The cows have made up for their four-day break last week and the half-way point in calving has been passed. Due to grass availability and ground conditions, the grazing plan has changed slightly for the part-time grazers. From now on, only the first and second calvers will have access to grass while the older cows in better condition will be held in.

Murphy's law ruled Friday morning. I had planned to get away in the late morning but as I was giving one last look around I spotted a newborn calf in the main shed. The cow obviously held to her initial bulling and not the one she was scanned to as the calf arrived almost twenty days early.

Unwilling to suck

I rearranged things to get them to the right shed and as the calf was a little cold, he was unwilling to suck. I decided to stomach tube-feed him with colostrum instead. While I was doing this, I noticed a second calver who calved the night before was very restless.

She had held the cleaning overnight and despite passing them was still straining and kicking her belly. These things seem to occur when there's an appointment elsewhere. I wasn't sure if I had a case for the vet on my hands or not.

I rang Dad and we decided to leave her be for now as he said he would get out to see her in the afternoon. She had straightened herself out by the evening and a heifer that required a little assistance calved while he was there.

Being away from the farmyard means keeping the workload to an absolute minimum for the relief workers so I put enough silage in to cover a few days.

On the road

It was great to get on the road and Friday afternoon showed off the south east coast in style. Some herds had ventured out and ploughing had commenced in pockets as I drove through Waterford and Wexford. Maybe it's a farmer’s habit but I found it hard not to take in what was going on over the ditches as I drove along.

It's a little daunting having a judge dissect your drama performance afterwards but not too unlike a good discussion group giving views on a farm

We had our first competition night in Gorey Friday night. It's a little daunting having a judge dissect your drama performance afterwards but not too unlike a good discussion group giving views on a farm – it was constructive criticism.

It was onto Ballyduff then in Waterford on Saturday night. I made for home soon after the show and went to the calving shed. That clean fresh calved smell filling my nostrils to find one of the pedigree cows calved and a heifer calf attempting to suck. I was back to the real world again.

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Farmers writes: The joys of suckling