Pregnancy scanning has now taken place on the Abbey Farm and based on the results, there should be 99 breeding females to calve down during the spring period.

The ultimate plan for the farm is to have 100 live calves on the ground annually. While this will not be the case in 2020, the farm is in a strong position to realise this target by 2021.

There were 82 cows put to the bull back in June. The scanning results from mid-September indicate that 78 cows are settled in-calf, which equates to a scanning percentage of 95% of cows bred.

Two cows were confirmed as being empty at scanning, with one cow having died during the grazing season. The final cow was not scanned as the decision was made to cull this animal regardless of whether it was in-calf.

Heifers

Along with the cows, there were 24 replacement heifers bred in 2019. They were initially served to a fixed-time AI programme with the first run of repeats also being served to AI with a final sweep using a stock bull.

Scanning results indicate 22 heifers are settled in-calf or 92% of animals bred. Scanning also confirmed that 13 heifers held to the fixed time AI (54%), with a further six animals that repeated holding to AI.

Scanning

This leaves three heifers being served to the stock bull which was a Stabiliser. Based on scanning results, all heifers should calve down within a seven-week period. Unfortunately, since scanning was carried out in September, one heifer has since died due to a rare case of a ruptured liver.

Overall, 100 animals were scanned in-calf from 106 bred, which equates to 94% of breeding females, just under the target of 95%.

All cattle within the KTT herd at the Abbey Farm have been housed for winter since the last week of September.

Grass covers and growth had been strong for the time of year. However, utilisation was becoming increasingly difficult. Since housing, cows and calves have been very settled and content.

However, due to housing earlier than planned, a change in approach to weaning was needed. The plan was to remove cows in three separate batches, while calves remained in a familiar environment.

This was used to wean calves last year and was very successful then. But with cattle housed earlier this year, it was decided to let the cows and calves settle into their new environment for approximately four weeks before weaning.

Weaning

The heaviest calves are currently being weaned using nose paddles. The paddles prevent calves suckling the cow while maintaining the maternal bond and environment.

After four to five days, the paddles will be removed and the calves locked into creep areas away from cows.

Any bull calf under 280kg liveweight will remain on the cow for now. Cows still have a good supply of milk and are in good condition.

Bull calves have access to straw bedded creeps and are currently eating 3kg to 4kg/day of a 16% protein calf ration.

Once weaned and settled, bulls will gradually be changed on to the Abbey’s bull beef blend, which is 14% protein, and feed levels increased on a monthly basis to a maximum of 8kg/day by early 2020.

Heifers

Heifer calves and their cows are housed in a different shed from the bulls. Once weaned, replacements will be selected and housed separately for priority feeding to ensure target weights are met ahead of breeding in 2020.

Once weaned, cows will be grouped according to body condition score. It is vitally important that the cows do not become over-conditioned through the winter to avoid calving difficulties.

The only time to adjust cow condition is over the next few months, as it is not possible to restrict a cow’s intake during the final two months prior to calving.

Cows will be managed in two groups, depending on whether they need to reduce body condition, or be fed to maintain condition.

Health

Prior to housing, all calves had received vaccinations against pneumonia and IBR. Calves were also dosed to clear animals of lung worms prior to housing, minimising respiratory problems.

All calves were treated for rumen fluke in late August, as there had been fluke issues previously identified on the Abbey Farm.

All cattle will receive a further fluke dose around six to eight weeks post-housing. Cows have been clipped and treated for external parasites.

Bull Calf performance

Weight records indicate calves have performed well on the cow, albeit they are slightly behind last year’s crop which had outstanding weight gains.

Bull calves were weighed on 7 October and had an average liveweight of 296kg. This means they had an average daily liveweight gain of 1.38kg/day, which is corrected to a 200-day weight of 317kg.

The corrected 200-day weight is 11kg lighter than the 2018 equivalent. For a bull beef system, a minimum of 1.3kg/day is expected from birth to 200 days and the farm’s bull calves have exceeded this target.

However, daily weight gains range from 1.13kg to 1.73kg/day. It will be important to identify whether calves with the lowest weight gains are bred from cows with a history of poor performance in previous years. If so, these cows will be marked for culling.

Weight gains

There are 42 bull calves in total with an average date of birth of 15 April. Weight gains should average 1.4kg/day from weaning to early March, at which point bulls should weigh 465kg to 470kg. At this stage, bulls will be eating 8kg/day of meal with silage being offered as roughage.

From March until the target slaughter date in mid-June, bulls should average 1.8kg/day.

This will bring them to a final live weight of 650kg, which should yield an average carcase weight of 370kg to 380kg.