We are well in to our winter routine now, with sheds filled up with cattle, and deer and ewes working their way around the remainder of the grass.
We are getting through the last of the finishing lambs and have been really pleased with how they are grading. We have managed to grow lambs well on the paddock grazing system. However, by the middle of November, we were getting them to weight but struggling for a finish.
Since then we have been putting anything over 38kg on to high-quality £248/t concentrate for two to three weeks, and this has been enough to put the desired finish on them.
The trade does seem to be going the right direction and hopefully the remaining lambs will go some way to making up for a poor year.
Ewes have been rotational grazing for a while now, and the extra effort of dividing fields up is really paying off with amazing regrowth. That will give us a few more options, and in particular, higher covers going in to the spring, which should mean we have some grass to lamb on.
Resistance
When it comes to dosing of sheep, we are focusing on improving health, and minimising treatments, so it is really important we know that when we do treat stock, the product is effective.
After carrying out some testing pre-tupping, we unfortunately confirmed we have resistance to Triclabendazol.
I wasn’t surprised about this as it is common in this area and although it’s disappointing, at least we know where we stand and we can plan and treat accordingly.
Calves
We weaned our calves at the end of October, which is sharp, but we find that as the cows are outwintered it is better to wean early and maintain the condition on them going into the winter.
The calves are not creep fed so getting them weaned and on to a good-quality ration early also helps with their weight gain – the aim is to get the heifers big enough to bull next summer.
In the past we have only served heifers that have made it to 400kg by bulling, but I’ve found that our cattle weight gains improve from mid-summer onwards, so we can get away with bulling slightly lighter heifers.
Cows
The cows are still eating deferred rough grazing, however we will need to introduce some silage in the next couple of weeks.
The deer continue to do well with the hinds and calves in good condition at weaning.
The calves are into the shed for the winter – they settled in quickly and the shed alterations made last year seem to be working well. They are eating silage bales and a 16% protein cattle blend, with the hinds outwintered and getting silage bales.
We will need to fence more fields for the spring as we have grown our deer numbers a bit quicker than expected. Plans are also now finalised for the handling system, so we look forward to getting stuck into building it in early 2019.
Read more
Store lamb success for Andrew Marchant
80% of farmers don’t test for fluke
We are well in to our winter routine now, with sheds filled up with cattle, and deer and ewes working their way around the remainder of the grass.
We are getting through the last of the finishing lambs and have been really pleased with how they are grading. We have managed to grow lambs well on the paddock grazing system. However, by the middle of November, we were getting them to weight but struggling for a finish.
Since then we have been putting anything over 38kg on to high-quality £248/t concentrate for two to three weeks, and this has been enough to put the desired finish on them.
The trade does seem to be going the right direction and hopefully the remaining lambs will go some way to making up for a poor year.
Ewes have been rotational grazing for a while now, and the extra effort of dividing fields up is really paying off with amazing regrowth. That will give us a few more options, and in particular, higher covers going in to the spring, which should mean we have some grass to lamb on.
Resistance
When it comes to dosing of sheep, we are focusing on improving health, and minimising treatments, so it is really important we know that when we do treat stock, the product is effective.
After carrying out some testing pre-tupping, we unfortunately confirmed we have resistance to Triclabendazol.
I wasn’t surprised about this as it is common in this area and although it’s disappointing, at least we know where we stand and we can plan and treat accordingly.
Calves
We weaned our calves at the end of October, which is sharp, but we find that as the cows are outwintered it is better to wean early and maintain the condition on them going into the winter.
The calves are not creep fed so getting them weaned and on to a good-quality ration early also helps with their weight gain – the aim is to get the heifers big enough to bull next summer.
In the past we have only served heifers that have made it to 400kg by bulling, but I’ve found that our cattle weight gains improve from mid-summer onwards, so we can get away with bulling slightly lighter heifers.
Cows
The cows are still eating deferred rough grazing, however we will need to introduce some silage in the next couple of weeks.
The deer continue to do well with the hinds and calves in good condition at weaning.
The calves are into the shed for the winter – they settled in quickly and the shed alterations made last year seem to be working well. They are eating silage bales and a 16% protein cattle blend, with the hinds outwintered and getting silage bales.
We will need to fence more fields for the spring as we have grown our deer numbers a bit quicker than expected. Plans are also now finalised for the handling system, so we look forward to getting stuck into building it in early 2019.
Read more
Store lamb success for Andrew Marchant
80% of farmers don’t test for fluke
SHARING OPTIONS