Farmed 40 Angus sucklers plus followers, but married the wrong woman so no longer farming, well only for a hobby.
Wanted some quality beef for my freezer, you can only eat so much dorset lamb, and figured a smaller carcass is easier to handle, so dexters it is.
:D :D
Gonna be a while before i put anything in the freezer of my own though, so will be buying in for now, 1st half a steer is hanging at the moment.
Haven't you heard Tricky D D is now PC and he has dropped the cow pie along with the stubble and several other things. The world has gone mad along with some of the pages on the board. It's nice to go somewhere for a laugh:D Mind you I was suprised Saffy puts a whole one in her pies. Must remember to fast before calling in for dinner.:p
Party at Saffy's then :D :D , only problem i can see is that young bull whilst looking like he'll taste good and make a huge pie, ain't got no horns!!!! :;):
Our cow has died of Magnesium Deficiency this afternoon. We found her at 7.30am flat out and gave her a bottle of magnesium under the skin. No effect so we rang the vet, they were not as prompt as we would have liked so we gave her another bottle of mag at 8.45ish and the vet gave her calcium in the vein with a tiny bit of mag in it just after 9 all to no avail + more later on.
The vet even sedated her in the hope that stopping the seizures would enable her to recover but sadly she died this afternoon. We will have to try to compensate by giving her bull calf extra pellets but she milked so heavily it isn't going to hit the spot.
So sorry Steph, you must be gutted, not really a lot you can do, just make sure plenty of minerals are around your fields all the time. I expect you know that having had dairy cattle.
Get your new field soil tested in the spring for minerals, its only about £20 per sample i think, that way you will know what your up against.
You can see the number of posts and views on "your new herd" its like weve all been along the journey with you.
All the best
Mark
sorry to hear your bad news it seems there are so many things too go wrong even with this hardy breed of cattle. we bought a some as a hobby and have had a few problems
Stephanie, that is really sad news and I very much feel for you and Chris.
A local smallholder near me lost a Dexter to this too. She advised adding a handful of magnesium chloride to their drinking water. I do it twice a week for 7 animals.
Devastated for all concerned. Your photos of Ginger have become the parameter by which we gauge our females. May her genes live on forever. Much sympathy, Margaret
So sorry Saffy it is a bad time of year for this sort of thing with the weather keeping mild then cold, the grass still growing a bit as well but not having all it should. Is it the calf in the picture? if so he looks strong enough to cope. Also if you leave him with the rest you might notice he will pinch a drop off the other cow. They say no livestock without deadstock but it doesn't make it any easier.
so no longer farming, well only for a hobby.
sorry to hear your bad news it seems there are so many things too go wrong even with this hardy breed of cattle. we bought a some as a hobby and have had a few problems