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Chris's farm update

moosonthames

Hi Chris here.  

 

Hope you all had a good Christmas and new year. Although it feels like it's too late to say that now. It's the quiet before the storm on the farm. The majority of the cows are dry before they calve in March and April. Every cow gets at least a two-month dry period where they are not milked before they calve. They receive a mineral bolus and are wormed if needed when we dry them off. We test the milk to see if we need to worm them each year. This is to prevent any worm parasites becoming resistant to the wormer if overused. This year they were all clear; which shows our longer grazing rotation (the time between each grazing of a paddock) is helping reduce any worm burden in the fields.  


The cow's diet over winter consists of silage, hay and some lucerne nuts in the parlor for the cows still in milk. We sent off a sample of the silage to be analyzed. Which showed on the whole it was good but was lacking in protein. This I believe was a result of the super wet last two years washing nutrients out of the soil. To combat this, we have been putting molasses on top of the silage to increase intakes and improve energy levels. The in-calf heifers have been doing well outside bale grazing so have been getting grazed grass and hay. They are now inside so we can train them to lie in the cubicles.  



January and February are a good time of year to catch up on maintenance around the farm. Theres plenty of fencing, tidying up and hedge cutting to do. We will also be getting everything ready for calving; the barn, calf housing and any equipment needed.  


In vending machine news, we have had a busy Christmas with lots of different cheeses, which we hope to get back in stock soon. We now have 500ml bottles in stock as well as the 1-litre bottles.


This year we are planning on doing more farm tours, we will update our website and newsletter when we decide on the dates. If you have any questions, please email moosonthames@gmail.com.

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gerrytamplin
Jan 24

Good news about the worming strategy. Not entirely surprised to hear about the silage protein levels. It is always interesting to get a little insight into the technicalities behind the farm.

Maybe a view on the use of Bovaer as a supplement for dairy might be interesting. If you dare 🙂?

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