All cows are now housed for the winter as the grazing season winds down. The only cattle still grazing as of this week are a group of 21 weaned calves and a group of 22 heifers.

The 21 calves are grazing the paddocks surrounding the main farmyard, while the group of 22 heifers are grazing on an outfarm.

The cows were housed in phases depending on weather and ground conditions. The first cows to be housed were the first-calving heifers.

To protect ground from poaching, the meal is now being fed in half plastic barrels which can be moved with ease

There are 21 first-calved heifers and they were housed on 1 September. At the time, ground was getting wet and grazing demand was running ahead of supply.

Once housed and settled, the 21 heifers were weaned with their calves going back outside, where they still remain.

The calves are getting a small quantity of meal to keep them settled at grass. I had been feeding meal in a free-standing trough, but calves were starting to cut up ground.

To protect ground from poaching, the meal is now being fed in half plastic barrels which can be moved with ease.

These two groups are housed separately on either side of the same feed passage

The first group of mature cows to be housed consisted of 35 animals with bull calves at foot. These animals were brought inside on 5 October.

The next group of cows came indoors on 10 October, which consisted of 25 cows and heifers calves at foot.

These two groups are housed separately on either side of the same feed passage. Their calves have access to creep areas and they are being offered 1kg/day of concentrate.

The majority of cows are March- and April-calving, so calves will stay on their dams for another month before they are weaned.

Winter diet

Cows have been fed silage bales since they were housed, most of which are third-cut. This was made in dry conditions and is maintaining body condition and milk yield so far.

The plan is to open the pit over the next week and move cows on to better, first cut silage. It was analysed earlier in the summer and results indicate 71.6% D-Value, 28.2% dry matter, 14.5% protein and 11.4 ME (energy), which is ideal to maintain cows in late lactation without concentrate supplementation.

The first group had 19 cows, of which, 14 are settled in calf

There were 40 cows bred to AI this summer and they have now been pregnancy-scanned. The cows were split in two groups for ease of handling and insemination using a fixed-time AI programme.

The first group had 19 cows, of which, 14 are settled in calf. These animals were served to the Charolais bull, Solitude Narcos, on 25 June.

The second group of 21 cows were served to the Shorthorn bull, Hussar, on 30 June. Scanning results show 13 animals are settled in-calf.

Repeats

The cows were served to AI to take the pressure off the stock bulls this summer. There were two cows in the group of 21 animals that were given a second service to AI, which was carried out based on natural heat detection.

The rest of the cows that repeated ran with Limousin and Angus stock bulls for convenience. They have still to be scanned, as have the remainder of the cows in the herd.

Breeding numbers

In total, there were 110 animals bred this summer, of which 81 where mature cows and 28 were replacement heifers.

The cows that were not selected for AI ran with the Angus and Limousin stock bulls, while the replacements were also split between Angus and Limousin sires, depending on parentage.

Scanning

I am currently upgrading my cattle handling facilities, which has delayed the remaining cows from being scanned.

Work is almost complete, after which the remainder of the cows and replacements will be pregnancy-scanned.

Any animal that scans empty will be weaned early and separated for priority feeding, then intensively finished.

Bullocks have been housed from 24 August for intensive finishing with animals on good quality silage and 4kg/day of concentrate.

All of the 2019-born bullocks have been housed for intensive finishing. Again, like the cows, these animals were housed in phases.

The first group of 15 animals were housed on 24 August. These cattle were the heaviest animals and are now eating high-quality silage bales and 4kg/day of concentrate. The second group of 13 bullocks were housed on 4 September and are also eating baled silage, plus 3kg/day of concentrate.

The final group of 13 bullocks were the lightest animals and brought inside on 28 September. They are also on baled silage and 3kg/day of concentrate.

“The first group of 15 bullocks were weighed on 23 September and averaged 574kg, having gained 1.66kg/day from housing.

The second group of 13 bullocks were weighed on the same day. The group averaged 515kg and gained 1.92kg/day from housing.”

The bullocks have been wormed and treated for fluke to ensure they are thriving to their potential on the finishing diet. My plans are to start drafting bullocks for slaughter in December.

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