General Details
- 71 cows and 74 calves have gone to grass last Monday the 13th March.
- 78 % of the Newford Suckler Herd has now calved in the first 6 weeks - first calf born was on 2nd February. No major problems to report so far.
- 83 cows have calved with 86 live calves (Four sets of twins and one mortality).
- The average weight of the calves born is 43kg
- The average calving score is 1.47
- 90% of the Newford Herd to date has a calving score between one and two.
- 43 yearling heifers have returned to grass on Tuesday 14th March. Their current turnout weight is 369 Kgs. A.D.G from birth is good at 0.91kgs. The period of rehousing over the last 3 weeks has affected performance. No meals were fed during this time. If we include this period as winter housing then performance has fallen from 0.58 ADG to 0.39 ADG. However compensatory gain should see these animals reach their targets later in the year.
- 46 yearling steers have gone to grass on Wednesday the 15th. The current turnout weight is 388kgs. ADG from birth is 0.95kgs. Again the period of rehousing (if included in winter housing) has reduced from 0.65 ADG to 0.41kgs. No meals were fed during this time. Like the heifers, compensatory gain will make up for reduced performance at rehousing.
- The 33 replacement heifers on the contract rearing farm in Tuam have all return to grass on the 11th of March. Target weight for breeding in May is 350Kg.
- The two stock bulls have also gone to grass this week to a paddock on their own.
- Lime is being applied to the slats to reduce infection levels for cows that are waiting to calve. It is also being applied to straw bedding under the cows and calves to reduce infection.
Grassland Details
- Farm Cover : 1272kg/DM/ha
- Growth /Ha : 37kg/DM/ha
- Estimated DM : @ 17 %
- Newford is losing 7.28ha (18ac) of land due to a new school being built on the Raheen Woods land. This is being replaced by renting 12.14ha (30ac) block 7 miles from the home farm. This will reduce the stocking rate of 2.89LU/ha in 2016 back to the target of 2.7LU/ha going forward.
Suckler Herd
- Fiston (FSZ). Twin bull calf born on the 9th February
- Cows and calves went to grass on Monday the 13th
- Cows and Calves grazing 1450(kg DM/ha) 9.8 cm paddock
Key recommendations for this week
1. Calves will continue to be disbudded at 2 weeks and receive their intranasal IBR vaccination.
2. Place Magnesium buckets in the paddocks with the suckler cows.
