Sunshine & Slurry :)

We have just had a week of glorious sunshine, blue skies and positively balmy weather with temperatures reaching the mid teens.   It has been glorious!  Do you know that feeling you get when the weather changes and the days lengthen and you just want to be out of the house?! Well its the exact same for cows.  They have been out of the shed every day with the past week now and loving every minute of it.

So lets take a look at a few of our milking cows.

This is 766, who we fondly refer to as "Ginormica".  She is one of the oldest cows on the farm. She is 90% Holstein and, as her nickname suggests, a big oul holstein type cow.  She was born in 2006 and had her first calf in 2008.  She was out of a fabulous old dairy cow 171Y, gone now but not forgotten - she was a super cow and her progeny are carrying on the torch for her. 766's sire was an AI Holstein Bull, Lordman (Code: LDZ). She produced 44000kg of milk in the last 7 years and is now starting her 8th lactation.  Isn't she looking well for her age?

This distinctive looking girl is 1236, also called 'the dalmation'.  She milked over 6000kg in her first lactation in 2014 which is just super production for a springer on our farm!  She is out of a Holstein Sire, Omjet (OJT), who seems to pass on a coat that is more white than black.  People laugh at me when I try to explain that there is a difference between a black and white cow, and a white and black cow!  However if a picture paints a thousand words I'll just use this one for reference anymore!

 This picture shows three springers coming to investigate my antics.  These are the children of the herd and the transition from heifer to milking cow is a big one for them - everything is new and strange.  The milking parlour is the biggest change to their routine and it can take them a couple of weeks to get used to how the whole thing works.   However, at this stage the parlour is old hat. This week, its all about being out in the field by day and still fed your dinner in the shed in the evening - pure luxury!   Shortly after this picture was taken they heard the tractor start up in the parlour yard and took off bucking and leaping up the road like skittish colts!

 While the scenery has been spectacular this week and the weather has enticed everyone outdoors, you wouldn't want to have very delicate nostrils.  Sunshine means slurry spreading! And as soon as the ground was dry, the slurry spreader was on the go.  The cows have been housed indoors since October which means there is five months of manure waiting to be spread across the fields.  Apparently the earlier in the year you can spread this on the grass, the better the ground absorbs the nutrients in it (most specifially nitrogen) and the faster the grass will grow!  So my two men have been busy driving in circles around the fields and assailing our nostrils with what my grand-aunt affectionately refers to as "the smell of summer" - I just hope the neighbours don't have their washing hanging out!!!

Until the next time, just remember: