When's calving starting 2023

301 is the longest here. Yeah she is softening alright around the rear end, the pin bones are staying up for now. She is never much of a milker so prob won’t spring all that much coming to think of it. Hopefully she doesn’t have a monster inside her, that’s my biggest concern. I’ll post here what happens

Big Pps heifer last night. Will be the last one to calf here . Cows will be going this autumn

No bull here, all AI so dates are fairly accurate

She's a second calver, 81%AA with some HO/MO. By lateish, you mean in the season? I always put the bull to the heifers last, she was a bit later last year. She's a big hungry cow so she'll probably fatten well.

Mostly AAX, HEX and SIX cows, always kept an AA bull. Only 12 cows this year been getting progressively smaller the past few years. Cost of good bulls is a factor too, I'd considered AI this year but the farm is just too fragmented to be practical. Kids want to be more and more involved in the farm too and I think calf rearing will suite tha too. The house is a few KM from the yard too, so watching cows from a far by camera.

I've had a big career change and opted for a WFH part time job, to cut out on the child minding and probably have a good opportunity now to concentrate better on the profitability of the farm while still having more family time.

Yea I'd agree, normally try to be finished before mid April, this one ended up a little later last year. I always tried to avoid Autumn calving altogether.

Plan is to keep the weanlings, I've bred very quite stock that are used to trailers and paddocks, so at least I know where I'll stand with them as yearlings. Sell cows at weaning and start buying in calves in spring and increase numbers. At least I won't need to worry about grass over the next 2 years, probably have to bale and sell surplus.

Hope it's well thought out, but really only one way to find out.

I would agree there. I don’t like too much messing with a calf thats just born I’d rather allow the cow to lick him into shape . I throw a bit of sand down if I’m about and that gives him a bit of grip. Get the naval done with iodine and I aim for that to be it. The act of sucking early helps a calf get going too. If we had to jack a calf then yes he would get some bieslin but otherwise I’d always try to let the team at it. Last year we had one calved outside and the calf couldn’t get up. Eventually after 3 weeks he got up unaided. Mother shocking wild is away now. I’m not too sure what else could have been done but I had a foster cow for him and he went on ok, not a stormer but a right oul bullock now.

Good few here talking about getting out of sucklers.

It will be sad to see the absence of colour and quality in fields around the country. But its all about the margin.

I do the same as you here, i'd often warm a cup full of shop milk and a grain of sugar and put it in a bottle, once they get the taste it's a huge help to get them sucking the cow.

How you look after the cow precalving makes a difference too

The end of calving is nearly in sight, down to the last one left. Only started calving the last day of march. Has went well with 24 cows and their 24 calves are at foot. Had to intervene with only 2, one coming backwards ( then cow decided to put out the calving bag as the calf popped out.) Second was a cow that had slowed down a lot. Working full time so dont want hassle cases. Breeds used were aubrac for cows and a nice Angus on the heifers.

Things that went well. Getting cows out for the daytime hours to a bare paddock marked for reseeding. ( It's now well tilled). This made silage at night very easy. Seeing the cows stretching out helps a lot in the days coming up to calving.

Having accurate serve dates for the bull and ai are great when backed up scanning. The bit of time with tail paint and checking around at breeding pays off.

No calf stayed in more than 2 days, they are just better off out. Really lightens the work load. Even with the few cold and wet spells they are just hardier out and less chance of pneumonia

All the bull calves are castrated (lamb rings) as they are tagged. Just safer and easier to do now.

Overall a better year, I might still have to eat my words, 😭😭

It's as easy to watch 3-4 due to calve as one. I find the key to a tight calving spread is first make sure that the cow has calved without problem. Last year start to finish was about 6weeks. Hard calvings are just hard on everyone. Calving jack should be used on less than 3%of a herd and that came from the vet.

2. Is pick a date that breeding finishes and stick to it. Most will have got 3 chances to go in calf. If not bye bye. This leaves you breeding from only your most fertile cows

3. Doing a bit of tail painting and recording heats pre breeding. Having this data is vital as it gives a pic of cycles.

Farming a very heavy farm. The paddock they went into for calving you couldn't have driven a tractor across it for most of the month. And it's getting a drainage job in early summer. If it wasn't wet I would pull a harrow over it, shake seed and roll. It's brown now and I had skinned it in early March with yearlings during the wet. all I want for the cows was ground to stretch and lie off on. Few years ago I has cryto and rota at the same time in late Feb, I was sick of carting straw, moving pens and trying to rear 50 bucket feds at the same time. Something had to give and I slipped calving back to april. This is 7th year of it .Calving outdoors is a pleasure. Last year's paddock was handy, I could look out the kitchen window

About 25% were to FTAI. Heifers and daughters of the bull.

On the castration side. They were always going to be squeezed. Just safer and easier to do it at the first few days.

One of the FR cull cows was springing last week (three spins) so we put her on the stand off pad. She calved a cracking AAx bull calf earlier this morning. She's a second calver and buckets of milk on the three teats. I'll try and adopted one or push my luck with a second over the weekend and see how she gets on with them for a few weeks along with her own calf.

Any action?

I've been trying to foster this calf on to another cow that calved the following night. I let the cow in twice a day to her own calf and this calf. She puts her head tru the calving gate for some meal and she lets both drink away. When I'd let her out she'd puck away the foster calf. Wasn't sure what to do as it's 3 weeks now. This morning I let her in loose to them and she stood for both. A few more days and maybe I could let them off outside.

3 weeks seems like a long time but I thought it was easier than mixing milk powder for just one calf. I guess I'm just more stubborn than the cow.

5 euro to drop a calf to Redhills anyway.

15 to drop off beside me and twenty five collected.

15 to drop off here too