Intern Spotlight
Kery Ferrell
Senior Kery Ferrell has always loved working with animals, but had never worked with cattle before coming to Berry College. Four years later, she’s still working at the dairy and credits it with leading her to great opportunities such as managing the calf barn and picking up skills that helped her earn internships at Orthridge Dairy in Lancaster, WI, and at Zoo Atlanta. Kery says that the dairy and internship work has taught her “animal husbandry skills, problem-solving and crisis management skills, leadership skills, communication skills, and how to spot illnesses in animals and give them various treatments. All of these skills are vital in nearly every job, especially any field working directly with animals.”
The Orthridge Dairy in Lancaster, WI is owned and operated by the Orth family. Kery says the Orths “welcomed me into their home like I was one of their own.” The operation was much bigger than Kery was used to at Berry. “Where we only had four milking units and milked about 40 cows, they had twelve milking units and milked about 285 cows three times a day in the same amount of time, or less, than it took us to milk our cows. While we only had a handful of calves every month, they would have 50 calves born each month. So obviously their management practices were very different from the dairy at Berry. I learned how a large dairy operated, and I also learned a few things I could use to improve the calf management program at Berry. I became an awesome Bobcat operator and learned how to work with cows better. I learned about different nutrition and breeding programs and I also learned about different types of milking parlors and how to be more efficient when milking. The experience was great and I had a good time. I learned a lot, and in the process I gained a second family.”
Kery’s second internship, at Zoo Atlanta, was an unexpected development. Kery says, “I applied for the internship thinking I wouldn’t get it. The internship was with the bird department. I’d had birds as pets growing up, but had never worked with birds in a professional setting. I drew up a resume and a cover letter, all of which just consisted of cattle experience, a pet store job, and a volunteering gig I did at the Floyd County Animal Shelter. I thought they’d just pass me by, but due to the skills I’ve learned and developed from working at Berry, they overlooked my lack of experience in the field and were very impressed with my resume. I got the internship! It was awesome and so fun. I loved working with the birds. Some of them were characters, and I learned how amazing they are.”
Kery’s skills have already taken her far and will no doubt help her to keep achieving in her chosen field, but she credits Berry with helping her. “My skill set was not the only thing that enabled me to earn these awesome internships and opportunities. I also must pay homage to everyone who has offered me words of encouragement and criticism. I couldn’t have done it without the faculty in the Animal Science Department, my past and present co-workers at the dairy, and my former supervisor Ben Wilson.”