Beef management: housing, MartBids and jobs that need doing

Housing

As part of our pneumonia video series with Tommy Heffernan, the Journal vet, we took a look at ventilation issues in cattle sheds.

With housing not far away, now is a good time to take a look at sheds. It’s too late to start amending sheds when an outbreak of pneumonia has already occurred. It’s very important when cattle are housed that ventilation is correct and there is plenty of air movement in the shed, allowing stale air to be removed. Warm, moist and stale air is a breeding ground for disease.

Signs that ventilation is not up to scratch is a constant smell of ammonia, the temperature being too high, cobwebs on the timbers and sheets becoming black with mould. There are a few points to note. A ridge opening should run along the full length of a roof apex. Wider sheds require wider openings, as follows:

The size of inlets is equally important to allow fresh air to enter the shed, creating a stack effect and pushing the stale air out. Be careful where sheds have been extended that there is sufficient inlet area for the span of the new shed.

Make sure there is nothing impeding inlet airflow outside the shed, like trees, or hay or straw stacked up against the inlet area.

A simple smoke bomb test can be undertaken, demonstrating where air is moving and if it’s getting out fast enough. It’s important this test is carried out when the cattle are indoors to get a true reflection of the ventilation in the shed. Check out the pneumonia video series on www.farmersjournal.ie/pneumonia2

MartBids launch

The Irish Farmers Journal has launched a new app called MartBids, in partnership with livestock marts around the country. The app has the ability to check out animals entered for a sale, an advert section where animals can be advertised with photos before a sale and a price-reporting mechanism when on-site at the mart. MartBids is available for download from the App store and Google play store, and more details can be found on www.farmersjournal.ie

Dry week forecast

With decent weather forecast for the next week, it could be a good time to start to think about weaning. Weaning is a stressful process and it’s better carried out in good weather rather than cold, wet weather. Make sure all pneumonia and clostridial vaccinations are up to date and avoid tasks like castration around weaning, as this will increase stress and the likelihood of disease. Keeping cows on a bare paddock after weaning is a better option than housing, as teats can get dirty and mastitis can be a problem.

Weaning is a good time to body condition score cows when they are in the yard. First-calving heifers might benefit from early weaning and a few weeks of good grazing at grass before housing to help them regain some condition.