Calving has been stop-start in Newford Farm over the last week with another nine cows calved since the weekend.

This includes one set of twins which farm manager Matthew Murphy says was the only calving requiring assistance. The two calves were helped to suckle and after a few hours extra care under an infrared lamp were back on track.

The first three cows calved were turned out to grass at the start of the week and were rehoused in advance of forecast storm conditions on Friday. They will be turned back outdoors weather permitting on Monday with an improvement in weather forecast.

On-off grazing

They will be joined by cows calved at the start of the week with Matthew planning to practice on-off grazing if required. There have been 11 heifer calves and just two bull calves born to date.

There are over 20 cows on the point of calving in the group calving pen, with a number of cows holding on longer than expected. Facilities on the farm for calving are good with eight individual calving pens and two pens where cows can be handled.

The first cows have been moved to the group calving pen in advance of calving.

Disease prevention

Disinfectant baths at the doors of sheds have been topped up and are working well in helping to prevent disease establishing. Lime also continues to be applied on slats following scraping on a daily basis. This is being carried out to cut down on the risk of mastitis.

Matthew is also planning to get some yearling cattle out to grass in the coming week to 10 days to get a number of heavy covers grazed off.