No Clive, I havn't done any investigations yet as I have just had a total rethink about my farm policy and have outed all my cows with calves at foot. I am going for January/February calving and it will be a couple of years before I will actually need a weigher. I only have two heifers calving this january with another nine heifers going to the bull in April. I have been on a bit of a spending spree in the last month with the purchase of three heifers at the breed sale last month and three more heifers that I bought home today. None where cheap as I wanted to have good animals, I can only keep about ten cows and I really went for quality.
I have also decided to go polled (a welfare issue for me) so I am now searching for a quality polled bull which is not easy as there doesn't appear to be too many about. A good friend has one but we are going to be doing a bull share and the bull is closely related to some of his herd so we are visiting lots of farms looking at bulls at the moment. Which, if you're a nosey git like me it isn't a bad pastime.
Crush
for what its worth we have a crush but very rarly use it, we used to put our Dexters through it fot TB test, however our shed has a wire grill on one side (simillar to the stuff they lay in a concrete floor) the way we do it now two of us have a sheep hurdle (one at each end) and we just guide the cattle to the wire grill, the vet, standing the other side of the grill, then does his work and we are on to the next one, the stock do not get upset and our stress levels are a good deal less.
when we used the crush for the testing we had three handlers plus vet and it took two and half hours now we have two handlers plus vet and it takes half an hour, I should mention that all our cattle are horned, we also have one cow that would never go into the crush no matter how hard you tried but she is quite ok the way we do it now, I think this has a lot to do with the fact that if you are putting them into the crush they start to get themselves wound up unless you work it like Saffy suggests and get them to walk through the crush on a regular basis.
it all depends on how experienced your stock are at being in close contact with you.
yesyerday we had the vet to do two pd's and look at a hind foot all three cows were put on a halter and stood perfectly ok for the vet.
so I would say keep your money in your pocket and get to know your stock and let them get to know you.
at a future date when you have surplus cash then by all means get a crush you never know you might use it once in a while.
when we used the crush for the testing we had three handlers plus vet and it took two and half hours now we have two handlers plus vet and it takes half an hour, I should mention that all our cattle are horned, we also have one cow that would never go into the crush no matter how hard you tried but she is quite ok the way we do it now, I think this has a lot to do with the fact that if you are putting them into the crush they start to get themselves wound up unless you work it like Saffy suggests and get them to walk through the crush on a regular basis.
it all depends on how experienced your stock are at being in close contact with you.
yesyerday we had the vet to do two pd's and look at a hind foot all three cows were put on a halter and stood perfectly ok for the vet.
so I would say keep your money in your pocket and get to know your stock and let them get to know you.
at a future date when you have surplus cash then by all means get a crush you never know you might use it once in a while.
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Broomcroft
- Posts: 3005
- Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:42 am
- Location: Shropshire, England
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i brought a second hand tubar crush for £100 from farm sale, a bit scruffy but very servicable, we leave that one down one of our bigger fields, i also brought a warrior crush from a farm sale for £500 and if it didn't have a small patch of purple spray on the inside you could have sold it as brand new. we have also just brought 10 bateman 3m hurdles as funds allow. made my own hoops and race gates. we don't have a huge amount of grass in any one place, we have now got a very nice mobile handling system that we can put on a trailer and cart about. the crush i roll onto one end and back trailer to it and roll on, made our life much easier, and much less stress on the cattle.
martin are you looking for a dexter or sussex bull.
paul
Edited By clacko on 1259482714
martin are you looking for a dexter or sussex bull.
paul
Edited By clacko on 1259482714
paul , victoria & laura claxton
snarehill dexters
snarehill dexters
Hi Paul, I am looking for a Sussex bull, but I am being really critical as to what I want to buy. As Sussex are naturally horned the bull will have to be 'graded up' and although there are plenty of development bulls around it is a case of looking for one that has suficient Sussex blood in it for me to show its progeny.
Martin.
Maidstone
Kent
Maidstone
Kent