Paula Hynes: Storm Babet increases the workload

Now the cows are broken up into three groups, with the fresh autumn calvers in one section of the shed, we have another shed across the feed passage that holds sixty cows, and the rest in the main shed.

Well, it has been a busy week, we certainly had to hit the ground running after a great weekend in Millstreet. Having unpacked and all the show heifers settled back in at home, it was time to turn our attention to getting everything organised to bring the cows in with the forecasted storm Babet. 

It certainly didn’t paint a pretty picture and bringing the cows in was the only option. With the cubicle sheds all power washed it was just a matter of giving them a quick brush and liming them. Now the cows are broken up into three groups, with the fresh autumn calvers in one section of the shed, we have another shed across the feed passage that holds sixty cows, and the rest in the main shed. It’s an easy enough set-up once you get back into the routine. Cows are always slow for the first few days until they find their bearings, but to be fair to them, they are a great bunch and are happy to be in the dry with their bellies full. 

Of course, the only ones causing trouble are a few very cute jerseys, who think it's great fun to climb through the cubicles and come into the parlour for a second round of nuts. They always make me laugh, standing there innocently out, pretending that they have done nothing wrong. The only way to solve that issue is to put them in the smaller cubicle shed when they are dried off and then they can't go anywhere.

We got away lightly compared to some, one would really feel for the people of Midleton and how homes and businesses are destroyed. Climate change is real and extreme weather events are becoming more common. While it is all well and good to be investing in public transport, building cycle lanes and putting infrastructure for charging electric vehicles, the reality is our country is only catching up on that work which should already have been done prior to now. 

Reducing emissions at the cost of not protecting businesses and homes that are at risk of flooding is ridiculous, we should be prioritising protecting these vulnerable communities and then using whatever exchequer funds are left to add cycle lanes etc. 

The bottom of the farm was flooded and there were lots of floods in certain parts of the yard, but with cows in and the in-calf heifers indoors, we decided to move the heifer calves above the road where there is drier ground and more shelter and we will feed them 2kg heifer rearer nuts per head outside for another few weeks or so before they too have to be housed for the winter. We try and leave the younger ones out for as long as possible.

Winter routine

Having had two busy weeks with the All Britains All Breed Calf Show and National Dairy Show back-to-back, I must say the batteries were fairly flat. It did take a few days to get into the winter routine and my body could definitely feel it. The damp weather doesn't help either and it just takes a few days for the muscles to adjust to the new workload. Cows are happy now and well into the routine and are getting much easier to move around the sheds. To be honest, it’s the pet cows who slow the whole thing up now, knowing they're not going out, so they look for more scratches and snuggles.

With Becky home again, there have been loads of conversations around the dinner table with plans for next year, and of course ideas and suggestions as to when the autumn heifers will be bred and which bulls to use. Some of the show heifers will be turned out to grass once the weather settles again, they’ve had a long season and always benefit from outside life, building up muscle from extra walking and it makes them hardy. 

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They will have access to a shed for shelter should the weather turn nasty any night, we’ll probably have to look at building another shed for show stock in the near future, some cubicles with extra room and possibly straw or sand beds, being realistic you can never have enough space and we think it would benefit the heifers hugely. It is something to be thinking about anyway and see if we can make it happen. It's no harm to try and plan these things when you have quiet time because before we know it, Christmas will be here, and calving season will be upon us and it's impossible to find time to do anything.

It's fantastic to have the whole family back together under one roof again, while Becky was away for two months that really was the first time, we would have spent that long away from each other. Hearing her plans, I think for us as a family it's something we will have to get used to. She has such passion for cows and a huge work ethic she has been blessed with many opportunities, and she has found a way to follow her dreams and prioritize her education, it looks like she will be away for the month of January but at least she will be able to continue school work online. Not to be outdone by their sister, Chloe and Georgie have plenty of plans of their own and I can see 2024 being a very busy year for us.