All cattle are now housed for the winter period. Housing was carried out in phases, starting back on 12 October and finishing on Saturday 2 November.

Gradual housing was easier to manage rather than trying to bring everything indoors on the same day, or within a few days.

By gradually housing cattle in batches, we were able to stretch autumn grazing out to save on bedding and winter forage.

The first cattle to be housed were the strongest of this year’s spring-born bull calves. They were weaned at grass using nose paddles to restrict them from suckling the cow.

We have weaned cows using this method for three years now and it works really well. Bull calves were offered concentrates prior to weaning, which eases the transition in diet.

There were nine bull calves in this group and they averaged 300kg at weaning, or 1.3kg/day on the cow.

There were 14 lighter bull calves left on the cow at housing. I felt these animals were too light to be weaned, so they will remain on the cow to increase weaning weights.

These animals will be finished as a combination of steers and young bulls, depending on weaning weight and whether they are Angus or Stabiliser bred.

Heifers

Two batches of heifer calves were also weaned outside using the nose paddles and they are also housed.

There were 36 animals between the two groups, with a further nine calves still on the cow.

One thing I will change next year is to introduce creep feed to the heifers a little earlier before weaning.

The bull calves had been offered concentrates earlier than the heifers and as such, they were weaned and housed with zero fuss. Calves were not roaring at any stage.

While the heifers were weaned with little fuss, it did take them a day or two to settle in the shed. I think if meal had been introduced a fortnight earlier at grass, they would have been quieter at housing.

That said, the nose paddles are a fantastic way to wean calves. They are inserted when calves are brought in for dosing and vaccinating, so there is no extra handling required.

Late season performance

There was a noticeable difference in calf performance this autumn when compared to last year. We have our own weigh bridge on farm and up until late August, calf performance was on par with last year.

However, September and October were extremely wet and grazing conditions were difficult. Wet grass meant that feed value would have been low.

As such, weight gains really tailed off during autumn, which is why we ended up having to house cows with calves.

In contrast, last autumn was dry and mild, resulting in ideal grazing conditions and this was reflected in weight gains during the latter stages of the grazing season.

The weaned bull calves are being fed baled silage with 40% to 50% dry matter. Feed value is excellent, with bales tested during the summer being 72% to 73% D-Value with crude protein at 13.3%.

Bulls are also eating 4kg/day of a growing ration costing £220/t. My plan is to increase the bulls to 5kg/day by December, then gradually build up to 8kg/day in early spring.

There are also five Angus bullocks being fed for finishing. These animals were housed in the third week of September and since then, weight gains have really kicked on.

Bullocks

The bullocks averaged 650kg when weighed at the end of October and have gained 1.6kg/day since housing.

The bullocks are being fed 76% D-Value silage baled from surplus grass and 5kg/day of a finishing ration.

These animals should be ready to kill over the next month at current weight gains, which would see animals killed two to three months ahead of last year.

This is encouraging as it shows the investment in genetics and grassland management is paying off, leading to more efficient animals on farm.

Heifers

There is a small group of beef heifers being finished, including three animals which were kept for breeding but scanned empty.

The heifers averaged 580kg in late October and should be finished in the next month, which is again two to three months earlier than the previous year.

We sold some store cattle through the live ring back in early summer to ease grazing pressure and boost cashflow on farm.

Cows and calves

The cows which are still suckling a calf are getting ad-lib first-cut silage. As silage quality is excellent, there is no need to supplement cows with concentrate feeding, which is a significant saving. The heifer calves which have been weaned are on ad-lib silage and 1.5kg/day of the growing ration.

10-week spring calving period

Scanning was carried out in early September and results were positive. There were 66 cows settled in-calf from 69 animals put to the bull.

These animals will start calving during the last week of February to either an Angus, or one of two Stabiliser stock bulls. Most cows are set to calve in the first two weeks of March. Only eight cows are likely to run into April with all cows calved inside a 10 week period based on scanning results.

Heifers

There were 24 heifers bred to Stabiliser bulls through AI and scanning results shows 21 animals are settled in-calf.

These animals should be finished calving inside six weeks based on scanning dates.

This leaves us with eight cows for culling. These animals were marked early for culling due to various reasons and currently being fed for slaughter.

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