While it’s heartening to see such an interest in show cattle, particularly with an increase in numbers of the younger generation getting involved, the high prices have led to some interesting questions asked by friends of mine who wouldn’t have much, if any, prior knowledge of farming.“How come you’re always complaining about the money in farming if that’s what one animal can make?” being the first inquiry by a few regarding the heifer which sold for €30,000 in Carrick.
While it’s heartening to see such an interest in show cattle, particularly with an increase in numbers of the younger generation getting involved, the high prices have led to some interesting questions asked by friends of mine who wouldn’t have much, if any, prior knowledge of farming.
“How come you’re always complaining about the money in farming if that’s what one animal can make?” being the first inquiry by a few regarding the heifer which sold for €30,000 in Carrick.
My explanation – that she was an exceptional heifer and that she could have embryos flushed and sold at a later date – wasn’t met with much satisfaction with the follow-up questions being along the lines of how come we weren’t all breeding stock like that.
After a brief discussion on how breeding one animal to another doesn’t always produce the goods required to reach the lofty highs of champion stock, the only comparison which seemed to work was asking why there are so few supermodels in the world when there’s an enormous population of people who are, to put it simply, beautiful.
There has to be that something else, that “Je ne sais quoi” in order to make them stand out from the rest and clearly she had it in spades, along with a few other heifers on the day.
Perhaps my turn will come next year as my Blonde cow has held to the sexed semen chosen, though she was scanned too early to be able to know the gender.
Hopefully, my first attempt using it will be successful and it does exactly as it says on the tin, or straw in this case.
The young weanlings left in the shed have started to thrive since the older calves were sold.
Despite having two troughs to allow for adequate feed space, they had been no match for the bigger calves and were usually the first to be shoved away or step back rather than getting a clout from their larger comrades who had learned to inhale their feed instead of enjoying it.
In the past fortnight, they’ve had a more peaceful life and it’s certainly beginning to show.
Potential
I always find calves around five months of age have a gangly sort of teenager look to them, and if you take your eye off studying them for a fortnight, all of a sudden your calf has turned into a weanling and their potential begins to appear.
Our orphan has also joined them from outdoors and after a brief period of confusion over how to walk on slats without her hooves getting stuck she settled in well.
Still on three feeds a day she’s gradually being weaned off, though it’s not before time as she’s gone through quite a few bags of milk replacer at this stage and we all know they don’t come cheap these days.
Another thing which is not cheap these days is straw and while I’ve read about a few innovative farmers trialling wool mixed in with straw as bedding material, the lack of woolly-backs around this area means looking into something more reliable as I’m sure if sheep were ever procured, their reputation of durability (or lack thereof) precedes them.
We’ve been meaning to try out rubber mats in our calving pens and while the orphan was finding her indoor feet we purchased a mat and placed it on the slats to allow her to settle in better.
Once she’s done with it, it’ll be moved out in time for calving season and if it works out we’ll likely buy a few more to put on the concrete and top with bedding, the bonus being they can be dragged out and hosed down after each use.
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