anyone livery on a working farm?

[weesophz]

my yard is also a beef + sheep farm. was just wondering, do the farmers ever seem a bit heartless to you?

ive been there for nearing 8 years but there was an incident the other day which made me really sad to see. farmer didnt do anything, it was more a case of what he didnt do..

just wondering if anyone else has felt the same on their yard!

also just want to say, farmer takes good care of his animals and works really hard, especially now when all the sheep are lambing (hes got about 300!) its just if i see an animal that looks not right and i say to him, the response is usually "its just a cow" or "awk its fine" but sometimes i wish he would do something. which i know is difficult to find the time when he has 300 sheep and umpteen cows to deal with

 

[MiCsarah]

I do and never get responses like that. Alot of sheep have had to be shot this year due to getting twin lamb and he seems upset about everyone. I do think sometimes farmers seem abit unfazed by it all but deep down they really are

 

[xTrooperx]

I live on a working farm, and the stuff I see is just awful, they will happily leave a cows that are in pain bleeding out the bottom half covered in flies, for up to a wk!!!! It either dies slowly or they will finally put the bolt through it when the knacker man arrives & waiting.
I have seen other awful things the case above seen more than handful if times, I don't do or say anything as it will cause problems I get dirty looks if I even let them know a cow looks like she is having a difficult calving. I just can not under stand them, one poor cow had a broken shoulder what they do??.., got the digger thing stuck it in a field where she led in the same place for 2 wks unable to eat/drink till knacker man finally came.

 

[weesophz]

hes different when it comes to the babies, i remember a couple of summers ago one night it was pretty cold and there was a cow calf maybe a week old standing shivering and he brought it and its mum in for the night. but its seems with the older ones that arent much use he doesnt really bother with. ill give him the fact that there was a cow last week (she was called minty, one him and his wife had raised) who was on her last legs, she was pretty old, he let her out the barn to roam about and let her eat as much as she wanted but when she went down i wish she could have been put out her misery rather than left there

 

[weesophz]

I live on a working farm, and the stuff I see is just awful, they will happily leave a cows that are in pain bleeding out the bottom half covered in flies, for up to a wk!!!! It either dies slowly or they will finally put the bolt through it when the knacker man arrives & waiting.
I have seen other awful things the case above seen more than handful if times, I don't do or say anything as it will cause problems I get dirty looks if I even let them know a cow looks like she is having a difficult calving. I just can not under stand them, one poor cow had a broken shoulder what they do??.., got the digger thing stuck it in a field where she led in the same place for 2 wks unable to eat/drink till knacker man finally came.

yeah ive seen some stuff like that too, not when it comes to calving and that though, hes even asked me to help a couple of times! had to help him move a newborn once as the cow had gave birth early and the wee soul couldnt get up as they were inside the pooey barn!

have seen lots of animals left suffering though, it makes me so sad. when minty the cow was lying shivering i wanted to go put fox's rug on her

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I expect there are good farmers and bad farmers like there are horse owners,

I do also think if people were prepared to make the supermarkets buy British AND pay a decent rate for the stuff they buy rather than paying the farmer rock bottom and taking a massive margin then there would be more money to pay for prompt treatment for every animal.

But no I couldn't stay at somewhere where things like that went on, and I would leave and then report it.

 

[Crosshill Pacers]

I expect there are good farmers and bad farmers like there are horse owners.

I quite agree. I live on a farm, and the care that my dad gives his animals is second to none. After all, they are is livelihood and they're not much use to him in poor condition/dead. He also doesn't believe in letting an animal suffer, whatever animal that may be (including vermin).

My friend's back garden backs onto a field full of sheep, her and her boyfriend saw a ewe laying dead in the field for a week before the farmer came and found it. On the other hand, my dad walked five miles from the mountain bringing his sheep down before that bad snow we had in January, because he refused to leave his hill flock up there knowing he couldn't get cake and hay to them. He was the only shepherd to do that out of all of the graziers. The whole family literally dropped everything on the Thursday to get his girls down to the farm!

