Cows Inside

When I say that words fail me to describe the type of year its been for cattle , I will use it as the excuse for not keeping this blog up to date . The Spring started off so promising , with an early turnout for the herd . March 21st saw the cows out through the day, and out night and day a month after that. It was the earliest turnout for a few years , and all was looking well. After that , the weather has pretty much gone downhill. Constant rain through out the spring/summer, and a pretty lousy Autumn has been hard on the girls to say the least. I have been surprised at just how well they performed this summer, although yields have been hit a little. Silage stocks are ok for the winter, first cut quality is again, surprisingly good, the same can't be said for 2nd cut , which , quite frankly is closer to youngstock fodder than milk cow material. However , it will have to do as a buffer fodder for next summer. Feeding the dairy cows is always a challenge , keeping an eye on quality but also cost. This years feed bills seem to be going through the roof, but they need fed, and the worst thing we could do is to skimp on quality, although I do sometimes feel I am struggling to get this message across ! ! ! We are on the lookout for a new nutritionist to guide us through the next few months. It's very easy to get the basic feeding correct, it's just the nitty gritty details that need that little bit of expertise. At the moment the cows have been averaging around 28.5 ltrs/day which I feel is quite respectable , but there's always scope for more ! Plenty calves have been born throughout the summer,sire being Emerald, Twist, Teirgan, Gold Crown as well as Hereford calves from our heifers. Service sires at the moment are Toc-Farm Duplex Glauco , Morningview Apprentice, Pirolo Goldwyn Wyman, Siemers Atwood Allthat, Hydaways Goldmine, and Charolais and Limousin on the lower end of the herd. The Gracious family are doing away quite nicely, with two new members , Chloanne Emerald Gracious( Emerald X Hanno X Addison ) and Chloanne End Story Gracious ( End Story X Goldwyn X Hershel ) Pregnancies lined up from the family include sires Stanley Cup, Currajugle Gonzo, Synergy Always Red and Artes. Its good to see daughters now on the ground from Chloanne Lowick,hopefully breeders are happy with the calves so far. More importantly , heifers by Chloanne Gallagher are now being classified. I am fairly pleased with scores so far, we even have a VG85 on farm here. The cows finally came inside on September 24th , much earlier than usual.It all happened very quickly. One minute the weather was fair, the next absolutely foul, leaving me with no option but to house them. As it turns out , this has been the best thing we have ever done . The cows responded well to their new surroundings and have rewarded us with increased yields. The dry cows and youngstock are still outside, bit with colder weather forecast , its only a matter of time before all sheds are full , and winter will be well and truely here !