Calving season in full swing at Newford Farm
Newford Farm has been a hive of activity, particularly in the calving department. Michael Fagan gives an update on the farm.
The calving season, which commenced on the 29th of January, has been busy. Within the first 23 days, nearly half (49%) of the Newford herd, amounting to 45 out of 91 in-calf animals, has calved. This has resulted in 42 live calves. However, the journey has not been without its challenges. The farm has reported two instances of calf mortality and one abortion. These incidents, attributed to a stillbirth, difficulty during calving, and an early abortion, highlight the complexities of farm management.
One observation this season is the delayed calving times, with cows calving a few days later than usual, resulting in slightly larger calves. This may be linked to the cows' movement from Athenry to Roscommon. Additionally, the farm faced an unexpected challenge with one of the breeding bulls' calving difficulty rating unexpectedly increasing from 7.5% to 17.5%.
The average weight of all calves born to-date is 42 kg. The average calving score is 42.
As the calves get older they are grouped together on a straw bedded area and have access to their mothers who are on slats through a gate opening, this system is a major saving on straw and labour for the farm.
The yearling weigh-in on the 12th of February revealed promising growth for both males and females, with average daily gains of 0.96 kg and 0.84 kg respectively. These yearlings are currently on 2kg of ration along with DMD 67% ab lib silage.
Newford Farm is preparing for reseeding on 8 hectares of stubble ground, this is causing a short term upset regarding grazing ground for all stock on the farm, so in the meantime the yearling bullocks and heifers will be grazing an out farm block. Depending on weather in the coming days, slurry will be spread on the stubble ground at (2,500 gals/ac) and the other grazing fields will get ½ bag of Protect Urea 46%.