General Details
- All the calving is now finished on the Newford Farm for 2019. ( Summary)
- 110 cows calved with 109 calves ( 5 sets of Twins)
- First calf born on the 30th January
- No calving difficulty.
- The average calf birth weight is 41 Kgs
- Calving scored for the herd so far is 1.29
- The below table shows the breakdown of the sires verses the calves weights
- The Breeding season started on the 22nd of April.
- 105 cows and 109 calves at grass. Mineral buckets are with the cows in the paddocks to prevent Grass Tetany
- 100 % AI on the Newford Farm.
- 64 cows have been bulled since breeding started ( 10 days ago)
- Two teaser bulls are running with the cows. One with each group
- Each teaser bull is equated with a chin ball harness for marking the cows and the teaser bulls are playing a very active role in seeking cows out who are in heat.
- Breeding season will last for 10 weeks and finishing on the 1st July
- Once a day AI used, cows are been inseminated at midday each day.
- If a cow is AI at 12 o’clock and if she is still showing signs of been in heat again that evening , that same cow will be AI again the next day ( 12 o’clock am)
- Each cows tail is also been clip at inseminated time
- The majority of Newford cows are in ideal body condition for breeding. Cows were weighed and body score on the 10th April
- Newford Suckler Herd Weighted & Body Condition Score
- Cows Average Weight 546 Kg
- Cows Average Body Score 2.20 Bcs
- 3 cull cows have been sold off the farm.
- Grass measurement taken on the 29th of April
- Newford started its second rotation mid-April on the home farm, and second rotation on Tuohy’s farm started last week.
- Weather conditions are not as good this week as compare to the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Regrowth has slip back a bite on any ground which was well grazed in the last 7 days.
- ¾ bag of Urea is been spread after each grazing.
- Some paddocks have received 1600 gals of cattle slurry on the home platform
Key recommendations for this week
- Monitor all cows regularly for heat detection
- Watch out for any health issues with the cows , especially Grass Tetany
- Keep teaser bull’s ball harness topped up with paint
- Monitor grass growth closely
- Keep mineral buckets out in paddocks with the cows
- Weight the store heifers