Twenty-one dairy-bred heifers were drafted for slaughter last week on Tullamore Farm.

These heifers were purchased as calves in spring 2017 and reared on farm.

Results from last week’s batch showed an average carcase weight of 253kg, bringing them into €978/head, after deductions.

Their remaining 24 comrades are on 6.5kg/head/day of concentrates and good-quality silage. One heifer took a mild case pneumonia this week and was treated with a short withdrawal antibiotic.

Straightforward

Weanling heifers are doing well on Redstart and management has been relatively straightforward to date with the strip wire being moved once per day and a bale of silage given every two days.

After the midweek rain, land did turn a little mucky but still remains quite manageable once the wire is moved every day.

Bull weanlings are thriving well on 3kg/head/day and the best quality silage in the yard. They will be moved up to 4kg/head/day in early December. Thankfully the winter treatments and vaccinations appear to have worked well.

Dry cows are being fed according to BCS. A small number of cows that are below optimum BCS will be taken out this week and given preferential treatment and might also get 1kg/head/day of rolled barley if required.

Ewe breeding

Rams have been taken away from the ewes this week, marking the end of the 2018 breeding season. Breeding has gone exceptionally well, with farm manager Shaun Diver remarking on the very low level of repeats in the flock.

The breeding season lasted for a tight, four-week and four-day period. All going well, lambing will commence on 20 March 2019.

Separated

While rams were being pulled out, any lame sheep, approximately 10, were also separated from the main flock to undergo a foot-bathing regime. If there is no response to this treatment, ewes that are still lame will be injected to clear up any underlying foot issues.

Last week, the average cover on the farm was 820kg DM/ha and growth was still at 13kg DM/ha/day. With this in mind, it looks like ewes will remain out until early January, which will be of great benefit to lighten demand on straw in the yard.