telehandler JCB Massey Ferguson

Working as kidding assistant and relief milker with 1200 indoor goats, my main responsibilities were to rear kids via bottle feeding followed by training on to teat boards fed via an auto feeder and milk 4 herds, split via production through a 40 point herringbone parlour. Animal husbandry and herd health knowledge and skills were gained as well as an understanding of the importance of measuring farm inputs and outputs to be able to evaluate efficiency, improving both herd production, health and profits through knowing what initially was used in order to measure change. Having a flood of up to 100 kids a day to feed and keep, multitasking and prioritizing were key skills developed. I also gained a keen eye for health issues, needing to catch them early due to the kids fragile age. Working with 1200 outdoor pigs, I developed skills in people management as well as animal husbandry. Within my team there was often no one in charge so I took responsibility to manage other co-workers to motivate staff in group tasks. Knowledge of pig management, behaviour and running a pig breeding unit was gained. I worked within a team to do all tasks on the farm from maintenance, fencing, feeding, artificial insemination and record keeping. Helping to sort ewes according to due date, monitoring and assisting during difficult births as well as after care such as tail docking, castrating and feeding orphan lambs.