Inmates at a correctional centre in the Hunter region are relishing their role in helping to hand-raise an orphaned calf called Ferdinand.
St Heliers Correctional Centre is a minimum-security facility in Muswellbrook for male inmates providing work and training opportunities in vegetable farming and processing, engineering, housing construction and farming.
The centre also incorporates a cattle breeding program where inmates are taught basic animal husbandry skills, fencing, pasture management skills, and how to manage the welfare of animals.
Black Angus-cross calf Ferdinand was found shivering in a paddock during a stock check of newborn calves and expectant cows.
Governor Louise Smith said the inmates were learning how to care for the calf, which needed to be fed three times a day.
“It was a freezing cold Saturday when they found Ferdinand,” Smith said.
“He was really undernourished and skinny. They took him to the stable and made a bed for him out of hay.
“It’s now all hands on deck, nurturing him back to health. Inmates do the morning and lunchtime feed and I share the night-time feed with Senior Assistant Superintendent Rohan Archer.”
Ferdinand is now in a stable condition and will be reintroduced to the herd once on solid foods.
Smith said caring for livestock was a new experience for many inmates who came from the city and were learning skills that would set them up for future agricultural employment.
St Heliers Manager of Industries Col Austen said up to 25 inmates took part in the cattle breeding program.
“There are four bulls and 250 head of cattle to manage,” Austen said.
“Inmates take ownership of their roles and they get paid for their work, which builds their self-confidence and gives them a sense of pride.
“The 500-hectare prison farm also produces vegetables, including a current crop of 6000 broccoli plants, which are processed and distributed to feed inmates across the state.”
Information source: Media release, Corrective Services NSW