Calving got under way on 7 March, and, after a slow start, things are definitely moving up a gear. The herd has been in expansion mode since joining the programme, and we have increased cow numbers from around 45 head in 2016 to having 81 cows calving down this spring.
Of the 81 animals set to calve this year, 19 are replacement heifers. All heifers are homebred animals and calving down at 24 months.
Cows and heifers were bred to a combination of Stabiliser sires through AI, along with our Stabiliser and Angus stock bulls. The AI sires include Norseman, Oswald and Premiere, and all are proven for calving ease.
To date, we have 30 cows calved with 26 live calves on the ground. Cows are generally calving with little difficulty, but we have lost four calves for one reason or another.
One calf had to be put down within a few days of being born as it had no back passage. Another calf died after a cow lay on the animal.
The other two calves were dead at birth, which was possibly the result of cows getting a knock on the side in late pregnancy.
One cow has had a calf successfully fostered, but the remaining three animals were separated and will be fattened as quickly as possible.
Pre-calving management
Cows were penned on slats over the winter period. Silage is currently fed at a daily rate of 35kg/head to all animals, along with pre-calving minerals.
Cows are fed third-cut silage which was made at the end of August in ideal conditions, so feed value is good.
Therefore, I am trying to control silage intakes rather than allow cows to eat on an ad-lib basis. This is to avoid calving problems as body condition scores are ideal. Once cows start to calve, they are moved off the slats into an individual calving pen, which is in the same shed.
Cows are moved off slats to individual pens as soon as the calving process starts.
Having calving pens beside the cows makes it much easier for one person to move animals at calving.
There are 10 calving pens available in the cow shed, which makes it easier to handle bigger numbers calving down in a compact block.
Post-calving
Once I am happy that the cow and calf have bonded properly, the outfit is moved to a larger group pen with a straw-bedded calf creep.
After calving, cows are offered high-quality silage on an ad-lib basis. Heifers are being supplemented with 2kg/day of concentrates to boost milk production.
With weather conditions starting to pick up again, there will be an opportunity to slip some cows and calves out to grass in the days ahead.
Bull performance ahead of 2018 levels
There are 14 yearling bulls on-farm and they are now moving into the final phase of the intensive finishing period.
The group, which is predominantly Stabiliser bred, has an average date of birth of 19 March 2018 and at their last weighing in late February the group averaged 500kg.
Concentrates are currently fed at 9kg/day, along with high-quality silage.
When comparing performance with last year, this year’s bulls are at least one month ahead of the animals finished last spring
The group is moving onto ad-lib concentrates this week and straw will be introduced to replace silage.
The group is due to be weighed at the end of the month, but I would expect the animals to average at least 550kg.
When comparing performance with last year, this year’s bulls are at least one month ahead of the animals finished last spring.
If they maintain their current performance levels, the first draft of animals should be ready for slaughter in May, with all bulls killed by June. Last year, bulls were slaughtered in July.
Grazing season under way for replacements
Ground conditions have started to improve on-farm and we took the opportunity to turn our yearling heifers out to grass at the weekend.
These animals will be served in June and calve into the herd next spring. In total, there are 26 heifers in this group of potential replacements and they were fed ad-lib silage and 2kg/day of concentrates over winter.
These heifers will get priority management throughout the grazing season, so that they also are well-developed by housing and calve down around 90% of mature cow weight
They were last weighed on 1 February and averaged 360kg. Therefore, at a conservative daily liveweight gain of 0.5kg/day over the past two months, the heifers will be between 380kg and 390kg liveweight at turnout.
With breeding due to start in June, these heifers will be heavier than their target breeding weights of 420kg and this should help to increase conception rates.
These heifers will get priority management throughout the grazing season, so that they also are well-developed by housing and calve down around 90% of mature cow weight.
This helps to ensure that heifers can cope with the physical demands of calving down at 24 months and increases the chances of getting these animals back in-calf again.
Heifers will be bred to AI, with Stabiliser bulls my preferred choice of sire.
Store heifers
Along with the replacement heifers, there is a group of 21 Angus heifers which were also born last spring.
These animals are also getting ad-lib silage and concentrates – which has been cut back to 1kg/day, rather than cutting meal entirely from their diet in the run-up to grazing.
A similar group last year had concentrates cut from their diet around one month before they were turned out to grass.
However, with the late spring, I was not entirely happy with their performance on spring grass. Therefore, I will continue to feed 1kg/day of concentrates up until turnout to see if this helps improve weight gain in store heifers.
Selling options
Liveweight for this group of animals is most likely 300kg-320kg. Ideally, my plan for this group is for them to go to grass as soon as possible and then be sold live in September.
However, as the herd has been expanding, herd sales have yet to settle into a normal pattern.
Therefore, if these animals perform well during April and May, there may be an opportunity to sell some of the heavier animals in late May or early June and generate cashflow.
