Is it just me or..

[MacAlister]

Evening all, lately (well to be honest all my life) i have come up against a problem, on our farm we have Sheep, cows and a lot of arable. Since a very young age - as long as i can remember infact- i have been able to pick up anything to do with machinery no problem, i find it simple, however when asked to do anything with cows and or sheep etc my brain takes a holiday, no matter how hard i try nothing about animals makes any sense to me, if somethings not right with a tractor you can find the source of the problem through logic, where as animals just seem to...well either be dead or alive! I was wondering if this is just me or if anyone else has no trouble with one part of agriculture but cant seem to grasp the other bits? I feel fairly bad for this as my ineptitude leaves my old man doing most of the livestock work (lambing, calving and most of the dosing etc i usually just help push up the race, with out really doing anything) but i can't seem to help it

 

[Kevtherev]

You either fall into two camps in farming:
The livestock camp
Or the machinery camp.
I'm the machinery man
Brother is the stockman

 

[MacAlister]

You either fall into two camps in farming:
The livestock camp
Or the machinery camp.
I'm the machinery man
Brother is the stockman

I must be a machinery man then! Machines arent as temperamental as livestock!

 

[GTB]

My weak point is mechanics. My father is clueless with repairs etc so when I was younger everything got repaired off farm. Therefore we had no tools except for socket set and sledge hammer. It really annoys me that I can't fix things unless they're fairly easy fixes. Luckily one of my sons is mechanically minded but we're still lacking in tools but getting there very slowly.

 

[Kevtherev]

I don't mind working with cattle but sheep I don't like a lot.
Give me a tractor and implement and I'm happy

 

[JCMaloney]

You have a logical, process driven mind. So things like mechanics make sense.... A followed by B etc etc.
Animals are illogical and unpredictable.......... and that doesn`t fit with how you work.

 

[MacAlister]

My weak point is mechanics. My father is clueless with repairs etc so when I was younger everything got repaired off farm. Therefore we had no tools except for socket set and sledge hammer. It really annoys me that I can't fix things unless they're fairly easy fixes. Luckily one of my sons is mechanically minded but we're still lacking in tools but getting there very slowly.

We never had many tools here either, dad and grandfather are (were) stockman, wouldnt know a spanner if it hit them on the head, but even though that, machines just make sense to me!

Only asked this because dad asked me to check the newly calved cows today, so i went around them and to me they all seemed fine, but then he comes in not in the best of moods because one of the calves hadn't gripped, i havent got a bloody clue what to look for in newly born calves, heck in calves in general!

 

[MacAlister]

I don't mind working with cattle but sheep I don't like a lot.
Give me a tractor and implement and I'm happy

Sounds like me, don't mind doing the odd bit to help out, but wouldt fancy being a full time stockman

 

[MacAlister]

You have a logical, process driven mind. So things like mechanics make sense.... A followed by B etc etc.
Animals are illogical and unpredictable.......... and that doesn`t fit with how you work.

Never thought of it that way before...makes sense!

 

[Kevtherev]

Sounds like me, don't mind doing the odd bit to help out, but wouldt fancy being a full time stockman

No I like machinery and crops the most of all

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I am a straw man

A cattle man will never take to sheep especially if he's done dairy, he can't cope with the death

 

[multi power]

You either fall into two camps in farming:
The livestock camp
Or the machinery camp.
I'm the machinery man
Brother is the stockman

i think im lucky, i can do both easy enough, but a lot of new machines are getting a bit complicated for me

 

[DrWazzock]

I like machinery, arable and cattle but I don't like sheep. My brother is the shepherd. The sheep are twice the work of the arable and cattle put together, even though they occupy slightly less than half the farm, but to be fair, the cattle are only fatteners whereas the sheep are lambers.

There always seems to be some sort of problem with the sheep. Like feet, flies, shearing, lambing, on their backs etc. Horrible, helpless things

 

[Giles1]

Better with cattle than sheep,and dabble in machinery,though modern compootylectric city type tractors are confusing until you find the foot clutch and gear lever.Son is good with machinery,getting there with sheep,and a bloody liability around cattle when handling them.

 

[Henarar]

I am not to bad with machinery and fixing things, use to be mad for it but now I would rather have the cattle and sheep though I don't consider myself the best stockman
some people just don't get animals and also some are useless with mahinery

 

[opininionated]

You have a logical, process driven mind. So things like mechanics make sense.... A followed by B etc etc.
Animals are illogical and unpredictable.......... and that doesn`t fit with how you work.

Machinery man here mainly, but this got me thinking, illogical and unpredictable, ive been happily married for 26 years so perhaps I can muster in the animal department after all.

 

[SilliamWhale]

I am a straw man

A cattle man will never take to sheep especially if he's done dairy, he can't cope with the death

Not any good at hay then?

 

[opininionated]

Does anything count in this thread?
Cos I wondered is it just me that like cheese and jam sandwiches? The family look at me in a peculiar way when I dine on this fine cuisine.

 

[Dave W]

Not sure where I get it from. My old man is a stockman both sheep and cattle but couldn't hang a picture in the house let alone picking a spanner up.
I'm machinery through and through. Never had any form of education on anything mechanical yet I can operate and mend pretty much anything I put my mind to.
As far as animals go I know which end is in and which is out but after that I'm buggered

 

[multi power]

i think im lucky, i can do both easy enough, but a lot of new machines are getting a bit complicated for me

Should point out it's working with people that I struggle with