Duffryn Diary

[Saffy]

This is a picture of our oldest heifer calves, they were born only a week apart and have been very independent from day one, only returning to their mums for milk! They are very close.




This is a dun bull calf and he is just 3 days old, she keeps hiding him in the brambles but if he moves a few feet from where she left him she panics like crazy, she was mooing for him so I went to look he was about 6 feet from her!



This heifer calf below is a week old and her mum is 13 years old.



Some of the rest of the herd.




We are starting to get too much clover and have a dilemma as out girls are starting to blow up a bit, so we are either going to spray all the fields for broad leaf weeds - and there are plenty of those! Or put a dose of nitrogen on next spring but I'm not sure just how well that would work.

We had a good hay crop, just over 100 bales to the acre and have put the muck from the sheds back out on the fields, so we are feeling very efficient, just at this moment in time - so we are enjoying the feeling while it lasts - .

Stephanie

[Mark Bowles]

Just a quick question, whats that green stuff they seem to be standing in?

I am currently feedind 1 large square bale per 2.5 days to all my stock, not good!
Super photo quality, well done.

[bjreroberts]

Lovely photos as always Stephanie.

Glad it is not just me that is feeding some supplementary hay due to the lack of grass! I've only had to mow my lawn once in the last 2 months.

[Broomcroft]

We were seriously overwhelmed with large white clovers for a few years after seeding, till it settled down. Putting fert on in the spring definitely worked for us, on our soil anyway. The grass couldn't compete otherwise. We also had to top the clover and take cows out regularly onto a starvation paddock for 24 hours if even one showed any swelling on one side.

Our cattle will select the grass and leave as much clover behind as possible, so they make the situation worse. So to combat that we rotate our sheep/lambs regularly as they select the clover. But again need to watch for bloat.

Nice pics.

[Broomcroft]

Here's our clover, but we had even more than this for quite a while....the cows had to look for the grass!

[monica a waltho]

Hi, we have alot of white clover in our grass - we are on countryside stewardship and sowed seeds that they recommended .
It was sown about 5yrs ago but around 3 summers ago when it had become well established we started to get alot of clover and when i was checking the cattle i came accross a cow very bloated and was concerned but John was not about so I could not do alot about it, i couldnt move her on my own and she was not bad enough to catch, although she did tend to walk backwards as if she was in discomfort so i decided to keep checking and within about an hour or two she had gone down. In fact she seemed to do it on a regular basis that year but it never caused any probs and we have had it every year since with several other cows being really blown but i hve never yet had to treat or move from the field. I do not panic now if i see it just check on an hourly basis if i see one to make sure it goes down - when they start to cud i think it goes it also seems worse after wet weather. Had a sheep blown this year but again no treatment just kept a close eye on her.
The clover gives us good quality silage and the cows milk and fatten well on it as so do the sheep

[wagra dexters]

Clive, what is the breeding behind the cow on the clover? Very familiar!
Looking forward to the next installment of 'Duffryn Diary' Stephanie.
Wonderful photos as ever.

[Broomcroft]

I'm not certain Margaret because I have a few like that, hard to tell apart. But looking at the udder I THINK it might be Alvecote Jessica, one of Jacqui's cows.

[Saffy]

The two heifer calves I first mentioned on this thread went to a new home today. We were sad to see them go but the young gentleman that has bought them will give them an excellent home, they have gone to start him a new herd of dexters, which we are very pleased about.

Here is a picture I took of them earlier today, we had to remove the metal tag from the one as it was festering, I promise we brought them in straight after the photo was taken and both now have two tags!



This picture shows the majority of the herd, we have been keeping 15 of them strip grazing on just an acre for over 10 days now and it looks like lasting a few more days yet, not that they are very impressed but we are trying to conserve as much grazing as we can.

What is the grazing looking like around the country, anyone got lots? We are have just got back from a holiday in Cumbria, (we keep herdwick sheep and go to the sales,) and noticed a few very short cropped fields along the way on the trip up from South Wales.



Stephanie

[Minnie]

Hi Stephanie,

They look lovely, and happy.

What a good lot of hay off an acre, our place (in Aus) is lucky to get a feed for one cow off an acre... but it will one day.


Vicki

[Saffy]

Thanks to the very mild November our little herd are still out on grass and have just about enough in front of them to last the month out. Then depending how wet it is they will either get hay in the fields or we will house them.

Last week we even picked field mushrooms which I am sure we have never done before in November, they were very nice!

On another note we have just sold half a dexter to a local Michelin starred restaurant, which we are very pleased about.

Stephanie

[Colin]

I'm also intending to last the month out before feeding. We're supposed to be having a harsh winter. And with recent Springs being so hot and dry, I'm trying to keep some haylage in reserve.

Regards,

Colin

[Mark S]

We have been very lucky in Cheshire following a very dry spring which affected grass growth things improved during the summer and autumn and we got sufficient rain when needed to provide good grass growth, however friends 30 miles away in Staffs have been badly affected by the drought. Still not feeding hay to the cattle and sheep means we haved saved 15 large bales of hay compared to this time last year and the stock look really well. I am sure we will be in for a shock weather wise before too long. Enjoyed viewing the photos the cattle look well.

[Denise]

Hi Saffy - that is great news (or could I say "gr-ate" news - hope you get good feedback and another order from the restaurant!
regards

[Broomcroft]

On another note we have just sold half a dexter to a local Michelin starred restaurant, which we are very pleased about.

Well done Stephanie. John Burton-Race was using Dexter for years, but kept it very quiet. I think he wanted everyone to think the flavour was all down to his cooking (which I'm sure is fantastic).