Meal feeding and silage testing: This week’s focus is on winter feed and contains some useful tips (See pages 43-47). If you want to get maximum performance out of weanlings this winter, testing the quality of your silage is the first step.

While it’s too late to alter the quality of silage in this year’s pit or bales, it will tell you how much meal you need to feed to get adequate performance. Most feed companies will carry this out for you at a cost of €25-€30/sample. It’s money well spent and it should be completed before winter feeding starts. Ration formulation is another key factor. Keep things as simple as you can and price around – there is some big variation in ration prices.

Housing advice: Whether it be moving stored fodder, fixing lights or adjusting barriers it is important to have sheds right at housing time, so try not to leave it to the last minute.

On part-time farms, streamlining the time you spend in the yard is important so a little preparation can be key in getting things right. Early housing this week, especially in the northwest where heavy rain occurred, may see many farmers wean calves in sheds. This presents a mastitis risk. Avoid putting weaned cows into very dirty pens as it will increase the risk of mastitis. Make sure slats are regularly scraped down and lime applied.

Weaning and housing calves at the same time can put a lot of stress on young animals, leading to a risk of pneumonia. Sheds should be well ventilated to allow clean air in and let stale air get out. A thermometer can help detect issues at an early stage. The normal temperate for a weanling should be around 38°C. A temperature of 39-40°C means intervention is required. If there is one sick calf in a bunch, monitor the rest closely for other signs of sickness, like being off feed.

A good way of reducing stress is to front-load concentrates for the first few weeks after housing. This ensures good intakes. Bull calves could go on 2-3kg for the first month and then cut back, with heifers also starting off on 2-2.5kg for the first few weeks. Supplementation rates will depend on silage quality.

BDGP deadlines: Chris Daly from the ICBF says there are still over 1,100 herds which will fall short of the target of having 50% of the reference number of animals for their herd genotyped four- or five-star on 31 October 2020. A new evaluation run was published on Tuesday 6 October. This could change the status of some herds with extra animals being genotyped and becoming eligible for the deadline. Farmers can log into their HerdPlus account on www.icbf.com and check their eligibility status for 31 October.

Hundreds of eligible heifers are being traded in marts weekly. Farmers need to be careful to make sure when purchasing heifers that they are genotyped four- or five-star. It will say BDGP eligible on the mart board.