This is where I’ve been living for the past week, farm sitting on a dairy farm in Kerepehi, which is located on the Hauraki Plains. I’m about 10kms from Ngatea, 20kms from Paeroa, and 30kms from Thames. I’m on this property until June 19th and I’m looking after the house and farm for a contract milking couple who have taken off to Germany with their young family to visit rellies – hubby is Kiwi, while the wife is originally from Germany.
The herd is all Friesian and they number around 260. There is no milking to do – all the cows have been dry since the start of May and they’re currently split into two mobs – heifers and lighter cows in one mob, and the rest in the other mob. Calving is due to begin around July 9th.
Basically my job while I’m here is to shift the cows each day, and then go ahead of them to set up the breaks in their next paddocks, tidy the fencing up, get the power nice and strong, and fix up any leaking water troughs. There’s no feeding out to do here – no silage, no hay, no PK, no maize – so my chores are pretty easy. The cows are all living on just grass, but there is a ton of it in the paddocks so they’re getting well fed.
I’ll get the calf pens ready as well while I’m here, and put new shavings in them etc.
Pet-wise there are 6 dogs.
Four heading/hunting dogs live in kennels away from the house. They come out with me in the mornings for a good 3-4 hour run when I go shift the stock and do my bit of fencing ahead of the cows. All except Flex – she prefers to hang around the house. They’re usually back in their boxes around 11am with a scoop of their kangaroo-flavoured biscuits. They get another half-hour run at 3pm then they’re back in their kennels with their dinner. They’re all well-behaved and stick around where I am, without wandering off.
There is also an older dog (Blacky) who lives at the house. He’s 16 years old and deaf as a post 🙂 . He’s a really nice natured dog, and he tags along with me and the others when I shift the cows in the morning.
Finally, there is a 6 month old puppy (Ruby) who also lives at the house. She’s a bit of a handful and always looking for things to chew and destroy, but overall she’s pretty good. She jumps in the jeep with me and Blacky and comes out on the farm with the other dogs when I go do my chores and it gives her a good run.
There’re also 8 chooks who live in a pen in the house paddock. At 3:30pm they get to free range and have a scratch etc, but only when Ruby is back in her kennel or she’s liable to chase them. The chooks have put themselves all back in their house by 6pm.
Ruby with Blacky in the jeep
Blacky
Flex
Ziggy
Blue (left) & Lucy
Kennel dogs rearing to go for their morning run around the farm. The big mob of cows in the background..
The small mob of cows
The chookies
5 Comments
Joe Franklin
May 27 2025 at 4:59 PMDo you get paid for doing the farm work?
Craig MacThòmais
May 28 2025 at 4:41 AMYes, I charge an hourly rate for working on the farm. My jobs usually take between 2-3 hours. I don’t charge anything for looking after the house and pets.
Antonia Shannon
May 23 2025 at 9:46 AMI chuckled at the description of Ruby — there’s always that one mischievous pup! Sounds like a fantastic sit overall, with just enough work to keep things interesting.
Catherine Saunders
May 20 2025 at 11:57 AMWhat’re the dogs like to deal with? Do they get along with each other?
Craig MacThòmais
May 24 2025 at 5:34 PMThe dogs are all pretty easy to work with and they get on well together. In addition to Blacky and Ruby I take all of the kennel dogs with me each day when I shift the stock and tidy up the fencing ahead of the cows, so each one will get a good solid run every day from around 7am to 11am. Except for Flex – she’s a bit older and prefers to hang around the house paddocks. The kennel dogs get another half-hour run around 3pm then go back in their boxes with their dinner.