Building a dairy herd
Robin Hall
Back in July 2018 I visited Ian Russell, who is a dairy farmer near Crowborough. With me was Chris Ideler, a student from the Netherlands. As well as having a look around the farm, the purpose of the visit was to choose an MRI bull to breed with our cows. As we do not keep a dairy bull, a small number of replacement dairy heifers are conceived using AI.
Previously, we had been using a bull called “Paradiso” who had sired some good heifers in the herd. To avoid inbreeding we will periodically change the bull and seek to bring improvements into the herd with a new one. As the last British source for MRI bull semen had closed, we were preparing to import the next batch from the Netherlands.
So, the three of us sat in the blazing sunshine in Ian’s garden and looked through dozens of bull proofs to try and decide which to go for. Ian also uses MRI bulls so the plan was to import a quantity which we would then divide between the farms. Eventually we settled on De Vinkenhof “Lake” agreed to import 50 straws from this young bull.
The following autumn three heifers were born (Lucy, Rebecca, and Elma) and these finally gave birth to their first calves earlier this summer. There then followed a tricky period when these new milking cows are taught how to enter the parlour and stand quietly at milking time. Some cows take to this quite quickly, others can be a bit wild and there is kicking and general disorder which makes it a challenge to actually get any milk from them. These latest cows were tricky to work with for a while but have now settled down and have turned out to be really good milkers.
Improving the composition of the herd is a long process and is built on decisions made before I started working at Plaw Hatch. There is an element of risk involved and then it takes years before the results of decisions of this kind can actually be assessed. In this case, the daughters of “Lake” have proved to be good additions to the herd. We are now using a new MRI bull called “Bordeaux” and it will be a few years before I can report on the quality of this new sire.
