May 2024 Newsletter

Finally - what seems like the longest winter in Irish history, is over and summer is letting us know that there is hope!!

BREEDING: Most cows are now served once (at least), if not twice. How are you dealing with the later calved cows now? One possibility is to use a specific PRID program on all cows calved after Patrick’s day. Ring for any scanning appointment as soon as possible, as demand this year is high!

Follicular Cysts are a common finding again this season - I’m partly blaming the low Phosphorous intake by cows since April for this.
Also consider scanning the first bred cows / heifers once the 30 days since service is up, to assess breeding success this year. If they develop a persistent CL or a Cyst after the first service, they won’t be repeating after 3 weeks - “pretending” to be in calf...

Mineral status of cows and cattle/calves is critical! It is sometimes indicated by rough discoloured coat and lack of performance. At this time of year a quick solution is the use of MULTIMIN injection (Copper, Selenium, Zinc, etc). Otherwise a long term solution is best achieved by bolus (CoSeIcure = 150 days, Oligovet = 250 days).

PARASITES: After our successful first year with the in-house MICRON Parasite testing Lab machine, we continue to offer the faecal sampling this season. Abbie and Kate will process samples as soon as they come in and are able to get a worm-egg count within hours!

As a special assistance to farmers we are going to offer a 3+1 on this sampling (4th sample test in a season is free! Includes Fluke.).

NEWS: Amy is on maternity from May to December. Nicola and Abbie will be ably looking after all your needs for the summer and autumn! WISHING EVERYONE A healthy FARMING SEASON this summer -