[Maggie]

Thanks Corrie, the more I read here, the better I feel about putting them in to the bull right now.    After reading Lachlan's message about one actually calving down at 14 months, I'm going to have to take our 2 month old heifer calf away soon!

I have a nice wee year old Shetland bull here for sale, haven't been able to get his details on the Shetland Society website yet because the link seems broken.    We're taking the steer to market soon, as we have yet to try Shetland meat.

When you say electric stand offs, is that something other than the plastic post and wire/tape fencing?  I'm using a bit of electric fencing on the border where my neighbour has his bullocks and when I see about twenty of them peering in through the hedge (which has a LOT OF GAPS LOL)....  I keep having nightmares that they'll break through!   

Maggie

[princesspiggy]

he is gorgeous, i was speaking bout him the other day and i think (?) i was told hes not alive now? do u get show/breeding records etc for the bull wen u enquire? i didnt get any details about the boar we used for AI, but it would be nice to know.

fingers crossed then, are u selling the heifers and finishing the bullocks? all great stuff 

[Rosemary]

he is gorgeous, i was speaking bout him the other day and i think (?) i was told hes not alive now? do u get show/breeding records etc for the bull wen u enquire? i didnt get any details about the boar we used for AI, but it would be nice to know.

Fearsome was calved in 2005 - he doesn't show in the SCBA annual cattle register so I think he must be burgers by now. If you are a member of SCBA and SCHBS, you can access the pedigrees of all Shetland cattle. I assume you have these for your cows. I was told you should try not to have common ancestors in 4 generations. Two of the RBST bulls are father and son, I think, or at least closely related, so if you use one on your cows, you can pretty much forget about using the other on any daughters. You can also get a record of the bull's progeny - all assuming that they are registered with SCHBS, of course.

Very few folk show Shetlands (except on Shetland), so there are no show records that I know of. (Although as a beginner myself, I'm still finding out loads).

If you want copies of pedigrees, PM me and I'll try and run them off for you.

[princesspiggy]

no, i think the person i spoke to implied he died about 50 years ago. it must have been another bull, or maybe i misheard. fearsome is very very nice. i am member of SCHBS but not SCBS, is it worth joining?
im going to have to think about breeding soon, i was reminded today not too let them get too fat before they are mated. they are a bit podgy cos i never thought about their weight at all. (i have a slight obsession with pig weights!) lol

[Rosemary]

I've found SCBA good, although the website's not working properly. We went to see Barry Allen, the Secretary before we bought Shetlands and he was very helpful. Very knowledgeable about genetics too, which is important because of the small gene pool.

The AGM is in October, in Driffield, and we're going - not that either of us love AGMs but the Association has arranged a farm visit to Epicure's Larder, which has a herd of Shetland cows producing milk for cheese production, butter, yogurt etc on a commercial scale. We think it will be very interesting indeed.

[Corrie Dhu]

Thanks Corrie, the more I read here, the better I feel about putting them in to the bull right now.    After reading Lachlan's message about one actually calving down at 14 months, I'm going to have to take our 2 month old heifer calf away soon!
 

Maggie

No, they are metal screw in things with plastic insulators on the end which you screw into the existing wooden fence posts and then run a wire along them.  Mine tend to lean over the top or between the top strand and the top of the rylock so I put the stand offs between the top wire and the top of the rylock so they can't do either.  They do know as soon as the battery fails though so you have to make sure it doesn't!  Mine worked well with a solar panel on it but recently I've had some battery problems 

[princesspiggy]

The AGM is in October, in Driffield, and we're going - not that either of us love AGMs but the Association has arranged a farm visit to Epicure's Larder, which has a herd of Shetland cows producing milk for cheese production, butter, yogurt etc on a commercial scale. We think it will be very interesting indeed.

that wud be really interesting. i read that they didnt make much cheese on shetland (in olden days) as they drank the milk, but on orkney there were well known recipes for cheese. now im thinking orkney had shetland cows too or a different breed?

[Maggie]

@Corrie brilliant idea re the stand-offs.  I know the gizmos you're talking about and have plenty here.  I'm away to tell hubby to get on with it. 

[Rosemary]

Blizzard is bleeding so clearly not in calf. Breeze seems fine, but we'll see what tomorrow brings. 

[Corrie Dhu]

Blizzard is bleeding so clearly not in calf. Breeze seems fine, but we'll see what tomorrow brings. 

Oh pants!  I feel your pain!!

[Rosemary]

Oh pants!  I feel your pain!!

Thank you  

I was gutted. I had convinced myself they were both in calf - they seemed so calm (not that they were ever rowdy  ). If Breeze doesn't show any signs of heat, I'll get her PD'd in two weeks and Blizzard AI'd again in three weeks. I'll order the semen tomorrow. Wonder if I should try a different bull  

[Corrie Dhu]

The first time I was totally sure they were in calf, then they all bulled one by one 

Even the last time when the AI man was doing Nari and Kirsty he said Fleur was definitely not bulling but she bulled the next day.  Hopefully Mr Fearsome has more er, fearsome sperm and you still get one in calf first go!  (And if not you know where there will soon be a localish bull  )

[princesspiggy]

thats a shame, rosemary. it took 2 attempts to get our pig pregnant, so i know its very disappointing.
we were speaking about ai the other day, i was wondering why u had to get them sychonised and not wait til they bulled naturally? i presume it was to get semen organised as its a rare breed?
good luck and fingers crossed for the other heifer xx 

[SallyintNorth]

Any sign of Breeze bulling?  Fingers crossed she's held at least - in a way maybe it'll be easier having one newly-calved heifer learning to be milked at a time!

[Rosemary]

Any sign of Breeze bulling?  Fingers crossed she's held at least - in a way maybe it'll be easier having one newly-calved heifer learning to be milked at a time!

No, no sign of Breeze bulling - and she's really noisy when she is. Wakes the neighbourhood - any bull within 5 miles woudl hear her. So I'd have her PD'd around 3rd August, and assuming she is on calf, I'll have Blizzard AI'd again in three weeks.

We did synchro for ease of AI but also with only two, t's sometimes hard to see who's bulling. With synchro, you know for definite. Although it's obviously not a guarantee of success.