Maggie the 'cuddly' dairy cow finds her forever home in Somerset

Maggie is moving to her forever home near Frome after she retires from milking. Credit: Ellie Carruthers

A "friendly" dairy cow has found her forever home after being retired from milking.

Maggie lives at Stroud Micro Dairy in Gloucestershire. She would ordinarily be sold for beef after reaching the end of her milking life.

However, thanks to Ellie Carruthers, 22 and from Worcester, she can live out her retirement on a farm near Frome.

Ellie studied Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Hartpury University and met Maggie when she worked as a milking assistant on her farm.

She said: "Maggie had just arrived when I started and she was bullied by the other cows, because they actually have a pretty complex hierarchies.

"She was really, really sweet and friendly, and she loves a cuddle and a scratch.

"I knew that she was getting on a bit and she hasn’t always been the best milk producer. So I said that when she was too old I would buy her off the farmer and I would give them what she was worth in beef."

The next step for Ellie, who now lives in Bath, was to find someone to take Maggie in. So she put up a Facebook post, asking for help.

"This one really lovely guy who used to have a dairy farm, but stopped a few years ago, keeps a few cows and has a few rescue sheep, ducks, and even a fox.

"He said ‘I would love to have her’ so I went round a few days ago and the land is really nice and he is really nice," Ellie said.

However, before Maggie relocates, Ellie needs to raise £800 to buy her from Stroud Micro Dairy.

She is currently working as a postwoman and intends to start a Go Fund Me to raise the cash. You can donate here.

Cows are a lifelong love for Ellie, who also has a horse and a rescue dog.

"I just think cows are like big labradors. When I was a child I would go walking with my dog and there was this cow who would let me stroke her when I was five years old.

Ellie with a cow in Worcestershire, aged five Credit: Ellie Carruthers

"She was so nice and that stuck with me. I would just go and sit in a field with cows all around me.

"Every cow at the farm is completely different - you know who you can sit and cuddle and who to steer clear of."