Multiple births in cows can have some disadvantages: they can lead to complications, it can be harder for the dam to go back in calf again and if the calves are of mixed gender, it is highly likely that the female is a freemartin which means she is infertile. This happens because the testosterone from the male calf in the womb renders the female infertile. It’s not always the case and we have had a mixed sex female twin heifer [...]
Updated Post 11 January 2021
We started using calf coats in 2017 as we were using large hutches (outside but in a sheltered part of the yard) to house some calves and I felt they needed coats for warmth. We put the coats on at birth and left them on till almost weaned. We now have a large and airy calf shed with two fans which is great for preventing diseases like pneumonia but not overly warm on cold nights. I [...]
I’ve been wondering recently what would I have been like if I’d lived during another era, I’m not thinking of too long ago, just the 1960s. I’ve been following the Electric Generations blog and Twitter account as they’ve been working on setting up their exhibition and thinking about the short talk I’m going to be delivering on 16th October. The exhibition shows how many people initially feared this new power – that it might be dangerous [...]
I thought my expectations heading to the Ploughing Championships last week were quite normal. I knew I would have a busy morning with two interviews, followed by going to the “Women in Ag” panel in the Irish Independent tent. After that, my only “must sees” were to see some ploughing, watch the sheepdog trials, and visit some engineering stands to suss out their calf gates to create calf pens in a shed. I reckoned visiting 4 or 5 [...]
This spring was our first year to try using calf hutches, calf jackets and a calf barrow and I said at the time that I’d review should any readers be considering using any of them. It’s taken me a while to get around to doing it but better late than never I guess.
First up the calf jackets. They varied in price from €19-€35 if I remember correctly. The calves wore them for about six weeks until the weather improved. I [...]
