December saw the arrival of a new breeding
bull, ‘Sway Dylan’ a 21 month old pedigree
Simmental who carries the dominant
Heterozygous Polled Gene; therefore any
offspring will be hornless, one less job to do,
plus he should be safe to use on heifer
(first-time calver) as his head is a rounder
shape which is passed through to his calves,
so in theory easier calving. You may wonder
why I have changed from my usual
Charolais bull but with many of my breeding
cows around seven years of age, I need to
be looking at future replacements. The
Simmental beef breed is known for being
good milk producers therefore any heifer
calves I keep for replacement should have
plenty of milk for their calves. I also find the
Simmentals have a nice nature, making
them ideal for suckler cows. I have also a
new Farleycopse Charolais bull arriving in
the spring, so more of him then.
Having enjoyed a nice long dry autumn, a
joy after 2012, I had hoped to keep all the
cattle out until the New Year but with the
change in the weather, no longer do we
seem to have the old fashioned type of rain
but torrential downpours that last hours,
added to the high winds, and in no time at all
the ground has become waterlogged.
Watching the news bulletins on TV, I am
grateful we do not live near a river or
floodplains; it must be a huge challenge to
keep livestock dry and safe in those areas.
So slightly earlier than I had hoped I began
to bring the cattle into the barns and by the
end of December three-quarters of the cattle
had been housed, plus weaning of the older
calves done. The work load has now
changed with daily bedding and feeding,
plus the start of calving, so regular nightly
checks are taking place, made much easier
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