Calving took off here again, with three calves born in quick succession over two days. One happens to be the smallest calf I’ve seen born here, a little pedigree heifer which weighs only about 20kg.

The dam happened to be covered by both a bull and AI straw, so we’ll have to wait until her DNA tag sample comes back to know which sire she has for definite.

I’m unsure of why little Ruby is so small, as she doesn’t look premature or dwarfish in any way. But what she lacks in size, she makes up in spirit.

She was up and sucking the cow herself within a couple of hours and is currently running rings around the two bulls which were born just after her. Watching her race around like an oversized hare would put a smile on the stoniest of faces.

Scanning the cows last winter has worked out very well so far, with all predicted sexes being correct and, thankfully, no twins.

Five other cows are now overdue as well, with the scanning telling us we’ll have three Belgian Blue bulls, a Charolais heifer and another Limousin bull.

All going well, this will leave just two more Limousin heifers due in June to finish us off for the year.

Soil samples

Recent soil samples showed our land to be on the lower end of the pH scale, so a few tonnes of granular lime has been spread over some pasture fields to see what difference it will make.

As a number of our fields can be quite wet and boggy in nature, I’ll be surprised if there’s no noticeable difference, though larger amounts will likely be needed to see the full benefit.

The majority of our meadows were able to be grazed off by early April, with a couple of wetter exceptions, and slurry was applied via dribble bar.

This was followed a week later with a light shake of 10:10:20 to each, and closed off until July.

I’m sure our resident snipe will be pleased with the quiet period, as they frightened the life out of me numerous times in meadows, flying up from under my feet and squawking in protest at the intrusion.

Marching orders

Two late-calving cows and two weaned heifers were also taken over to the outfarm for summer grazing. At least, that was the plan until one cow decided to take flight over a hedge and mains fence to join the cattle next door.

This wasn’t too bad, until the remainder joined her two days later. Perhaps the old saying should be ‘curiosity killed the cow’ instead of the cat, as cows who jump hedges on this farm normally get their marching orders very quickly.

Neither of the two cows were wanderers before this, so it’s strange to see two middle-aged ladies take it up for sport.

For now, they’ll get the benefit of the doubt that it was the excitement of spring and being let out, although the bull next door has caught the eye of our heifers before.

We’ll run a new line of fencing over the area they appear to have gotten through and hopefully that will keep the next group of cattle enclosed this time.

Knowledge

While we were separating the stock, I was introduced to the neighbours' eight-year-old son Dylan, whose knowledge of cattle left me amazed.

Through a chat conducted outside the field gate, he delighted in telling me all about his father's cattle, their ICBF stars and calves born off his favourite cows.

However, his main topic of interest was one of our escapee heifers, which he had taken a great shine to.

Being a chip off the old block, he offered me €200 for her and upon finding out her age, told me she'd be the correct age for breeding around August.

As we left to look at our respective fences, his parting words were to let him know if the heifer was offered for sale, as his bid for her would stand.

In these challenging times, it’s very uplifting to hear the next generation talking so enthusiastically about cattle.

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