A total of 23 calves have now arrived safely on Tullamore Farm. Out of the 23 calved, 16 of these have been first-time calving heifers.

Some of the calves born earlier in the week have now been moved out of the individual calving pens and into larger group pens.

If the good weather continues, farm manager Shaun Diver is hoping to be able to start putting out a few of the heifers and calves to some of the most sheltered fields around the yard.

Calving has been running quite smoothly this year on the farm, with most calving unassisted and calves up and sucking without any help.

There was one heifer that required an emergency section this week due to the calf coming upside down. Shaun and the vet weighed up all the options and decided that a section was the safest option for both the cow and calf in this situation.

The vet had to pay a return visit to the farm later in the week for another heifer that put out her calf bed after calving. They were able to get it back in successfully and both heifers and their calves are now doing well.

Quality colostrum

Both the mature cows and heifers are calving down, with plenty of good-quality colostrum to feed their calves. There has been just one case of milk fever in a first-cross cow, but it was caught on time and treated successfully.

The later-calving cows were out in the yard this week to have their backs shaved and to receive a lice treatment. When they were out, they also received their scour vaccine.

The 2024-born weanlings were also out to have their backs shaved and get a lice treatment. They also received a dose for rumen fluke.

Ewe management

This week, the triplet ewes were increased to 400g of concentrates per head per day. The singles and twins are still on a diet of ad-lib silage, but Shaun plans to begin to introduce concentrates to their diet from next week.

This week, molasses feeders were introduced to all of the ewes to help increase energy levels in the run-up to lambing. The ewes also have access to mineral buckets.

The entire ewe flock is now due their annual Footvax booster to prevent against footrot. Shaun plans to vaccinate the ewes at the beginning of next week.

Slurry storage

With the good weather this week, it has allowed Shaun to get 12 loads of slurry out on to a few of the dryer fields to relieve the pressure on the tanks until more ground becomes dry enough to spread.

The fields that have been spread were dry fields around the yard that were sitting at an index of 2 for potassium.