 

[Gloi]

I've kept mine on a pig farm at one time. I was always having to walk past dead pigs which squicked me out a bit especially as the knacker man only came for them once a week and in summer after a few days they were really gross.

 

[Feathered]

Yes I do. It's just me and one other lady and its beautiful. But yes you do see some things that make you sad sometimes. Dead animals just thrown on the muck heap for example.

We always say as much as we love it here we would make useless farmers, I suppose they just can't afford to be sentimental. I would never make any money!

 

[Feathered]

Just to add... There's one young cow here that has just sprang to my mind, he's been on 3 legs for months now and it makes me feel so sad to see him hobbling around, but I've asked the farmer (who is a nice chap don't get me wrong) and he just says oh it's fine, but I suppose if he paid to get the vet out and paid to fix this cows leg then most of his profit out of it would be gone.

 

[Orangehorse]

There are good farmers and less good farmers - but remember that the animals are there to keep the farmer and his family. Unlike horse owners who go out to work to keep their horses!

The vets are also well aware of this and try to keep the farm animals alive if they can, even if it means going for slaughter, so long as they are fit to travel. Vets always give the "econmic" view too. They say, well if it was a horse, or your favourite cow we could do "a" but since it is a beef animal we will do "b." We had one animal that was lame for months, but eventually recovered, although it was pretty painful to watch for a while. Sometimes they do recover OK, so a farmer will always give it a chance. Something dead is a big loss.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Just to add... There's one young cow here that has just sprang to my mind, he's been on 3 legs for months now and it makes me feel so sad to see him hobbling around, but I've asked the farmer (who is a nice chap don't get me wrong) and he just says oh it's fine, but I suppose if he paid to get the vet out and paid to fix this cows leg then most of his profit out of it would be gone.

And if it was a sheep, then all of the profit (and more) would be gone. Supermarket lamb prices are still sky high and so people understandably wont buy lamb, yet the price the farmers are paid has in many cases halved since last year.

If I have the vet out to my unregistered shetland sheep, it costs more than the sheep is worth. Thats despite the fact that vets charge less for farm animals than for horses and dogs and cats, to try and help.

I still do it, but thats because it is more of a hobby than a business, and because I couldnt not. But as a result they dont make any money (altho they are good for the ground and taste delicious). But anything that has something wrong that might recur in future I have had to take the line that once recovered they are sent for the chop, as I cant afford to treat anything for the same thing twice.

 

[Crumpet]

I livery on a working farm, and cannot fault the care the stock recieve. There's an 18 yo cow who is still going strong though she does have arthritis who he mollycoddles! The place produces animals for slaughter so sentiment isn't a part of it, while stock are here they are well fed and kept as clean as possible. Basic vet care and fallen stock disposal should be routine, if that isn't being done then standards aren't good enough.

 

[weesophz]

the animals do get routine veterinary visits, and the farmer has literally a shed full of meds + colostrum for any orphans. im just meaning everyone now and then there are a few who just seem to suffer more than necessary if they are older and cant be used. usually female cows who are only used for the breeding as its the young cows that go to slaughter

 

[BBH]

I have but didn't see any problems with animal care but I wasn't happy with the slack attitude to safety ie fires burning across access to the field tracks, nails and tacks littered the concrete yard things like that.

Was a lovely guy just a bit laid back re the health and safety aspect.

 

[SuperH]

the care that my dad gives his animals is second to none. After all, they are is livelihood and they're not much use to him in poor condition/dead. He also doesn't believe in letting an animal suffer, whatever animal that may be (including vermin).

This. A dead animal costs not makes money. A sick animal won't make money either.

My two ponies are next to the 'maternity' barn and while people who have spotless foaling boxes may not like to see the way calves are born every single one has a high standard of care, it is just different from how horses are looked after. A dead calf and cow would be a disaster, farmers will try their best to ensure this doesn't happen.

If farmers were paid a better share for their produce animal housing would be upgraded and improved on the vast majority of farms. I can't understand how dairy farmers are earning the same as they were in 1996. Anyone else want to go back to their 1996 pay? With todays cost of living? It is sad that the UK values food so little and relies so much on import.