I always try to follow best-practice in how I approach breeding within my suckler herd.

I only breed for six weeks, with no animal getting any more than two chances with artificial insemination (AI).

I regularly hear from farmers who think that this is being too strict and that I should give some of my better cows another chance. Down through the years, I have culled some really good-looking cows because they are not in-calf.

There are times when I have questioned my logic, but then I convince myself that they would have been in-calf if they were good cows. I try to forget about looks and concentrate on productivity.

But it’s not always easy, and I am no different than anyone else – I have favourites and there are cows that I like more than others.

Simmental heifer

At the start of last year, I had a nice red and white Simmental heifer. She was really well marked and I was very keen to get her in-calf and have her as a cow.

I AI’d her twice and she didn’t go in-calf. But she came into heat just after I had finished my breeding season and it was then that I had a “senior moment.”

I decided to give her another go and to make matters worse, I decided to try something different. A few years ago, I bought some Irish Moiled straws for a man who had pedigree Irish Moiled cows.

They were fine cows, and I was extremely impressed with them. He had some very nice calves, although they were quite small.

The Irish Moiled heifer is around half the size of the other calves in the group.

Sadly, this man died and I haven’t been back for a few years. I’m not really sure what happened to the cows.

However, I was left with a few Irish Moiled straws in my flask and no-one else wanting them.

Short gestation

Back to my heifer. I pulled up the goblet and I saw these Irish Moiled straws and thought I would try one, thinking that it will use up a straw and she probably won’t go in-calf in any event. If she did hold, my thinking was that her gestation would be short and she might produce a nicely coloured calf. Well, she scanned in-calf and produced a red and white heifer only a couple of days after the rest of my herd.

It’s certainly a hardy wee calf, but at five months old, it’s still very small. It’s around half the size of the rest of the calves and every time I look at it I think to myself “what have I done”.

Cut my loss

To make matters worse, the mother didn’t go in-calf again. She is earmarked for culling this year. So I am not feeling very proud of myself – I should have cut my loss last winter and let the heifer go then.

It is not all bad. I have a healthy calf which can hold its own and is not afraid to push in for meal. I don’t know what will eventually become of it but I’m using it to remind myself to be more careful not to have another “senior moment”.

I now need to have a bit of a clear out of my AI flask. There are too many odd straws in there that I got for other people, which will never be used. I don’t want to be tempted to use some of them again.

Read more

Nerves jangling at scanning time

Farmer Writes: resolve to make a will in 2023