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With spring-calving cows being housed around the country, management tasks are much easier to carry out.
Outlined are five tasks which should be a priority over the next few weeks, if they have not already been carried out.
1. Scan cows and cull empty animals
Scanning cows should be a routine task in any suckler herd. Identifying cows which are not in-calf means they can be weaned now and sold while they are in good flesh, increasing the cull value.
Alternatively, early weaning means less concentrate feeding is required to finish cows at the correct fat cover.
There is no point holding empty cows given the feed costs involved during winter. Holding empty cows will also tie up housing space, as well as generating more slurry, putting storage tanks under pressure.
Cows that are in-calf can be grouped based on calving dates. Keep as many early-calving and mid-calving cows together as possible, with all late-calving cows grouped separately.
This makes it easier to target pre-calving minerals to early calving animals, then mid-calving and finally late calving animals, rather than blanket feeding minerals to all cows, saving on money.
2. Batch thin calving cows for preferential feeding
When housing cows, batch animals based on body condition. Thin calving cows should be separated now for additional feeding to correct body condition.
Bringing cows from a body condition score (BCS) of 2.5 to 3.0 is the equivalent of gaining 30kg to 40kg of liveweight. This should be carried out in a controlled manner over six to eight weeks during mid pregnancy.
This means correcting BCS during November and December, not in the final months prior to calving.
If cows are slow to gain flesh, it may be worthwhile weaning these animals now, if they still have calves at foot.
3. Wean first calved heifers
Heifers which calved during March and April will now be reaching the end of their first lactation.
Rather than trying to keep heifers milking when housed, which will require high-quality silage and 2kg of concentrate, it may be more cost effective to wean heifers now.
This will give them time to regain flesh and recover in time for calving next spring. Offering 2kg/day of concentrate directly to their calves, rather than to calved heifers, will give a more cost effective response in terms of calf performance.
4. Wean cows
For March- to May-calving herds, once thinner cows and first-calved heifers have been weaned, you can then focus on weaning the main cow herd.
Gradual weaning is easier on management, as taking smaller batches of calves off the cows makes it easier to monitor and treat for respiratory problems.
5. Parasite control
Once cows have been housed and are settled, they should be treated for internal and external parasites such as fluke and lice.
Wet weather in August, September and October will mean there is a greater risk of cows having fluke this autumn.
Consult with your vet on the best product to use. If treating cows for fluke within two to three weeks post housing, use a product which is effective at killing early immature and immature fluke as well as mature fluke.
Alternatively, leave cows for a six to eight weeks after housing and use a product which kills mature fluke.
For lice, use a product which is effective against biting and sucking lice. Ideally, clipping a strip along the cows back before applying a pour on will increase the efficacy of any product used.
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