Shane Keaveney July/August 2024
Performance
- Finishing Performance of the 2024 bulls
- Weaning performance report
- Preparation for sale of forward heifers
- Angus heifers targeted for finishing in early October
- Weanling management- vaccinations and plan for weaning
Grassland
- The wet weather at the end of August forces the re-housing of some of the heifers
- Reseeding completed on August 17th
- The wet weather delays the last round of fertiliser
Performance
The last of the bulls went to Dawn on August 7th. The remainder were all finished by the 22nd of July but this was a bull that got lame and performance dropped so he needed more time. This bull was over 17 months of age and therefore raised the average finishing age of the group to 15.5 months. This is still excellent as the group on average was finished under the target of 16 months.
Shane is very happy with the overall performance at 390kgs carcase , U – a fat class of 3- and with an average price of €2140.
Weanling performance report
Shane’s attention now turns to the next crop of weanlings born in 2024. In a bull system , he needs to have a heavy weanling at housing . At this time of year, the cow essentially has her work done in rearing the calf and it is now up to Shane’s management skills to drive the live weight of the bulls. The heifers are also very important. He aims to inseminate any replacement heifers next May and he will want those heifers to be 380-400 kgs at that time. So proper weanling management is crucial from now until housing.
This report highlights how the cow performed in rearing her calf. The target is 300kgs plus for males and 250kgs for heifers at 200 days of age. In Shane’s case the bulls are very close to target at 297kgs and the heifers have performed very well at 273kgs. Shane was a little disappointed with the bulls but when he examined the report closer there are a high number of bulls out of heifers which could have brought down the average.
The same report confirms Shane’s reasoning. Overall, a suckler cow should rear a calf at least 42 per cent of her own weight at 200days. The second and third calvers are rearing a calf that is 45 and 46 per cent of their own weight but the first calvers are at 38 per cent. This can be normal figure for heifers .
Photo: Weaning efficiency 2024
Photo: The heifers are gaining 1.16kgs/day
Photo: The 2024 bull calves are averaging 297kgs at 200 days
Good weanling Management
To keep weanling performing in the next stage of their life cycle Shane has adopted a number of actions;
- All weanlings are forward grazed ahead of the cows. They get priority grass and it helps break the maternal bond.
- Shane is feeding 1 kgs of meal for 4 weeks prior to weaning
- All of the weanlings will be vaccinated for pneumonia and IBR prior to weaning in September.
- The weanlings have been dosed with a white drench pre weaning
- To reduce the stress at weaning, Shane uses easy wean nose pads. They are fitted on the weanlings for 4 to 5 days. It allows contact with the cow but the weanling cannot suckle which help breaks the maternal bond. These will be fitted in the second week of September this year.
- Shane will increase meal to the bull calves in September to 2 kgs and they will be housed if the weather is poor.
Photo: It is all about milk to wean a heavy calf
Preparation for sale
Shane bucket reared 10 angus calves in 2023. He has picked out five of the most forward and will start meal feeding them shortly . He is aiming for a minimum of a 250kgs carcase. The five should be finished in six weeks. The remaining five will be kept longer but finished before housing.
Photo: Angus heifers will be finished before housing
Grassland
The wet weather at the end of August is causing concern for Shane. He housed 10 forward heifers on august 26th but he plans to let them out again in a week. Shane is finding that grass is getting tight. The average farm cover is at 846kgs/DM/ha and he would like this to be higher at this time of the year. There is 22 days ahead and again he would like this figure to be closer to 30.
To reduce grass demand Shane has a number of options;
- He will scan the herd in the next 2 weeks and sell any empty cows immediately. All of the cows are in very good body condition .
- Post weaning he could house some of the cows
- He has already housed some forward store heifers
- Meal can be increased on the weanling and finishing groups.
Photo: Grass wedge dated August 22nd
Photo : August 27th heifers housed due to poor ground conditions
Photo: August 27th red clover silage will be cut once the weather improves
Photo: Reseeding completed 17th August