Ger McSweeney January/February Update 2025
Breeding
- Spring calving herd update
- Care of the newborn calf/ colostrum management
- Selecting bulls for the 2025 breeding season
Performance
- Under 16month bull finishing and heifer finishing system
- Achieving higher carcass weights
- Getting heifers out to grass early
Breeding
On the day of the visit 70% of the cows had calved. The calving season was progressing well with no problems to report. 69% of the calves born to date were bull calves a reversal of last years calving statistics. Of the heifers born , the majority so far have been from terminal sires so Ger is considering retaining extra replacements from the 2024 born maiden heifers to make up for any potential shortfall in suitably bred replacement heifers the following year. The last calves are due around the 10th March.
As the herd commences calving in early January the focus is now starting to switch to choosing suitable sires for breeding replacements for the future as well as choosing terminal sires that will deliver heavier carcasses which will in turn increase the gross output of the business. One of the important KPIs on the farm is producing bulls with a carcass weight of 400kg. The average carcass weight of bulls slaughtered in 2024 was 382kg. This can partly be explained because of the age of the herd. The average herd parity is 3.1 calvings per cow. The target is to increase the average calvings per cow to 4.5. A more mature herd will produce more milk which should help achieve higher weaning weights.
For the 2025 breeding season the following table illustrates a potential bull team to use in order to improve on these traits:
Figure 1: Potential bull team for potential replacement heifer calves born in 2026
Performance
The young bulls are currently on 6kg of ration split in 2 feeds and will be introduced to an ad lib diet shortly for finishing as under 16 month bull beef. The target is to achieve carcass weights of 400kg. Last years carcass weight averaged 382kg this years bulls are ahead of target and should achieve carcass weights closer to 400kg carcass weight under 16 months.
Figure 2: Slaughter report for young bulls finished in 2024
Photo 1: 2024 born young bulls before being introduced to an ad lib concentrate diet
The yearling heifers were turned out to grass in early February. The heifers have settled well outside and were cleaning out paddocks well without excessive poaching. By turning the heifers out to grass early pre breeding weight targets will be more easily achieved through higher daily liveweight gains. The plan is to keep extra replacements from the 2024 born heifers to make up for a potential shortfall in 2025 born suitable breeding heifers. If weather permits the heifers will remain outside, however, if ground conditions deteriorate, heifers will be housed in order to avoid excessive poaching.
Photo 2: 2024 born yearling heifers out grazing since early February
Animal Health
One of the main KPI’s in a profitable suckler beef enterprise is weaning 1 calf per cow per year, an important part in achieving this target is to minimise calf mortality at birth and in the first few months of life. The national average mortality rate for suckler beef calves at birth and within the first 28 days of life are 0.93% and 2.37% respectively. A high calf mortality rate is one of the most significant indicators of poor health and welfare within a suckler beef herd. Ger places a huge emphasis on trying to achieve close to zero calf mortality in order to maximise the number of calves weaned per cow. In order to achieve these targets Ger tries to ensure that all calves are born into a clean environment and receive adequate levels of high quality colostrum to combat disease challenges from viral, bacterial and parasitic agents.
Figure 4: KPI from the herds 2024 beef calving report from ICBF
Colostrum
As inadequate colostrum consumption has been identified as a major risk factor for infectious disease, making sure calves receive a colostrum supply of high quality and volume is vital to ensure calves acquire passive immunity. Calves are checked immediately after birth and are observed to ensure they can stand and suckle. To maximise passive immunity transfer Ger ensures that calves consume at least 3 litres of colostrum in the first 2 hours of life. For calves suckling naturally it is estimated that 1 litre of colostrum can be suckled in approximately 10 minutes by a calf. Calves should suckle for a total of 25 to 30 minutes in the first 2 hours of life in order to consume 3 litres of colostrum.
Ger assists all calves to suckle naturally after birth and if a calf is unlikely to have consumed enough colostrum naturally, the cow is milked and the colostrum is fed directly to the calf using a stomach tube. When milking the cow for colostrum it is handled as aseptically as possible using clean sterilised equipment in order to reduce bacterial contamination.
Ger places a huge emphasis on improving calf health and getting large volumes of high quality colostrum into calves immediately after birth is key to this. All cows are milked and the colostrum quality is checked/ analysed using a brix refractometer. If the colostrum is good quality over 22%, this colostrum is stored in a freezer in order to feed a calf whose mother has either poorer quality colostrum or insufficient colostrum.
A record of cows colostrum is recorded on a chart in the calving pen area each year (see figure 5). In general colostrum quality is very good on the farm with most cows achieving over 22%. Cows are fed high quality silage and 0.5kg soyabean meal pre calving in order to improve colostrum quality on the farm.
Photo 2: Colostrum quality results outlined in red on the calving records chart in the calving area
Photo 3: Feeding soya bean meal pre calving to improve colostrum quality
Housing
Maintaining a clean housing environment is essential to maximise calf health. The calving area is cleaned out and disinfected before calving and a regular intervals during the calving season. All cows remain in a well bedded calving pen with their calf for 1 to 3 days in order to create a bond. Calves then enter the creep area. The pens are well bedded and draught free, with calves having ad-lib access to fresh clean drinking water and a good quality calf coarse calf starter ration. By maintaining this level of hygiene and good colostrum management calves remain healthy. Before the calving season commences Ger will make sure that he has a plentiful supply of high quality straw for calving.
A high level of straw is used in both the calving and creep area, all calves on the farm have the ability to nest in straw and this in turn helps to eliminate the ill effects of low level draughts and helps keep calves warm. While calf jackets may not be as beneficial/practical in a suckler herd versus a dairy scenario as the calf has ad lib access to milk and their mothers heat, Ger finds them beneficial when used on vulnerable calves such as those that have experienced dystocia.
Other important considerations on the fam at calving are disinfecting the calf’s navel immediately post birth using a 10% iodine solution, and also care of the scouring calf. Generally Ger has no issues with navel/joint ill or calf scour and this is more than likely due to his care and attention to detail around colostrum intakes and hygiene in the calving and creep area. If calves do suffer from scour on farm, the scour is analysed to determine the causal agent and treated with electrolytes while maintaining milk in the diet.
Photo 4: 2025 born calves in the creep area
Photo 5: Heifer calf by CH4159 Knocknoyle10 Loki et
Photo 6: Newly born calves after receiving colostrum