Larger dairies really can't do it manually - it's too labor intensive. I took some ag classes many years ago and one of them was seeing how the dairy worked... very similar to Dirk's operation.

You have to remember that dairy cows are finer boned than beef cows. Their bones will show through their hide a lot more too. So, I can forgive the thin calf, who (I'm pretty certain) is simply too young to have put on much fat yet.

The separation of the calves does bother me though - I would think there would be some way to make it easier/better such as raising nurse cows who don't mind taking on the extras... maybe ones that don't have the desired quantity wanted for the industry, but enough to raise three-four calves at a time. That's my idea, anyway.

As for happy, most of them seemed quite happy. There was no shouting or anything like that to get the cows moving, it wasn't needed, just calm direction. The quietness of the operation was also very notable. The cows were nervous about me - a stranger - but definitely were not wary of their handlers at all.