New Danish Red calves
Robin Hall
In February 2021 Maya and I went to Somerset for a few days to attend a training course in artificial insemination. While the farm has used a trusted AI technician for this many times in the past, the company's withdrawal of this option has led us to take on this important part of the livestock management ourselves.
Back in June last year we started our fully in-house programme, focusing on the cows we want to breed dairy heifers from. It has been a significant challenge for both of us to learn how to do this, particularly as success is not apparent for a few weeks or more. Then of course there is a roughly 50% chance of a bull calf resulting from our efforts. After some initially disappointing results and the challenges of learning this unusual task, we then had to wait around nine months to see the results.
In the history of the Plaw Hatch herd, there have been a number of Danish Red X cows and these beautiful, gentle animals fit in well and are lovely to work with. Maya and I decided to start with increasing the numbers of these cows in the herd, and I am delighted to report that four were born recently, giving us two bulls and two heifers. These heifers will eventually join the milking herd and it will be a great pleasure to see the results of our work as these animals grow.
