This week, the maiden heifers on Tullamore Farm were brought back in again to get their mineral bolus and vaccinations prior to breeding.

Farm manager Shaun Diver said: "The heifers received a mineral bolus along with a vaccination for BVD and leptospirosis this week.

"There is lots of breeding activity taking place with the heifers, so it’s important to ensure they are in good condition for breeding, which will take place in two weeks.

"Similar to last year, all heifers and cows will be bred using AI bulls.’’

Grass

"We will be completing this week’s cover later on this evening, but with a pretty cold week down here, we wouldn’t be expecting to see a huge lift in grass growth yet. Paddocks that have been grazed have been pretty slow to come back," Shaun said.

Rainfall this week has given Shaun a chance to spread more fertiliser on grazing ground.

Overall, 60 acres on the farm received half a bag of urea per acre this week, which should give grass growth a boost on the farm ahead of more animals being turned out to grass

Lambing

Lambing is well on the way, with only 50 hoggets left to lamb. These ewe lambs were left out with the ram two weeks later than the majority of ewes.

Shaun comments: "There is approximately 250 ewes with lambs outside on paddocks. Most ewes seem to be doing well outdoors, with a few cases of mastitis in older ewes having to be treated this week.

"As weather remains slighter colder this week, we have had a few cases of lambs with slight chills, so it’s important to look out for lambs that may have missed a feeding to ensure they're brought in before getting sick.

"We generally just put these lambs into a little 'hospital week'" he said.

The ewes' feed ration is the same as last week, with the twin-bearing mature ewes being fed at a rate of 850g/day and the triplet-carrying ewes a rate of 1,000g/day.

Singles continue with no concentrates and are being feed good-quality silage with a DMD of 75%.

Calving

The calving season is also close to coming to an end on the farm, with two cows calving this week, leaving only 15 cows remaining.

Shaun comments: "The majority of cows and calves are out in paddocks grazing at this stage.

"Cows have received magnesium boluses as a preventative measure for tetany and licks have also been place in paddocks to aid magnesium intake. We also dehorned a number of calves this week that will be turned out in the next few days."

Similar to last week, breeding activity remains strong in early-calving cows. All cows will be brought in next week to be vaccinated for BVD and lepto and will be checked if heat detection tags are working correctly ahead of breeding in the following two weeks.

This week, the Irish Farmers Journal demonstration farm will also be taking over @IrelandsFarmers Twitter account.

Make sure to tune in during the week to hear more from Tullamore Farm and the Irish Farmers Journal livestock team.