Archived News

19th February 2013

We handle the suckler herd on a fairly regular basis during routine jobs such as weighing or checking ear tags.  The cattle become more familiar with a coral, cattle crush and trailer resulting in calmer livestock compared to those which aren’t handled.

Three steers, Freddie, Ian and Alfie were born on the farm in 2010 and they’ve been gentle characters and a delight to work with ever since; today was no exception as they quietly plodded onto the lorry which took them on their final journey.  Yes, it is a difficult moment as they leave, but we know they’ve had a good and happy life here and to see them walk so calmly onto the lorry is testament to that and their handling over the past couple of years.

The cattle are raised in a family or social group and it’s natural for them to move about the farm with other members of the group; this also helps to maintain a stress free departure and journey from the farm as we aim to send beef animals to the abattoir in pairs.

Ethelred had his MOT today; a clinical examination was completed which includes inspecting his sexual organs internally and externally and checking for good scrotal conformation. This part of the examination was all fine.

Not an easy thing to photograph; the scrotal circumference is being measured (above) and semen is collected (below)

Finally, semen was collected and viewed under a microscope but this showed a number of sperm swimming in circles which is not a good sign.  Bulls can have temporary degeneration of sperm caused by a number of problems such as recent lameness or high temperature.

A fresh sample of sperm will be taken in two months (he produces a fresh batch every two months) and in the meantime, Shona the vet will take a closer look at today’s sample back in the lab.