Latest update
- Scanning results for 2024
- Sales plans for breeding stock
- Management of cows pre-calving
Wesley Browne November/December Update 2024
- Silage sample results
- Feeding rates for heifers and bulls
- Option to feed fodder beet to finishing bulls?
Winter feeding
- Housing weights for 2024 born cattle
- Creep feeding ration paid off
- Latest factory sales
Housing weights & factory sales
Breeding
Wesley scanned the cows and heifers after housing and confirmed that 92 are due to calve from 19th February to 28th May next year. 105 females were bred in total which has resulted in a pregnancy rate of 88% over 14 weeks of a breeding season.
His Limousin bull’s leg was injured early in the season and he bought in a Saler bull to replace him. However none of the heifers went in calf to him which was disappointing. The bull is now being fed for finishing.
Wesley plans to calve 80-85 cows next spring so he will sell some of the in calf heifers. He has 41 maiden heifers for breeding next spring and expects that 10 will not meet the weight targets and that he will sell 15 of them. That leaves him with 16 for breeding which suits his 20% replacement rate.
The cows are on very good quality silage so Wesley is restricting them slightly by feeding 1 bale per day for 30 cows. He will watch their body condition score and weigh them in December to monitor their weight. They will be fed a good quality pre-calving mineral for 8 weeks before calving.
Figure 1: In calf cows eating silage
Animal Nutrition
Silage samples were taken on the farm and Wesley was very happy with the results. The first cut silage was 76.2% DMD at 14.48% crude protein with 39.45% dry matter. Another sample was 78.5% DMD at 15.8% crude protein with 35.88% dry matter. And a third sample was 70.3% DMD at 13.45% crude protein with 32.05% dry matter.
Figure 2: Sample results for 78.5% DMD silage
The bulls are eating 4kg of a 16% crude protein ration and the heifers are eating 2kg of the same ration. With the 76.2% DMD silage Wesley could reduce the bull’s ration to 4kg of a 14% CP ration. The 78.5% silage will be kept for the bulls for the last 100 days of finishing.
Wesley was considering buying in fodder beet for feeding to the bulls during the last 100 days of their finishing period. He estimates a cost of €65/t for the fodder beet washed and a further €10/t for delivery. He was quoted €328/t for a 12% protein ration which includes an acid buffer. If the bulls were being fed 20kg fresh weight of beet/head/day it would cost €3.51/head/day to feed them. If they were getting their usual silage mix with 8kg ration it could cost €3.54/head/day. In Wesley’s opinion the 3c difference in cost/head, which would amount to €3/head over 100 days of a feeding period, and the 0.03 higher UFV feeding value which would result in slightly higher performance, would not justify the extra labour costs associated with storing and feeding it out. Therefore he will stay with the ration and silage diet for this year’s bulls.
Performance
The 2024 born bulls were weighed at housing on 3 different dates. The first group (19) were weighed on 3rd October and averaged 248kg, after gaining 1.12kg/day since birth. The second group (15) were weighed on 15th October and averaged 316kg, after gaining 1.23kg/day since birth. That group had access to ration from the creep feeder so it paid Wesley to feed them. The last group (7) were weighed on 2nd November and averaged 254kg, after gaining 0.87kg/day since birth.
Figure 3: Weanling bulls that will be finished under 16 months of age
The 2024 born heifers were also weighed at housing. The first group (15) were weighed on 3rd October and averaged 216kg, after gaining 1.01kg/day since birth. The second group (21) averaged 274kg and gained 1.12kg/day since birth; these also had access to the creep feeder. The last group (5) averaged 204kg on 2nd November and gained 0.74kg/day since birth.
Figure 4: Some of the weanling heifers
Wesley sold cattle in the factory on 1st November. Two bulls were sold at 16.1 months of age. They averaged 380kg carcass weight, graded U-3= and averaged €2035/head. One heifer was finished at 31.6 months and she was 341kg carcass weight. She graded R=3- and made €1818. The cow that was sold was 460kg carcass weight, graded R+5- and made €2323 at 79.1 months of age.