Tag Archives: calves

‘Let it snow, let it snow’

A shed of two halves

Storm Emma and the “Beast from the East” met to create some chaos in Ireland this past week. While we got a lot of snow and were snowed in for a few days, we weren’t in the worst affected county. We didn’t have to put in that much preparation as all livestock were housed in any case. We moved any heavily pregnant cows into the maternity shed to reduce the risk of having to move them across an icy yard. We [...]

My Farming Week: Backwards Calf, Runaway Cow & A Calf Barrow

Feeding newborn calf

I once heard a farm wife say how getting away from the farm was never worth it. There was always some saga or something wrong when she returned, making her wonder why on earth she had bothered to try and have a nice day out.

Highlights and a Backwards Calf don’t mix well

That came to my mind on Friday. Apart from the fact that my hair was in dire need of a cut, I had planned a day out where I’d [...]

My Farming Week: There’s Something About Mary

There's something about Mary

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, is the reason this Hereford-Friesian calf is called Mary. Yet, by the end of her third day of life I had to admit there was definitely something about Mary. She was a tad infuriating for the first couple of days of her life although, being so young, it’s not like there was any point getting cross with her.

We had Hereford calves last spring for the first time in decades and they all took to food like [...]

What Makes Some Calves Special

Gloria - a special calf

I suppose all calves are special but when you have 135 of them being born in a relatively short time, it’s not really possible to have a soft spot for all of them. There are some factors though that make a calf stand out. We tend to name a few partly because it’s handy to be able to say ‘check number 2305, he’s a bit off colour, he’s in Bruce’s pen’ rather than having to say ‘check 2305, he’s in [...]

My Farming Week – Cows, Calves, the Creamery and Croke Park

It’s been an interesting farming week at Garrendenny in terms of the calves born. At exactly the half way mark of 65 calves, 40 dairy heifer have been born (plus three Hereford cross heifers) so it’s an excellent ratio for us. As dairy farmers, we prefer heifers – they are higher value and it gives us more choice in two years time regarding which ones we want to keep in our own herd (we sell the others to other dairy [...]