- Location
- Quebec, Canada
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
- Thread starter Kiwi Pete
- Start date
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I'd imagine they would soon figure it out if calved down at the right time ie in sync with the season.
It'd be an interesting experiment to see if they still would if bred out of season and fed artificially, I'd assume they wouldn't get the same cues as they would at pasture - even a streetlamp can cause a plant to miss it's cue to flower, so I couldn't say for sure.
My ewes are still feeding their lambs a little bit, although the lambs are beginning to lift their mums off the ground while suckling
- Location
- Derbyshire
Funny that.
Earlier I was reading kp's posts about seaweed and also the brews that he puts in the water troughs. I immediately thought of the old tales of Apple cider vinegar and what it could do for livestock. You don't hear of it anymore.
Then a post of Crofters throws up an advert telling me that I can get it in bulk all across Canada!
Anyone on here use it?
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
They'd be closely bred, alright..
I'm actually reading an interesting book at the moment, "For the Love of Land" by Jim Howell - there is a picture of one family of cattle, all sticking together although they are part of a 600-strong herd, the six of them. Obviously a cow culture exists.
Some things really make you think
This book is about "grazing in nature's image" hence why I consider it so interesting
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For the Love of Land: Global Case Studies of Grazing in Nature's Image
Howell, Jim
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ISBN 10: 143921610X ISBN 13: 9781439216101
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After you finish reading, you can make a tidy profit
Maybe throw in the shipping for free
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
Last year while one of my cows was calving in a paddock on her own, her mother was bellowing like a wild creature at the gate , desperate to get in.
- Location
- Cornwall
Are they a bit like the Chillingham Cattle? They’ve been largely unmanaged for 100’s of years apparently, aside from keeping them in their park.
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
I think the weather would be the main predator there, though I did find some pictures on line that showed old houses & barns so they would have shelter but no conserved food for winter.
Another piece said they grazed the seaweed on the beach ( thought you'd like that bit Kp ), would there be more seaweed in winter with the bigger waves bringing it in?
As a Shorthorn breeder I've always loved that they don't colour mark their calves ( white calf this morning from Roan cow & Roan bull ) & this is down to no dominant colour genes , where as the Angus is black which is a dominant gene & yet those cow's are Black , Red or White? No Roan?
They must be very closely bred with 40yrs of line breeding, when I started with Beef Shorthorns there were only 250 left in the UK so would pay alot extra for Out cross semen from abroad , maybe I didn't have to
I do know a few breeder that do line breeding & seems to go ok for them, but I thought they were doing the wrong thing, doesn't look like they were quite as wrong as I thought
only 250 in the UK ?
they are still one of the major breeds here & before the widespread adoption / adaptation / cross breeding with Bos Indicus cattle were the mainstay of our northern cattle industry
they are hardy & good "doers", which are sorta good characteristics to have I would have thought
https://shorthornbeef.com.au/
No worries. Everyone needs to think about what their aims and the likely outcomes of their grazing is. My aims for grazing the cover crop are to lengthen the grazing season and so shorten the housing period and trample the taller crop to the ground which will start the breakdown of the tough stalks ready for spring whilst also protecting the soil.
No working dog here so if they need moving around a bit I’ll probably just walk through them but pretty sure they will cover the whole paddock fairly well. They will have been on some cover crop before that up the road where I will strip graze it as they can run back onto the grass field where there is water so they will know what they like by then and trample the rest going for it.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Yeah, I scooped up a heap of windfall apples and ended up with about 200 litres of it
Do you a deal for cash?
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I have the first official copy of that book in my possession, I wonder what it's worth
Stock Image
For the Love of Land: Global Case Studies of Grazing in Nature's Image
Howell, Jim
Published by BookSurge Publishing
ISBN 10: 143921610X ISBN 13: 9781439216101
Used
Quantity Available: 1
From: More Than Words (Waltham, MA, U.S.A.)
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US$ 1,178.82
(C$ 1,565.12)
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About this Item: BookSurge Publishing. Condition: Good. All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Before placing your order for please contact us for confirmation on the book's binding. Check out our other listings to add to your order for discounted
After you finish reading, you can make a tidy profit
I suppose housing may mess it up here our march/april calvers that we have been selling the calves from have still been milking they may well wean the calf if they were outside on grass, the autumn calvers tend to naturally wean more, some don't take them off but I think colostrum quality suffers with less than six weeks/two months dryI'd imagine they would soon figure it out if calved down at the right time ie in sync with the season.
It'd be an interesting experiment to see if they still would if bred out of season and fed artificially, I'd assume they wouldn't get the same cues as they would at pasture - even a streetlamp can cause a plant to miss it's cue to flower, so I couldn't say for sure.
My ewes are still feeding their lambs a little bit, although the lambs are beginning to lift their mums off the ground while suckling
Dad said they use to use it years ago, I have some old cider here that has gone to vinegar that would turn your teeth round the other way, I would think it would cure anything
always said a bloody good night on the cider was like the once a year worming
I wouldn't think the worms would survive I nearly didn't 
I think the Chillingham cattle get hay in the winter so have a safety back up when things are hard , where as the Swona cattle have no safety back so truely survive on there own.
Yes I know @Farmer Roy , the rest of the world could see the benefits of the breed but at home we thought we could chase something better ( sums up our agriculture ! ). The breed has had a massive turn around here in the last 10 yrs & is now up to several thousand calves being registered every year.
When I started with them it was mainly Canadian & Australian genetics that were available ( without breeding to close ).
There is also a fair number used in South America & a few herds in New Zealand.
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- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
When I did a bit of bull catching in the Gulf Country ( extreme north west corner of Qld, next to the NT border ) in the mid 80's, ALL of the wild cattle we were catching were Shorthorns that had survived there for generations
Actually, a friend of mine, her husbands family are right up there in the Shorthorn circles, dunno if you've heard of them, Spry's
Shorthorns are still pretty popular today much further south
Actually, a friend of mine, her husbands family are right up there in the Shorthorn circles, dunno if you've heard of them, Spry's
Shorthorns are still pretty popular today much further south
Yes have heard of Sprys , they definitely are right up there in the Shorthorn world.
Don't want to get into a breed debate here but the one thing that puts me off shorthorns is the second part of their name they don't appear to do anything different to a good Angus or Hereford but they have horns that need taking off when the Angus and Hereford are polled. Dehorning is job i can do without to be honest. And they aren't as easy to find as the other 2 breeds when looking for a bull.
they don't appear to do anything different to a good Angus or Hereford but they have horns that need taking off when the Angus and Hereford are polled. Dehorning is job i can do without to be honest. And they aren't as easy to find as the other 2 breeds when looking for a bull.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I thought a picture might speak a thousand words, as far as describing a techno system.
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- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I get polled beef shorthorn crosses from dairy cows that needed dehorned as calves?Don't want to get into a breed debate here but the one thing that puts me off shorthorns is the second part of their name
They want a self moving pen for that job
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
38 of them would be a fair bit of work?They want a self moving pen for that job
About 1900 cattle at the moment.