Herd Tasks: Your weekly farming checklist
Ensure you give dry cows a good-quality pre-calver mineral for a sufficient period before their due date. Feed a quality mineral for four to five weeks pre-calving.
- It had been quite warm lately for the time of year, and many cattle were sweating indoors. It has now cooled down significantly, and this can only be described as healthier weather for animals indoors.
- Ventilation is important when it is warm, and avoiding draughts is essential — particularly for youngstock during colder spells.
- Avoid housing cattle when they are wet, where possible.
- It is good practice to clip backs and tails to release some heat from stock at or around housing. This will also help if you are dosing for parasites with a pour-on.
- Remember that when treating cattle for lice, all stock in the shed must be done if treatment is to be effective.
- Spring calvers with 30–40 days milking still to do will need to be fed accordingly based on available silages. Most silages can’t support much more than maintenance plus three or four litres.
- Ensure you give dry cows a good-quality pre-calver mineral for a sufficient period before their due date. Feed a quality mineral for four to five weeks pre-calving.
- If you are happy with body condition, then grouping cows according to calving date will make management much easier around calving.
- Growing weanlings can sometimes be underfed unintentionally when silage quality is poor or average. Make sure you grow them as well as possible — gaining weight on young animals is much cheaper than on older ones.
- Silage may not be as good as you think. Get it tested, as most are very low in protein this year.
- Sufficient concentrate of the required protein content fed now is much more cost-effective than chasing gain when the stock are older.
- Finishers cattle housed in early October with the intention of finishing in 100 days are now around seven to eight weeks from finish. Consider upping the energy in their diet to push for the final cover. Barley, maize meal, and oats are excellent for achieving this.
- Compiled by Brian Reidy, an independent ruminant nutritionist at Premier Farm Nutrition.
