In recent months, I have heard too many working holiday friends say that it is difficult to find a job. Due to seasonal reasons and the issuance of double working holiday visa this year, the work is much more difficult than last year when I entered the country in winter. However, I finally got a job with stable working hours to save money in winter!

New Zealand is a country with more cattle than people, and there are good natural pastures, so going to work on farms has always been on my to do list. Although many industries have entered a tightening period in winter, it is the peak season for cows to produce calves, so it is easy to get a temporary factory job in winter.

I work in a dairy with 500 cows and 5 people, my boyfriend and I have zero experience and 3 other people work here all year round.

Job Description:

1. Milking: daily from around 5 o 'clock (yes, you read that right!) To start milking, we need to lift about 5kg milking machine for cows, which takes about 3h, once in the morning, and again from 1.30h in the afternoon.

2. Feeding the calf: After milking, I followed the only girl in the factory to feed the calf. I had to teach the newborn calf to suckle with the pacifier, and then they would come three days later when they saw the pacifier.

But the calves are still very cute, and sometimes they will move the calves to another herd or fence, which is more laborious, one is afraid that the cow is too excited (or too nervous) to run to the wrong position, and the other is that the calf is about 25kg➕ weight, forcing to move is still very tiring. Feed twice a day after milking.

3. Catching the calf: After feeding the milk, a group of people will go to the "mother-to-be" cow herd to carry the newborn calf to the trailer, at the same time, the mother cow needs to be driven out of the cow herd and moved to the "mother" cow herd, the calf has 25kg➕, it is still very difficult for girls to pick up and carry to the car.

Fortunately, there were three boys in my factory, so I did not need to act. Besides, it was a cruel time. When we first went to catch a calf, we felt ashamed when all the cows in the herd shouted at us, so I worked hard to make up for it every time I fed the calf.

4. In addition to the three main tasks, the rest is some chores. For example, if a cow mother has difficulty giving birth (normal cow mother gives birth for about one hour) and can't give birth for several hours, we will deliver the cow. The scene is bloody but realistic.

The manager told us that some cow mothers would be very weak before and after giving birth, and sometimes they would not be able to stand up, so we would give them some water to replenish energy. I was also a nurse! Sometimes when there is not much work, there will be some maintenance fence pipes or cleaning work, mainly they do me and my boyfriend to assist.

I can see the sunrise and sunset every day, feel the changes of nature anytime and anywhere, and feel natural and comfortable. Maybe for some people, working outdoors in winter is more difficult, but for me, it is enough to have a raincoat when it rains, and the winter of Coordinate Hamilton is late summer for Wuhan.