Maximising weight gain over the winter period with Aonghusa Fahy
Aonghusa farms with his wife Olivia and two children in Tullira, just outside Ardrahan, Co. Galway. He is part-time farming and working full-time off farm as a secondary school teacher, teaching construction, DGC and agricultural science.
The farm is divided with 22ha in Ardrahan, Co. Galway and the remainder in Tulla, Co. Clare, 36km away. A total of 44.8Ha is owned. The farm in Ardrahan is dry , free draining soil and while the farm in Tulla is extensively grazed , it is considered a dry farm also.
Aonghusa runs 30 spring calving suckler cows, with calving starting in the first week of February. Exceptional calves may be sold as weanlings but all other progeny are brought through to slaughter. Heifers are slaughtered off grass at 20-22 months at ~300kg carcass weight, Steers are slaughtered off grass at 28-30 months at ~420kg carcass weight. Aonghusa is using both AI and a stock bull, aiming to increase the overall AI use in the herd.
As the majority of his stock are brought to slaughter, it is vital that all categories are not allowed to go into a store period over the winter. The target is a daily gain of at least 0.6kgs/head/day for weanlings over the first winter. There are 3 main areas Aonghusa will focus on to ensure this weight target is met, namely;
- Nutrition
- Animal Health
- Housing Environment
Nutrition
Feeding top quality silage is the basic requirement under nutrition. Each year the target is to make dry, 70%DMD + silage that will ensure desired weight gain without feeding a lot of meal. The silage made in 2022 was analysed and Aonghusa is very happy with the results.
The silage is 72.2%DMD with a dry matter of 22.08% and a crude protein of 16.45% . This top quality bales are marked and set aside for feeding the weanlings. Only 1 kg of a 14% Crude protein ration is needed /head/day with this good quality silage for the cattle on target weight. A lighter pen of heifers are been given 1.5kgs of meal/head/day.
Another good practice is to weigh the cattle 2 weeks after housing. The calves born in 2022 were weighed on the 28th of November and the average weight of the males was 368kgs. This gives an average daily gain of 1.24kgs since birth, which is right on target. Similarly , the heifers were weighed on the same day and they averaged 337kgs – a daily gain of 1.12kgs since birth. These groups will be weighed again before turnout to grass giving the overall winter performance.
The cows will be offered lessor quality silage e.g 68% DMD silage to keep them fit for calving and not fat !
Animal Health
Before housing all the weanlings were vaccinated for IBR and RSP. This has safeguarded against any incidence of pneumonia indoors. All groups of cattle have their tails and backs clipped and are dosed for lice. Faecal samples were taken and there was evidence of stomach worms and were dosed accordingly with Albex. A low level of rumen fluke was detected but on the vets advice, the levels didn’t warrant a treatment.
Housing Environment
In the new slatted shed , the cattle are divided into 1 pen of male weanlings, 1 pen of heifers and 1 pen of lighter heifers. Each pen measures 6m x 4.8m and will fit 15 store cattle comfortably. All can lie down at the one time and each animal have access to the feed barrier when feeding meal. Adequate space is vital to ensure good daily weigh gain. The water troughs are checked daily to ensure that the water is not soiled. This shed is opened sides so there is plenty of fresh air getting in.
The cattle are fed every three days to ensure that the silage remains fresh for eating.
The cows are housed separately in an older slatted shed in the yard and they have 2.5sq metres each.