Shane Keaveney’s bull finishing system
Beef Specialist at Teagasc, Catherine Egan takes a closer look at Shane Keaveney’s bull finishing system, the host of an upcoming Future Beef Programme Farm Walk on Wednesday, September 11 at 6pm.
“Back in 2018, my focus was to increase cow numbers and to breed a functional, milky cow so I used a Saler bull. I got plenty of heifers but the downside was the males. They were not a great seller at the mart so that’s when I went down the option of finishing them as bulls,” Shane explained.
In advance of weaning, weanlings are vaccinated with Bovipast and the first shot is given at the end of July. The booster will be given 4-6 weeks later. This means the weanlings will be fully vaccinated for pneumonia prior to weaning and they will also be covered at housing time – both stressful events for a young weanling. Meal is introduced in the first week of August to help drive daily weight gains and reduce stress at weaning. The weanlings are also allowed to forward graze ahead of the cows.
Last year, at the end of August, the 15 homebred bulls weighed 294kg on average and had gained 1.31kg/head/day since birth.
“The bull weanlings were getting 3kg/head/day of meal out on grass, but I felt that this group would be better off housed. They were unsettled and feeding 3kg of meal in wet conditions was not an easy task, plus ground was getting damaged,” Shane said.
On October 6 2023, the bulls weighed 334kg, resulting in an average daily gain since birth of 1.26kg. Between the first weighing in August and October, they gained 1.03kg/day. Shane started feeding red clover silage to the bulls at housing plus 3kg of meal/head/day. He increased the meal to 5kg by the end of October. The red clover silage had a DMD of 74.47% and crude protein of 17.32%, which was excellent.
To bring the number up to the normal 20, Shane decided to purchase 5 bull weanlings. The requirements were that they would be spring born in 2023 and weigh approximately 300kg. The 5 bulls came in at an average price of €1,030 or €3.50-€3.85/kg. They were vaccinated, dosed and isolated to a pen of their own.
Shane weighed the bulls on a monthly basis over the winter and a daily weight gain of 1.3-1.5kg/day is required. The bulls were weighed at the beginning of November and they averaged 369kg, meaning an average daily gain of 1.26kg since birth was achieved - which was very good.
The target is to have the bulls weighing at least 500kg at 12 months of age. The next weighing at the beginning of December showed that the bulls gained 1.51kg/day, which was excellent and were 416kg at 9 months of age.
Shane aims to finish the bulls at 680-700kg at under 16 months of age and have a minimum fat class of 2+.
In January, there were some issues with a virus in the shed and it reflected in the bulls’ performance. The average daily gains since the last weighing dropped from 1.51kg to 1.26kg/day. Fortunately, Shane had the bulls vaccinated so the bulls settled back again quickly. From mid-January onwards, the bulls were built up gradually with concentrates onto to an ad-lib diet and had access to silage ad-lib.
By early March, the bulls were on an ad-lib diet, eating 11kg of meal/day and straw. At the end of April, the bulls averaged 625kg.
Shane started drafting the bulls in early May. Once a bull reached a fat score of at least a 2+, they were selected. The bulls performed very well over the final weeks, gaining 1.55kg/day. The homebred 15 bulls were finished by the end of June, at which point they weighed close to 700kg, resulting in an average carcass weight of 401kg and a kill-out of 58%. They graded on average U-3+ at 15 months of age. They came in to €2,228 on average as seen in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Key performance indicators of bulls finished on Shane Keaveney’s farm
Upcoming event
Shane will discuss his system’s physical and financial performance in detail at the walk on Wednesday, September 11 at 6pm. The focus of the event will be 'Opportunities in Suckler Farming'.
Shane will discuss how red clover is helping him meet his winter weight targets. Shane’s farm is located in the Island River catchment, which is also within a Priority Area for Action (PAA) and eligible for European Innovation Partnership (EIP) funding. Kieran Kenny, Teagasc ASSAP advisor, will highlight the water quality measures implemented on this farm. John Kelly from Waters of Life Project will also outline its significant plan for the catchment in supporting additional measures and the opportunities for local farmers.
Castlerea Livestock Mart Manager, Brendan Egan will discuss the beef market outlook for the coming months, along with Anthony O'Dowd from Dawn Meats.
There will be a number of industry stakeholders available to meet and discuss any queries you may have and refreshments will be served.
Further details on the farm walk are available here.
For more information on the Future Beef Programme, visit here.