Bobby calf O feeds during his short time with his mother. Credit:Holly Humphreys The springer stares at her offspring, unable to set it free from the sack. Why did the calf's hoof not burst the bubble? Gardiner steps in, tearing open the sack with one hand and giving the calf a tap on the head. The calf doesn't move. It's choking. He gives it a shake. The calf still doesn't move. It appears dead. He clutches the newborn by its back legs and swings it around in circles for 10 seconds. This forces something ivory-coloured and puck-shaped out of the calf's throat and on to the ground. With one last tap on the head, the calf's neck lifts. The farmer grins. It's alive. The springer's offspring has sprung and she is now known as a ''milker''.

Matt Gardiner relocating bobby calf O from paddock to shed on day two. Credit:Holly Humphreys The calf isn't just lucky to be alive, she's lucky because she's female. ''O'', a calf born a day earlier, is not so lucky. O is just another male born into the bobby calf trade and he is destined for a very short life. In less than a week, he will be one of at least 400,000 males calves a year that are picked up from dairy farms and shipped off for slaughter.

Calves like O have no place on a dairy farm because they don't produce milk. Most people don't realise that for a cow to produce milk she must be pregnant to lactate and her offspring, if male, is created just to be slaughtered. Bobby calves are destined to become veal for human consumption, rendered by the knackery for pet food, pharmaceuticals, or used to make handbags out of soft black calf leather. But dairy farmers are now facing pressure to change the way they treat these animals in the short time they are alive. Animal rights groups such as the RSPCA are pushing for either an extension of the lifespan, or slaughter straight after the calf is born to prevent bonding between mother and calf. For dairy farmers, the cost of extending the lifespan in both milk and housing would be unacceptable, but many aren't willing to kill the bobby calves on site, or straight after birth, either. The voluntary welfare standards for bobby calves are set out in the Australian Standards and Guidelines for the Welfare of Animals - Land Transport of Livestock, published by Animal Health Australia in 2012.

According to the document, people involved in five to 30-day-old bobby calf transport must ensure the calves are protected from the cold and heat, be in good health, have been fed within six hours of pick up, must be delivered in less than 18 hours, and have a record system to identify when the calf was last fed. The calves do not need to be fed again if they are to be slaughtered within 18 hours of beginning transport. But Melina Tensen, the RSPCA's scientific officer for farm animals, is not satisfied with the requirements, although she hastens to add that she is not opposed to the notion of eating veal and goes as far as suggesting the quality of life for these animals would actually be improved if Australians could be encouraged to eat more veal. ''Bobby calves are five days old when they are allowed to be transported to the abattoir,'' she says. ''If we are looking at what is in the best interests of the animal … we are looking at immediate euthanasia on farm … rather than having the bobby calf going through that whole process - the stress of handling and transport and being stuck in the holding area of the abattoir with all the other bobby calves. Because they are slaughtered first thing they have to wait overnight. ''They can be without feed, without their mothers and in a stressful environment for 30 to 36 hours. To do that to a young and vulnerable animal is not good welfare. And that's why we are saying either the calves need to be slaughtered on farm, or older when transported to slaughter. But one of the best ways is to grow it out for veal, to grow it to a much older age, but there has to be a market for veal. ''It needs to be a demand that is such that it can manage those … animals at a greater age and greater weight coming on to the market. So there needs to be a far greater demand for veal than there is now. And there is a possibility to cultivate that demand.

''Perhaps that is something the consumer would be interested in supporting … Eat more veal!'' Larissa and Matt Gardiner, who run Greenslopes farm, are dairy farmers who breed heifers, bobby calves, and the occasional bull. It's a life they were born to. Matt grew up on a dairy farm in Macarthur, 30 minutes from Tyrendarra, and Larissa's grandfather first owned the Greenslopes land in the early 1900s. The Gardiners work seven days a week. They wake before dawn, round up and milk the cows, feed the calves and maintain the farm. This all happens while caring for their children, Sam, 7, and Jake, 9. They milk about 190 cows on their 160 hectares, which means they deliver at least 190 calves (unless a springer has twins) from April to the end of June. Artificial insemination heifer calves (females) are reared to become milkers. To get the cows in calf the Gardiners spend $20 per artificial insemination straw and $7 for the service, but they usually have to pay for two inseminations.

In April this year the Warrnambool Standard reported bobby calves being sold for as little as $12. Two weeks later in The Weekly Times prices were reported to be even lower at $10. For Gardiner, despite the financial cost of keeping the calves alive for longer, he simply could not kill them immediately after birth. ''It's too hard. You're not farming to be a murderer. [Calving is] part of your farming and you enjoy it,'' he said. The RSPCA recommends that bobby calves should be 10 days old before slaughter, fed at least four hours before transported, or every 12 hours. Although these requests are in the interest of the animals, they cause issues for dairy farmers. But the RSPCA says if the lifespan was 10 days the state of health of the animal would be better able to cope with being transported. Gardiner disagrees: ''I don't think the lifespan makes a difference to the calves. As soon as they're off the cow and in the shed, [then] through the abattoirs, the better. The end result is all the same.

''It'll get too difficult as a farmer. You've got that many calves that you gotta keep and you're not getting money for them,'' he says. Farmers would have to invest in infrastructure for the bobby calves and change the way they are fed in the new enclosure. To feed a calf milk for 10 days would be between $16 to $20 (an extra $8-$10 per calf for the additional days, double what they are paying now). Based on the 115 bobby calves the Gardiners sold this year, it would cost an extra $2000 a year. Transport companies are also not keen on extending the lifespan. Leon, who did not want his last name used, is from transport company Vicstock, which was a bobby calf buyer and transport company but in July this year was sold and they no longer deal with bobby calves. ''If it becomes 10 days it's almost too hard to pick a calf up. I picked up a calf last week at 60 kilograms. OH&S wouldn't be too happy about that,'' he says.

At Greenslopes, a Friesian springer more than a metre wide was devoid of energy. Matt said he thought she might be having twins. A day earlier, he called the vet, who decided to induce birth. ''Riss!'' Matt yelled. Larissa ran up to the paddock. Matt kneeling behind the cow, with his whole arm inside her trying to assist with the birth. It was time, but she lacked the energy to push. Matt could feel a hoof and he needed to move the calf around to make sure it didn't tear the springer's insides. ''It's warm and juicy,'' he said, while blood, urine and water gushed out. He tied one end of a rope to the calf's hoof and the other to the quad bike. Larissa started the bike and rolled it forward, pulling the rope. Matt joined in and hauled on the rope. It took all his strength, but the calf became visible. It has a short drop to the ground. Larissa picked it up and placed it next to the mother's head. A boy.

Matt reached in again to see if she really was pregnant with twins. He felt another hoof. He also had to turn this calf to allow it to be born safely. With a couple of pulls, calf No. 2 was born. Larissa picked it up and put it in front of the mother's head. Another boy. According to Larissa, because the springer was induced, the twins couldn't be sold. Antibiotics and medicines are used on farms when recommended by veterinarians. Farmers have to abide by a withholding period before they can sell because some international exporters can't buy and sell meat with medicinal residue. Matt and Larissa had one exhausted cow and two male calves but still they had smiles on their faces. They'd saved the cow, and had two healthy calves despite being born prematurely. ''It's good to do a good job, you know? I don't want to fly out to the paddock and fly the cows in, do a quick job of this or that, I want to do the job and make sure it's good,'' said Matt.