It was last spring time when we let our Hereford bull Henry out with the milking herd.
His task was to mate any cows which we had failed to get in calf over the winter.
Now Henry isn't as young as he used to be and we wondered if this may prove a little to much for him but I am pleased to say he hasn't let us down...
His task was to mate any cows which we had failed to get in calf over the winter.
Now Henry isn't as young as he used to be and we wondered if this may prove a little to much for him but I am pleased to say he hasn't let us down...
As you can see we have a yard full of Henry's offspring , about 15 in fact.
Most calves will suckle from their mother and indeed any cow that happens to be there. This is good for us as it means less hand feeding which can take up a lot of time.
We use a bottle with a teat on top (can be seen in the first pic) to start any difficult calves feeding and then eventually try to get them drinking from a bucket.
Cows will often calve in the middle of the night so I'm sometimes out at strange hours helping cows with difficult calvings.
Most cows have calved successfully all on their own though this time, thankfully..
We use a bottle with a teat on top (can be seen in the first pic) to start any difficult calves feeding and then eventually try to get them drinking from a bucket.
Cows will often calve in the middle of the night so I'm sometimes out at strange hours helping cows with difficult calvings.
Most cows have calved successfully all on their own though this time, thankfully..
Its a lovely sight in the morning to see a cow has calved, all on her own without interrupting my beauty sleep..
