At least it's never 'too dry' here!
On the upside ....the calving aid is seldom needed!
Native breeds photographs
- Thread starter JP1
- Start date
On the upside ....the calving aid is seldom needed!
- Location
- N.Lincs
Buy now (well on the 24th July) 'while stocks last' ......
Kildare
Member
- Location
- Kildare, Ireland
A few red Angus
i think those white tails tell us somthing, lovly cattle though.
TheRanger
Member
- Location
- SW Scotland
Wolds Beef
Member
@yellowbelly Good Luck today! 200,000!!
WB
WB
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
They'll have a job on their reviving the breed with 19 cows left? And I would assume that they'll be in red themselves?
I thats it
Member
Easier than just having 1.
I guess if there's lots of 100% semen stored you could line breed individual cows to certain bulls try to create some distinct family lines.
Certainly a task that will take some managing
borderterribles
Member
- Location
- South Shropshire
The same has been happening on Jersey, too.
I wonder how many of the protagonists for the importation of semen from abroad foresaw that???
Wolds Beef
Member
@yellowbelly Come on then. What was trade like. what were the results? Photographs for prosterity!!
WB
WB
- Location
- N.Lincs
Nothing spectacular. Clearance rate was not very good either. We only sold 2 out of 6.
Probably not helped by the fact that we only had the 'auctioneer's apprentice'.
The show was a great success - credit due to the Heckington committee for adapting to the covid rules to make it all happen.
Managed to win the sale championship with a shearling tup and the butchers lambs class so can't complain
Wolds Beef
Member
Auctioneer's Apprentice. So George was selling them! He is now 1 of the partners and my cousins boy! We are getting old!!
WB
WB
Read somewhere that introducing outside genetics has increased milk production per cow which has lead to a surplus of milk on jersey so some farms have had to give up dairying as there is no outlet for surplus. Bet that wasn't part of the planThe same has been happening on Jersey, too.
- Location
- Shropshire
Or they could keep less cows
Can't remember fully, but I think what ever system they use on jersey but some stopped dairying instead of putting a limit on all herds
Sure somebody will know more facts than me
Sure somebody will know more facts than me
borderterribles
Member
- Location
- South Shropshire
Maybe, but some had very few in the first place.
borderterribles
Member
- Location
- South Shropshire
Historically, there was a surplus of milk on Jersey out of the tourist season, anyway. The importation of semen has lifted milk production per cow considerably . I don't think that the importation has done much to restore the formerly substantial trade in breeding stock, though. In days gone by, up to a quarter of the Island's breeding animals were exported annually, all over the world.
Pieces_of_Eight
Member
Would be a matter of DNA testing cows and any bulls/bull calves to make definite which are least related (or unrelated), so the gene pool stays as deep as possible.
Flushing could help, especially if some cows are aging. But then finding donors for 30 embryos from one cow would swing the gene pool in her favour with so few animals in the whole population.
Very difficult to build numbers with a breed that isn't economically viable. If their only USP is that they are on the brink of extinction, the only hope is a handful of fanatical hobby breeders. At least the native beef breeds are easy calving, highly maternal and do well on just grass to produce highly marbled beef.
Depends on what you call economically viable pieces of eight?
I milk a small herd of dairy shorthorns, all are 100% pure by society standards and a growing number are original population.
They produce milk of grass ,baled silage and some cake. Cows are never foot trimmed and produce a calf that is very marketable either beef cross or pure dairy
Cull cows have a good value after a lot longer life than average
Our industry needs to wake up to these points as its becoming less acceptable to treat calves as a waste product, cull before they've completed many lactations and lameness is a big issue when cows cross a road the people waiting don't remember the first to cross they remember the lame ones hobbling across last.
Fashion changes what some people farm , not always for the best
Rant over
I milk a small herd of dairy shorthorns, all are 100% pure by society standards and a growing number are original population.
They produce milk of grass ,baled silage and some cake. Cows are never foot trimmed and produce a calf that is very marketable either beef cross or pure dairy
Cull cows have a good value after a lot longer life than average
Our industry needs to wake up to these points as its becoming less acceptable to treat calves as a waste product, cull before they've completed many lactations and lameness is a big issue when cows cross a road the people waiting don't remember the first to cross they remember the lame ones hobbling across last.
Fashion changes what some people farm , not always for the best
Rant over
- Location
- pembrokeshire
i have often wondered if you take into consideration the extra weight and the lack of longevity the lameness issues the lack of value of the cull cow and the calf how Holsteins stand against trad breeds if they weigh half as much again they will need that much more to maintain their body weight is their popularity fueled by ego so the farmer can boast he gets so much more per cow