Calving is progressing well in Newford Farm, the 100-cow suckler-to-beef herd in Teagasc Athenry. There were 57 cows calved up until Friday 21 February, with mortality remaining at just three cases which occurred earlier in the calving season.
With ground waterlogged, any thoughts of turning cows and calves outdoors have been well and truly dismissed. This is significantly increasing the daily labour requirement, with sheds being modified to cope with pressure on housing. One side of the feeding passage in the main slatted shed has been bedded and this is working well in serving as a temporary creep area.
Straw bedding is being topped up regularly to reduce the risk of disease establishing.
Farm manager Iarlaith Collins says the setup is working pretty well, with the only caveat being that spaced sheeting is at times letting in moisture when rain is driven by strong winds. This is being counteracted by keeping bedding topped up regularly with fresh straw.
Slats are being scraped down daily and lime is being applied to reduce the risk of mastitis in recently calved high-yielding cows. This practice was carried out in recent years and seemed to deliver on reducing the incidence of mastitis.
Straw is also being topped up regularly in loose housing. This is significantly increasing the volume of straw being used but there are few alternatives, with the focus firmly on minimising disease risk.
Daytime calving
While weather is increasing workload, refraining from feeding cows silage during the hours of 8.00am to 4.30pm is working well in encouraging cows to calve during daytime hours. Iarlaith says that since he started the practice on 4 February only a couple of cows have calved during 11pm and 7am. The main time period for calving is from 7am to 11am with a few cows calving in the afternoon and evening.
Cows have access to straw during the day and any uneaten straw is then used for bedding. Iarlaith says he is sticking rigidly to the time frame and he believes this is helping its success.
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Calving is progressing well in Newford Farm, the 100-cow suckler-to-beef herd in Teagasc Athenry. There were 57 cows calved up until Friday 21 February, with mortality remaining at just three cases which occurred earlier in the calving season.
With ground waterlogged, any thoughts of turning cows and calves outdoors have been well and truly dismissed. This is significantly increasing the daily labour requirement, with sheds being modified to cope with pressure on housing. One side of the feeding passage in the main slatted shed has been bedded and this is working well in serving as a temporary creep area.
Straw bedding is being topped up regularly to reduce the risk of disease establishing.
Farm manager Iarlaith Collins says the setup is working pretty well, with the only caveat being that spaced sheeting is at times letting in moisture when rain is driven by strong winds. This is being counteracted by keeping bedding topped up regularly with fresh straw.
Slats are being scraped down daily and lime is being applied to reduce the risk of mastitis in recently calved high-yielding cows. This practice was carried out in recent years and seemed to deliver on reducing the incidence of mastitis.
Straw is also being topped up regularly in loose housing. This is significantly increasing the volume of straw being used but there are few alternatives, with the focus firmly on minimising disease risk.
Daytime calving
While weather is increasing workload, refraining from feeding cows silage during the hours of 8.00am to 4.30pm is working well in encouraging cows to calve during daytime hours. Iarlaith says that since he started the practice on 4 February only a couple of cows have calved during 11pm and 7am. The main time period for calving is from 7am to 11am with a few cows calving in the afternoon and evening.
Cows have access to straw during the day and any uneaten straw is then used for bedding. Iarlaith says he is sticking rigidly to the time frame and he believes this is helping its success.
Read more
Brexit ‘far from over’ for farmers
In pictures: Gortatlea suckler cow sale
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