Vaccinations are the insurance policy for weanlings
Eilish Gill was joined by AHI colleagues and vets Natascha Meunier and Michelle McGrath, as well as local vet Sean O’Sullivan in Gortalea.
Suckler farmers are being strongly advised to take a proactive approach to the health of their weanlings ahead of the crucial sales.
Running their second annual Weanling Week, Animal Health Ireland (AHI) outlined the health and economic imperative of producing a fit weanling.
This year's series carried the theme Weanling Ready: Worth their Weight in Gold and saw events take place at marts in Gortalea, Elphin, Ennis and Carnaross. The week was supported by AIB.
Speaking to more than 110 farmers in Gortalea Mart, Co Kerry, Eilish Gill from AHI said the key first element of bringing a saleable weanling to the ring is a clear weaning strategy.
“The important thing first off the bat is ensuring that the calf on the day is weaned properly. This is something that will have started well before you put the calf in the trailer.
"You want to ensure that jobs like dosing and vaccinating are carried out before the calf is taken from the cow. It’s key to minimise stress, and each of these is a stress event for the calf.
“So, a minimum of 10 days before the calf is sold, it will be fully weaned from its mother, meal would have been introduced before that, and the calf will be eating enough to make sure that there is no significant drop-off in performance,” Eilish Gill said.
Ms Gill was joined by AHI colleagues and vets Natascha Meunier and Michelle McGrath, as well as local vet Sean O’Sullivan in Gortalea.
Stressing the importance of vaccinations, Eilish said these have always been important but have taken on extra significance given the increase in cattle prices.
“Vaccinations are like the insurance policy for your car. They give you that peace of mind. It’s also something that buyers of all kinds are looking for, so it can only benefit the seller if you’re able to announce that the weanling is covered for pneumonia as well as being dosed.
"It is these small but important margins that make a difference the day you’re selling.”
At the Gortalea event, local vet Sean O’Sullivan also advised that farmers calving in either spring or autumn take a proactive approach to the body condition of cows, stressing that overly fleshy cows carry a risk.
“All a fat cow does is give plenty of work for me and my veterinary colleagues. Bringing that cow or heifer in for calving in a good and fit shape minimises a lot of problems. The nice weanling starts as a calf at calving so it’s important to get that right before we do too much,” Sean said.
