
Autumn calving finished and breeding has started
- Successful autumn calving season finished
- Breeding dates set for 6 week breeding season – started 4th October and finishing 14th November
- AI bulls picked to match the cows in the herd
18 cows calved in total between 24th July and 9th September, with 7 bulls and 11 heifers. No mortalities occurred.
Breeding started on 3rd October and 22 out of 24 cows/ heifers have been bred to date. Only one cow has been selected for culling and won’t be bred. Breeding will finish after 6 weeks on 14th November. 4 cows and 1 heifer have repeated so far.
The bulls picked for breeding are:
Silage samples were taken on the farm and returned the following results:
The home grown barley was also tested and tested at 8.6% for crude protein.
This information allows Eamon and Donnchadh to balance diets for the various groups of stock on their farm over the winter. The autumn cows will be prioritised on the 73.2% DMD silage and will receive 2kg barley and minerals with this to ensure adequate energy in the diet for breeding and rearing their calves.
The spring and autumn heifers will be fed the 67.4% DMD silage which will be balanced with 1.5kg barley and 0.5kg soya bean meal.
The spring born finishing bulls will start on 68.1% DMD silage (as there is a limited number of 73.2% DMD bales) and be supplemented with 2.5kg barley, 0.4kg soya bean meal and 2kg of a 14% CP ration until they go on their finishing diet.
The autumn bulls are already on their finishing diet which consists of straight barley mixed in with ration.
The 2021 autumn born finishing bulls (4) averaged 652kg on 22nd October, having gained 1.88kg/day since 8th October.
The 2022 spring born bulls (24) were weighed on 5th November. They averaged 345kg, having gained 0.97 kg/day since 1st of August.
One suckler cow was slaughtered on 26th October. She graded O-2+ and had a carcass weight of 310kg.
Stock Group | No. Cattle | Weighing Date |
Average Weight (Kg) |
ADG Since Last Weighing |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 Autumn Bulls | 4 | 22/10/2022 | 652 |
1.88 kg/day (Since 08/10/22) |
2022 Spring Bulls | 24 | 05/11/2022 | 345 |
0.97 kg/day (Since 01/08/22_ |