SHARING OPTIONS:
Many farmers would consider this shed the ultimate low-risk site for slurry gases. Paddle agitator on a small tractor, open-fronted shed on a windy day, and manure from young cattle that were fed small amounts of concentrate. Still, it was enough to floor the Jack Russell.
After agitating slurry at the beginning of October last year, I wrote about the experience and asked a few questions about slurry foam, especially regarding the likely associated dangers.
The last line of this piece read: “Unfortunately, too often it takes a drastic situation to make us farmers sit up and take notice.”
Karen McCabe writes about calving and deciding which heifers to keep for breeding. \ Philip Doyle
Calving continues here, with very few issues so far, with one of those being a false alarm which simply required a vet check as she wasn’t progressing.
Recalling our mishap which led to a dead cow and calf from a twisted uterus a year and a half ago, we called the vet to put our minds at rest and, thankfully, the calf was presenting normally with no problems.
No doubt, the handling by both myself and the vet helped her along as she calved later that night.
SHARING OPTIONS:
The older calves who endured some tough weather are now thriving well on Tommy Moyles farm at Ardfield, Clonakilty.
In my teens I wanted to be a vet. I always liked working with animals and the job really appealed to me. Fortunately for me, science got in the way.
Academically, science and maths didn’t come to me as naturally as the likes of geography or history did and, as a result, I struggled with them. A prerequisite back then, was that you needed to do two science subjects for the Leaving Cert if you wanted to do veterinary and one of those had to be chemistry.