There has been a lot of discussion recently in regards to whether to group or individually house neonatal calves. The trend has been to put calves into individual pens, with individual hutches being particularly popular. The main reason for this trend was down to health and disease control, however, recent research has evidence to the contrary, suggesting that pair housing of neonatal calves may indeed improve both growth and welfare by encouraging greater feed intake, development of normal social behaviours, and by reducing stress and helping with weight gain at the time of weaning.
Nothing stimulates a discussion better than bringing someone in with totally different views. And that’s just what happened when we met up with Jud Henrichs this week. The greatest benefit of this is the willingness to question the status quo and come up with new ideas and alternative strategies. Jud is as we know a passionate advocate of early weaning but it was not that issue that will form the basis of this blog.
Calf scour is one of the biggest health issues in youngstock causing serious financial losses. 70% of farmers have seen scour in calves under six months of age during the previous 12 months and more than 40% of producers have lost animals to the disease over the same period.
Planned worm control with Panacur® Bolus saves money. Waiting until clinical signs are seen in youngstock – such as weight loss, scours and dehydration – means that production losses are already stacking up.
After spending the winter months writing fertiliser plans, budgeting and attending technical meetings, my phone is now starting to ring with questions around nitrogen application.
Modern grass varieties and high quality mixtures have the potential to deliver superior yields and excellent feed values, but often grassland management and basic nutrition is overlooked, and new leys fail to deliver their full value.
When, how and how much are frequent queries when it comes to feeding milk replacer to lambs. Getting this right can be the key to raising healthy, profitable lambs.
This article will outline the key factors that influence the profitability of suckler beef systems in Ireland. It has been adapted from a reproduced report courtesy of Teagasc.
Reseeding an existing ley can lead to a significant return on investment. Within several years ‘weed grasses’ will ingress into a sward – particularly if the field has experienced poaching or after a hard winter. These ‘weed grasses’ have poor quality characteristics compared to ryegrass varieties from the Recommended List. These include poor digestibility and a poorer response to fertiliser, as well as not converting to meat and milk as efficiently as ryegrass.
