With 20 cows and calves outdoors on Tullamore Farm, shelter was a number one priority. Cows and calves were moved to a field with a large hedge along the eastern boundary and a temporary shelter was also built with bales of straw and an old sliding door.
An electric fence was brought around the outside of this shelter to prevent cows entering. Cows were fed a little meal around the shelter to encourage calves into it. Cows outdoors will also be fed silage in a trailer feeder over the coming days along with meal and cal-mag.
Silage will also be fed to the 59 dairy x heifers grazing the outfarm in Cloonagh until snow melts and normal grazing can resume. Ewes carrying triplets and twins are all housed and eating concentrates. Singles are outdoors and getting silage. There is a worry that with very low temperatures, water may freeze in sheds and with bulls on ad-lib meal, water requirement is high.
With this in mind, a stainless steel tank was filled with water on Tuesday to have as an emergency supply if water in the yard freezes. Some of the sheds in the yard are open to an easterly wind as they were built with the prevailing southwesterly wind in mind. Bales have been placed in front of this shed to act as temporary shelter during the storm. In terms of health and safety on the farm, it’s just essential tasks like feeding stock,calving cows and keeping water to all stock for the next few days.