Breeding has gone well on Tullamore Farm this year on the sheep front, with 90% of ewes now serviced.

Farm manager Shaun Diver is pleased with ewe condition despite the challenging year.

"The challenge now is to keep enough grass in front of them," he said.

"The land around the yard is extremely wet, so we have a lot of the ewes grazing in Cloonagh.

"Weanlings were housed a little earlier this year, so the paddocks that were intended for them will go towards the ewes."

Replacement ewes

The ram was introduced to the replacement ewe lambs last week, with 12 out of the 40 served so far.

Heifer calves are now weaned and are receiving good-quality silage and 2kg/head/day of concentrates.

Bulls had been weaned prior to this and are receiving 3.5kg/head/day.

Seven cull cows have been earmarked for selling, with three of these being selectively culled and the other four proving not in-calf at scanning time.

Best route

With the farm usually finishing cull cows as opposed to selling as stores, Shaun is weighing up the best route for selling.

Cows that calved down for the first time in 2023, thinner cows or those extremely loose in their dung will receive a fluke dose in the coming week.

Routine fluke dosing is not practiced, but dung samples will still be taken and Shaun will dose all animals if required. A rumen fluke dose will be given to stock in January.