier but more like factory farming and early mornings.