Read more
Newford update: cows and calves turned back out grazing
TB test required for UK beef exports if no Brexit deal
Calving got under way on 7 March, and, after a slow start, things are definitely moving up a gear. The herd has been in expansion mode since joining the programme, and we have increased cow numbers from around 45 head in 2016 to having 81 cows calving down this spring.
Of the 81 animals set to calve this year, 19 are replacement heifers. All heifers are homebred animals and calving down at 24 months.
Cows and heifers were bred to a combination of Stabiliser sires through AI, along with our Stabiliser and Angus stock bulls. The AI sires include Norseman, Oswald and Premiere, and all are proven for calving ease.
To date, we have 30 cows calved with 26 live calves on the ground. Cows are generally calving with little difficulty, but we have lost four calves for one reason or another.
One calf had to be put down within a few days of being born as it had no back passage. Another calf died after a cow lay on the animal.
The other two calves were dead at birth, which was possibly the result of cows getting a knock on the side in late pregnancy.
One cow has had a calf successfully fostered, but the remaining three animals were separated and will be fattened as quickly as possible.
Pre-calving management
Cows were penned on slats over the winter period. Silage is currently fed at a daily rate of 35kg/head to all animals, along with pre-calving minerals.
Cows are fed third-cut silage which was made at the end of August in ideal conditions, so feed value is good.
Therefore, I am trying to control silage intakes rather than allow cows to eat on an ad-lib basis. This is to avoid calving problems as body condition scores are ideal. Once cows start to calve, they are moved off the slats into an individual calving pen, which is in the same shed.
Cows are moved off slats to individual pens as soon as the calving process starts.
Having calving pens beside the cows makes it much easier for one person to move animals at calving.
There are 10 calving pens available in the cow shed, which makes it easier to handle bigger numbers calving down in a compact block.
Post-calving
Once I am happy that the cow and calf have bonded properly, the outfit is moved to a larger group pen with a straw-bedded calf creep.
After calving, cows are offered high-quality silage on an ad-lib basis. Heifers are being supplemented with 2kg/day of concentrates to boost milk production.
With weather conditions starting to pick up again, there will be an opportunity to slip some cows and calves out to grass in the days ahead.
Bull performance ahead of 2018 levels
There are 14 yearling bulls on-farm and they are now moving into the final phase of the intensive finishing period.
The group, which is predominantly Stabiliser bred, has an average date of birth of 19 March 2018 and at their last weighing in late February the group averaged 500kg.
Concentrates are currently fed at 9kg/day, along with high-quality silage.
When comparing performance with last year, this year’s bulls are at least one month ahead of the animals finished last spring
The group is moving onto ad-lib concentrates this week and straw will be introduced to replace silage.
The group is due to be weighed at the end of the month, but I would expect the animals to average at least 550kg.
When comparing performance with last year, this year’s bulls are at least one month ahead of the animals finished last spring.
If they maintain their current performance levels, the first draft of animals should be ready for slaughter in May, with all bulls killed by June. Last year, bulls were slaughtered in July.
Grazing season under way for replacements
Ground conditions have started to improve on-farm and we took the opportunity to turn our yearling heifers out to grass at the weekend.
These animals will be served in June and calve into the herd next spring. In total, there are 26 heifers in this group of potential replacements and they were fed ad-lib silage and 2kg/day of concentrates over winter.
These heifers will get priority management throughout the grazing season, so that they also are well-developed by housing and calve down around 90% of mature cow weight
They were last weighed on 1 February and averaged 360kg. Therefore, at a conservative daily liveweight gain of 0.5kg/day over the past two months, the heifers will be between 380kg and 390kg liveweight at turnout.
With breeding due to start in June, these heifers will be heavier than their target breeding weights of 420kg and this should help to increase conception rates.
These heifers will get priority management throughout the grazing season, so that they also are well-developed by housing and calve down around 90% of mature cow weight.
This helps to ensure that heifers can cope with the physical demands of calving down at 24 months and increases the chances of getting these animals back in-calf again.
Heifers will be bred to AI, with Stabiliser bulls my preferred choice of sire.
Store heifers
Along with the replacement heifers, there is a group of 21 Angus heifers which were also born last spring.
These animals are also getting ad-lib silage and concentrates – which has been cut back to 1kg/day, rather than cutting meal entirely from their diet in the run-up to grazing.
A similar group last year had concentrates cut from their diet around one month before they were turned out to grass.
However, with the late spring, I was not entirely happy with their performance on spring grass. Therefore, I will continue to feed 1kg/day of concentrates up until turnout to see if this helps improve weight gain in store heifers.
Selling options
Liveweight for this group of animals is most likely 300kg-320kg. Ideally, my plan for this group is for them to go to grass as soon as possible and then be sold live in September.
However, as the herd has been expanding, herd sales have yet to settle into a normal pattern.
Therefore, if these animals perform well during April and May, there may be an opportunity to sell some of the heavier animals in late May or early June and generate cashflow.
Read more
Newford update: cows and calves turned back out grazing
TB test required for UK beef exports if no Brexit deal
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: