Turn Out

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:19 pm

Have you turned out yet? Or have yours been out all winter?

Some of ours have been out all winter and some in.

The last week the rest have been out by day and in at night.

We have had a session of worming and fluking of the new ones, multi vit injections, de lousing, tagging etc today, it should have been done before but we hadn't got around to it.

Tomorrow we are sorting them into different bunches and they will go out and hopefully stay out.

Stephanie

domsmith · Post by **domsmith** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 7:28 pm

The ground is still too heavy here. been dry for 2 days and the forecast is set fair, so we are hopeful to beat the beginning of may last year.

we are 1/2 in 1/2 out, like you.

no grass growth at all yet. but desperate to save straw and silage.

dom

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 8:03 pm

All mine had their Blue Tongue vacs last weekend, turned out today, cant come back in at night as they are now about one and a half miles away. They are marking the ground a bit as it is still wetter than I would like but I have no choice as I have run out of fodder and bedding and I am not prepared to pay what is being asked now. There is enough grass for them to be getting on with and the weather is set fair for the next few days so the ground should dry a little and grass should grow in front of them. Bull due to go with them on Tuesday.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 8:30 pm

All the native Burnside herd have been out all winter, and the bulls and autumn purchases inside. I moved the Burnside cows to a safer field for calving on Thursda night as one had calved that afternoon, it is the usual time for the move but very little grass. I am running out of fodder too and have been using big bale silage for the last few weeks. Like Martin I do not want to buy any more, grass is just beginning to come and the new girls which came in the Autumn will have to go out within the week to a new bit of grazing which though it will not be knee high in grass has a lot of roughage on it. They will get the chance of some magnesium rolls like the main herd. What hay I have left will mostly be needed by the two bulls which will not go out till July - that is early enough for me or calves are born into cold and wet.. My cows got their BVD booster a fortnight ago and the heifers will get their second dose this week as they go out. This afternoon spent dehorning steers and heifers.

We are still looking across the Firth of Clyde at patches of snow on the Renfrewshire hills, it has been there since before Christmas, I have not seen that since moving to Bute over 30 years ago.

Duncan

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:55 am

Grass growing well here and it's well dried out. Cows are all in at the moment to give the grass a chance, then they'll all be going out again in about a week's time when the grass should be 4-5". All sheep and new born lambs have been out for a couple of weeks. Still feeding the sheep though to keep their milk but that'll stop soon.

bjreroberts · Post by **bjreroberts** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 9:36 am

Mine have been out all winter and until yesterday were being fed twice a day.

There has definitely been a burst of growth as they all ignored the haylage yesterday morning and chose to graze the little bit of grass there was.

SteveM · Post by **SteveM** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 11:46 am

Had visit from vet on friday for TB test, due back tomorrow to check results, blue tongue jab while they are in the crush, should be turning steers and young heifers out then to get them used to being out a week before going a couple of miles away for summer grazing.

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:08 pm

Well we had another sort out this morning. The two nearest to calving in one small paddock as the one needs a bit of extra food, bull and big steer are in another small paddock, all the rest went out together - all female except the cheeky little chap second pic down.

Anyone else got pics?

Stephanie

Denise · Post by **Denise** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 4:10 am

Hi everyone, a lovely green autumn here - hot over th weekend for last weekend of the Sydney Royal Easter Show, almost over now.

A thought - do any of you do "artifical daylight" when your animals are "in" during winter - like the horse breeders in the USA do to push broodmares into cycling earlier. I'm begining to think artifical sunlight via shed lighting, especially when you all seem to have such "grey" winters could be beneficial to the animals???

hope you have a super season this spring/summer. Think next time I visit will be summer/autumn - tooooo cold for this little Antipodean!

Regards

Tim Watson · Post by **Tim Watson** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:18 am

Our two went out for the first time here yesterday. The last field they saw was at Beryl's in February.

Jilly and I took them out and they followed the buckets as we had hoped they would. Very wary of the wide open space in front of them until they ralised that there was electric tape to stop them. Round a corner to a secure area of the field about 1 acre and they went mad! Up and down the field with their tails held high.
Couldn't fail to put a smile on our faces!

They came in as good as gold last night just following the buckets (thank you David for the great tip about bright yellow buckets) and out again this morning.

Very pleased with how things have gone to date.

Anna · Post by **Anna** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:00 am

Saffy! Howcome there are so many Dexters in your fields, have you been out on raids stealing cattle? I remember when you bought a cow, a heifer, a bull calf and a steer, that was not a long time ago. I bougt a cow and a heifer calf 6 months earlier, and I now have: two cows. I guess your case of the Dexter bug is pretty severe

Anyway, you deserve to be proud of them.

No grass here yet, but the cows browse during daytime. All snow is gone and the sun is shining!

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:38 pm

Yes Anna the Dexter bug can be quite virulent and the strain I have caught is VERY serious!!! I now have a total of 15 Dexters, 12 of which are female.

Stephanie :D

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:04 am

This is a pic of our other two cows. They are the nearest to calving and the black one has been quite thin. We are trying to feed her up with a a feed of broken wheat twice a day. The dun is our most recent purchase, Woodmagic Petrel, she is settling in well and already allows me to scratch her back and neck when I feed her.

They are eating our little picnic area next to the house, it is only tiny and we usually end up strimming it but we decided to let them do it! It isn't very good grass - mostly cocksfoot but they don't seem to mind.

Stephanie

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:52 pm

Stephanie, what grasses would your main paddocks normally consist of, and in what proportions roughly?
Margaret

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 7:45 am

Actually that is quite a difficult question Margaret!

When they were originally sown many of my paddocks were meant for the dairy herd to graze, or for silage for the dairy herd. The grass would have been heavily fertilised and renewed every so many years and the cows paddock grazed, so they had one paddock in the morning and a fresh one for the afternoon.
When they were sown there would have been a high quantity of Italian Ryegrass - S22 and Perenial Ryegrass S24, also a fair bit of White Clover but one of larger leafed varieties in the fields that would be silaged, probably the smaller leafed variety in the paddocks. S22 was renowned for its quick growth of lush dark green grass for silage.

The foraged fields would be grazed late autumn once silaging was over.

Paddocks for grazing would have extra grasses added to thicken the ley as it wouldn't be allowed to get so long and make it less likely to tread up if it rained, or burn off if there was a drought. Also certain grasses make it more palatable and you want your dairy cow to eat alot! I cannot remember which Meadow Grasses went in but more than one variety and Timothy.

Sorry cannot remember quanities it is a long time ago.

Most of the tiny paddocks near the house have never been reseeded as far as I know, they were all orchards but only two trees left now, I reseeded one about 15 years ago with a mix like the one I have described.

So by now my paddocks have a huge amount of volunteer grasses, some good some bad but the Dexters like them all!

The paddock in the pic above with the larger amount of cattle in was never reseeded, all the grass is volunteer. It was taken back from my tenants after they had used it as set aside. I am finding that by careful management I am improving it, by the looks a great deal of the volunteer grass is Rye Grass, some is Cocksfoot, not much Timothy, some Meadow Grass but not much and the Clover is gradually spreading, there was none to start with, so I am delighted.

Stephanie