Newford Farm March/April 2025 Update
Newford Farm Notes (Week Beginning) 17/03/2025
General Detail
87% of the Newford Farm suckler herd has calved as of 20th March
- 86 animals were scanned in-calf
- Two cows and one heifer which were scanned in-calf suffered early embryo losses after scanning
- Unfortunately the farm lost a cow this week before calving
- 87% of the Newford herd calved over a period of just 48 days (20th March) with the first cow calving on the 31st of January.
- 83% of the herd calved in the first 6 weeks
- 72 cows out of 82 in-calf animals calved up to 20th March
- There are 69 live calves on the ground
- This means there has been three cases of calf mortality
- One calf died at two days of age , for no reason and he was sent to Athlone Regional Veterinary Lab for a post-mortem
- One case has been attributed to stillbirth
- One calf died three weeks after being born ( Non-thriver)
- There are ten cows left to calve as of 20th of March
- Calves are being disbudded and are receiving treatment for coccidiosis as they come of age
- They are also receiving their IBR and clostridial disease vaccination
- At this moment in time there are no health issues to report on the farm
- The average weight of all calves born to-date is 42 kg
- The average calving score is 42 and a detailed breakdown is listed below
Figure 1: Calving progress 2025
Figure 2: Some of this year's calves
Grassland
- The first bunch of cows and calves went to grass on the 14th of February and at the moment there is 65 cows and their calves at grass.
- This excellent spell of fine weather has lighten the work load in the yard , with all animals enjoy those sunny days with good grass utilisation and super clean out of paddocks
- High-mag mineral lick buckets have been placed in paddocks where cows are grazing to prevent grass tetany
- Cows have already begun to cycle in the herd and their tag numbers are being recorded.
- 30 units per acre is being spread of Protect Urea 38 +S after each grazing at the moment
Figure 3: Cows at grass on Newford
Figure 4: Ground conditions have been excellent for grazing this spring
Figure 5: Grass walk details 18th March 2025
