Wednesday 1 June 2016

WEEKEND FARMER!....WEEKEND PLANS.

I am excited to be going to the farm once more. What a blessing!  I have a lot on my agenda.  


Vaccination 
I have really been trying to stick to my vaccination schedule  for the year. 




The rains have caused a delay with the immunization.  As a result, I am behind schedule.  It has been 5 weeks since I last immunized my herd.  I need to to boost a few animals this time around. That is with duovax for the calves aged 6 months and more.  I am also very late with the Brucellosis inoculations.  Because of that, its costing me more money in terms of which vaccine to use. Instead of the usual cheaper S19, I must used RB51.  So it hurts alot. 

I really do not believe in mixing vaccines.  Especially the live vaccines (against anthrax, botulism, blackleg and brucella).  I can however add a multi-vitamin injection to a live vaccine on the same day.  For dewormers, I am yet to try dectomax.  And again, I can also add a multi-vitamin to that or a trace elements (Virbac multimin)if I like.  I do not even mix more than one live vaccine and immunize on the same day.  When using a booster (live) vaccination, it is safe to use that with another live vaccine e.g Duovax (booster) and Brucella RB51 can be vaccinated on one day in my herd.



I am still experimenting. Making changes and seeing what works. 

Weaning & Body Condition Scoring (BCS)
Its time to wean and kick those calves of their mothers not at 8 months. In 2014 I have made mistakes.   It took me long to wean. And I am still feeling the effects of that.  The cows were under conditioned (BCS less than 5).  As a result, the cows were not able to re-breed quick enough and have long Inter calving periods (ICPs). The calves below are ready for weaning.





Lesson learned: A cow in good condition will re-breed quicker after birth. 


























Record keeping
Ongoing! On going!  Tag the animals and record!

Until next time...

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