Cattle
Dressed up
Friday 4 February, 2011
I was looking at Breeze today and decided she looked like a wee girl dressed in her mother's frock. She's got a nice set of grown-up horns - but she's still got a little calf face.
In season? Yes.
Thursday 20 January, 2011
Good. That accounts for the bellowing. I was brushing them this afternoon and Breeze tried to mount Blizzard, so she is in season. Thankfully, it shouldn't last long.
In season?
Thursday 20 January, 2011
Breeze is making a h*ll of a noise this morning and is even more pauky than usual. I wonder if she is in season. Let's see if it happens again in three weeks.
Officially BVD free
Tuesday 18 January, 2011
Our vet phoned today to confirm that our calves are completely free of BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea) following their blood test a couple of weeks ago. They will need another test next year, but we will make strenuous efforts to maintain tthis status.
BVD is spread bovine to bovine mainly. The virus doesn't survive well outside the cattle's bodies. Our calves won't be going off the property and no other cattle will be coming on; we're not planning to show them. There are no other cattle around here in touching distance. We will have to ensure that folk coming on to the farm observe bootwashing and hand washing, especially if they have been on other premises with cattle, but that's not a bad thing anyway.
Hengae Fearsome
Sunday 9 January, 2011
We have identified Hengae Fearsome (by name, but I hope not by nature) as the bull we're most likely to use on our heifers in the summer.
Hengae Fearsome
He was born in 2005 and has no common ancestors with our girls in three generations, and no Boris, Rasmie or Freddie in six generations. He has five registered progeny - four female, one male - so I've contacted their breeder for further information.
Calves wormed
Wednesday 5 January, 2011
We were going to have our calves dehorned but changed our minds. The vet was coming to scan the sheep as well, so he dosed the calves for worms and fluke. Since our grazing hasn't had cattle on it for years, we should only need to treat for fluke in future.
The vet also took blood samples to test for Bovine Viral Diahorrea (BVD). Scotland is now ina voluntary programme to eradicate BVD, although it may become compulsory. We should get the test results in 10 days or so; hopefully, they will be OK as the Shetland Isles are BVD free and the calves haven't been in contact with any other cattle.
Cattle keeper
Thursday 30 December, 2010
We must be proper cattle keepers now - we have the Cattle Keeper's Handbook from the British Cattle Movement Service. We've also got out Herd Register and medicine book AND an account with Genus who will do the AI for us in the summer.
We're going to buy semen from the RBST - they have five Shetland bulls so we have to pick one. They are all black and white. I've had a look at their pedigrees on line and I don't think any of them have Templeson Boris or Collafirth Rasmie genes in them. Some of them are pre-Boris / Rasmie and some contemporary. I will take advice but it's quite interesting looking at all the pedigrees. Each beast has an Inbred % but I don't know what that means. Templeson Boris was 25% inbred; the sire and dams of our two heifers are about 5.6% inbred. I'm now off to ask the question...
Tying up calves
Wednesday 24 November, 2010
Blizzard managed to get her halter off yesterday. Actually, it's surprising it took so long as it was on upside down and not knotted at the nose. It wasn't right off but I couldn't sort it so removed it.
Today, I straightened it out and put it back on. She wasn't all that co-operative, but we managed in the end. At afternoon feed, I decided to tie them up to feed them, one at each end of the byre. We put in tie rings but actually the best thing to tie them to is the original bars in the byre. They are very secure and, because they run vertically, the calves can eat freely as the rope runs up and down the bar. They had their pellets and their hay tied up and they were fine. I'll do that twice a day now, leaving them for half an hour or so. Blizzard was relaxed enough to be cudding.
Blizzard's halter training
Saturday 20 November, 2010
I spent some quality time with Blizzard today. She's much less sociable than Breeze, who had a good brush this morning.
The byre is quite small, so she can't go far or fast, so I walked around beside her today, keeping a hand on her - hoping that I could out-persist her! Eventually, she stood still and I brushed her too. After this, I was able to catch up her halter rope and put a bit of pressure on her. If she moved away, I let her drift but kept hold of the rope, keeping up some tension. If she stopped and looked at me, I let the rope go slack. Finally, I asked her to follow me and she did for a few steps quite calmly.
Next steps in halter training
Wednesday 17 November, 2010
Last week, I went to visit a local pedigree cattle breeder to get some tips on halter training. Audrey and her family have the Panmure herds of Charolais and Hereford cattle, which they show successfully. It was a very useful visit for me and I'm grateful to Audrey for her time, expertise and the two rope halters, to replace the white cotton ones I bought, that now look like old rags.
Breeze has become a real pet and will be brushed without a food bribe. On Tuesday, Dan and I slipped the halter on her and tied her up - after a bit of tugging, she was pretty calm so we left her for about half an hour before releasing her. Yesterday, I thought she might know what was coming and be less co-operative, but she let me put the halter on with out the food bribe. I was able to lead her round the byre (which isn't very big).
