Paula Hynes: Something a little bit different in our silage fields
Last Sunday evening, Pete noticed something a little different on the silage field behind our heifer barn, writes Aherla dairy farmer Paula Hynes. File picture.
When silage fields are bare, the countryside seems to come alive, and even more so for the youngsters of wildlife who grasp the opportunity to make the most of their changed surroundings.
Last Sunday evening, Pete noticed something a little different on the silage field behind our heifer barn. He called me to look, as he thought he could see fox cubs playing, but the group was so big that he was unsure.
Last year, we had a vixen with two cubs living near our house and shed. We have previously seen a vixen walking with three cubs, but we have never seen a litter of six.
As we watched them play on the edge of the silage field for 15 minutes, it became quite clear that they were fox cubs. Some were a little braver than others, willing to venture further out into the field, while some were content just to sit by the safety of the long grass near the hedge and watch their siblings.
Pete saw one a little closer a few days later as he was driving the tractor, and the girls saw four of them playing by the dung heap behind the heifer shed at the end of the week.
We know exactly where the den is but haven’t gone near it, as it would be a shame to disturb them.
That is the beauty of farming, getting to see both young domestic animals and young wild animals. In many ways, we are sharing the farmland with Mother Nature.
Hopefully we will get a good photo of them over the next few weeks to share in my column.
The showery weather all week has been ideal for grass growth and all silage fields have received fertiliser. We have also made reasonable progress with slurry.
Every time we spread slurry, we add parlour washings to the slatted tank to ensure we have watery slurry available at any stage to spread on paddocks as well.
We will be looking for a few dry days together again shortly in an effort to mow a few surplus paddocks for silage bales.
June is always our busiest month for shows, so the show team is at its maximum.
The two young Jersey heifers we showed at Belgooly Show had such a busy day that they will be rested until a show at the end of June. In order to fill the gap, we decided to halter-train two more young Jersey heifers this week.
One of them is a daughter of Kali, who showed very successfully last year as a heifer in milk. The second heifer is a granddaughter of our old Jersey cow Granny, whom we showed a few years ago.
Halter training really is a simple process. We tie them in pairs with their heads at the correct height and then it is crucial to build up trust, with plenty of brushing and rubbing to ensure they are comfortable with movements around them while they are on the halter.
We always want them relaxed on the halter so they are not putting tension on the rope while tied up. Then it is simply a case of repetition so it becomes second nature to them and part of their daily routine.
After that, a couple of washes and they are show-ready once they are walking calmly.
These two little heifers will have a few outings over the month of June.
Last weekend we headed to Clonakilty Show on what was another cold, wet weekend.
Usually the sun shines for Clonakilty Show and, while the morning began dry, once the showing started the rain came down and it turned into a miserable afternoon.
We had a few of the heifers on their first outing and had plenty of work at home during the week.
Kasey had her first outing of the season for the Jersey cow class, while Alanna travelled for the Holstein heifer-in-milk class and had improved greatly since her trip to Midleton Show.
Hillholm Aneesh Anna, bred by Paul Murphy and Emma Beehan, is a superb September-born heifer and we now own her in partnership with Paul and Emma. Anna is based here for the season and she has formed a good partnership with Becky over the last few weeks.
The duo won the senior showmanship class and placed second in the autumn-born heifer class. She will improve a lot from the outing, as will our November-born heifer, Rathard Haniko Champagne, who placed third.
Champagne is a really stylish young heifer with an EX94 dam.
Our January calf, Rathard SKICK Acclaim, is a calf we are really excited about. She is now owned in partnership with Delasheen Holsteins and she placed second on her first outing.
We also had first and second placings, along with reserve champion, in the Jersey classes, while Georgie and Aisling took second and third place in the junior showmanship.
The big class of the day was the Dubliner Cheese All-Ireland Heifer in Milk class. Alanna placed sixth in the class, which we were delighted with for such a young heifer.
Becky is clipping for Dellview Holsteins this year, who claimed the junior Holstein championship. Huge congratulations to Gordon and Jennifer Kingston.
This weekend we have a break from showing, so we will have a little chance to catch our breath and maybe finish a little earlier in the evenings.
Show days can be quite long, starting at 4.30am and usually not finishing until 7pm or 8pm in the evening.
Our next outing will be to Cork Summer Show in Curraheen, where the city meets the county. Hopefully the weather will bring more sunshine to the agricultural shows over the next few months.
Preparations are well underway for the Cork YMA calf show, which takes place on June 29 and is the biggest calf show in Cork.
The Cork YMA committee has released the schedule for this year’s show, which can be found on the Cork YMA social media pages, and entries can now be made online.
No doubt the highlight of the calf show again this year will be the fancy dress class, which attracted large entries in 2025 and provided great entertainment for all those ringside.
