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Spring calving started on 19 March and, to date, 61 cows have calved. This leaves me with another 25 cows still to calve. Of the cows that have calved, 18 are heifers and all calved down at 24 months of age. There are still five heifers to calve in the group of 25, and they are coming very close to calving. Heifers were only allowed to run with the stock bull for two months, whereas the cows ran with stock bulls for three months.
Heifers had a shorter breeding season than cows, as I wanted to keep them as a tight group for management before and after calving. Late-calving animals are not ideal in this group of animals.
Calves on the ground
Of the 61 cows that calved, there are 58 animals with calves at foot. I lost three calves for different reasons. One calf died as the result of a prolonged labour period. The calf’s mother is a heifer and will be fattened.
A third calf died as a result of a twisted calf bed in the cow
Another calf had to be put down within two to three days of being born, as it had gut problems and bloating. I have managed to foster a calf on to this cow.
A third calf died as a result of a twisted calf bed in the cow. The vet operated on the animal, but to no avail. The cow was also lost due to internal infection.
Sire breeds
Cows are calving down to a combination of Angus and Limousin stock bulls, but I pulled out a group of cows to breed to AI last summer.
In total, there were 14 cows inseminated to the Shorthorn bull Hussar of Upsall. Only seven cows held to AI and all of these animals have now calved, with three heifers and four bull calves on the ground.
I am pleased with the quality of calves and they were born with very little difficulty. Calving has generally gone well, although I have had one caesarean for a calf coming backwards.
I have also assisted 11 cows for reasons such as a mal-presentation or calving late at night, so I stepped in to make sure calves were born safely. Of the 11 animals assisted, seven were heifers.
Diet
Cows that have yet to calve down are on a silage diet, which is being offered on an ad-lib basis. Pre-calving minerals are also being dusted over silage.
Calves are very lively at birth and quick to get up and suck, which is down to having cows in the right body condition throughout winter and following a planned pre-calving feeding programme.
Once calved, cows are kept in loose pens to bond for three to four days. After that, they are turned out to grass.
Currently, there are 55 cows and calves grazing. No concentrates are being fed at grass, but cows are covered for tetany with magnesium lick buckets.
Breeding groups
To try to cut down the number of times cows have to be handled, I am sorting animals into their breeding groups as they go out to grass.
Cows have been divided into three groups, with two batches of mature cows and the final group consisting of first-calved heifers.
Heifers are being run as a separate group to give them priority management, as they calved at 24 months of age.
Hopefully, this helps to increase the number of calved heifers that get back in-calf again, as this can be the real challenge with 24-month-old calving.
Concentrates may be offered at a later stage, depending on grass growth and body condition from now and the onset of the breeding period.
Grass growth has really kicked off since the start of the month and response to early nitrogen is positive.
Silage ground is now closed off, with the plan to harvest 50 acres in mid-May. Slurry was applied on 8 March at a rate of 3,000 gallons per acre. Urea was also applied on 20 March at a rate of one bag per acre, with the balance of the fertiliser required applied last week.
All fertiliser applications are based on soil analysis results
Silage ground close to the main farm yard was topped up with just over a bag per acre of 24% nitrogen and 15% sulphur.
All fertiliser applications are based on soil analysis results. Most of the home farm is at the ideal levels for P and K, so slurry and straight nitrogen is adequate for silage.
Silage made on an outfarm was topped up with 2.5 bags/acre of 24:4.5:14, plus 7.5% sulphur. Soil fertility is lower on this ground, so the use of compound fertiliser is required to give yields a boost.
Slurry was applied to grazing land at a rate of 2,000 gallons per acre in early March with all ground receiving urea.
Along with the cows and calves, all yearling cattle are now at grass since 9 April.
Ground conditions were excellent in early spring and with good grass covers on farm at the time, I turned 13 heifers and six bullocks out to grass on 27 February.
However, with weather conditions taking a downturn during early March, these cattle had to be re-housed on 13 March, as they were unsettled and causing ground damage.
In total, there are 50 store bullocks at grass, with the aim to finish them next winter
They were let back out to grass again on 23 March. Another 12 store bullocks were turned out on 28 March, with the remainder of animals going out on 9 April.
In total, there are 50 store bullocks at grass, with the aim to finish them next winter.
The Angus-bred animals will hopefully be slaughtered prior to Christmas, with the Limousin-cross animals ready to kill in January and February.
I have 27 homebred heifers, which will be held for breeding. The remaining nine store heifers will be sold live to simplify grazing groups.
The only other cattle I have on farm is a group of seven cattle for fattening. These animals consist of a mixture of heifers and cows that lost a calf or being culled due to poor performance.
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