Boram Herd Visit April 2009
On 5th April 2009 Robert and Alison Kirk hosted the Midland Dexter Group's AGM at Barton on the Heath Village Hall and after a lunch provided by the members invited the group to view the Boram Herd, which were in spacious buildings on the edge of a quiet Cotswold village. Calving was in progress - 17 calves in 10 days. For those members who were present when Boram Red Marigold was in the initial stages of calving, she had a red heifer calf - mother and daughter both doing well. Boram Lady Rose (12 years) thoroughly enjoyed the attention of younger members and stood there all afternoon munching haylage.
Due to high demand for a regular monthly supply to pub / restaurants, it meant they had to start slaughtering their Dexters at an earlier age and had been trying to find a way of increasing the weight without introducing concentrates. They had looked hard at their herd management andÊtook the opportunity when they were offered an extra 23 acres of ex set-aside land last year to drill 'Milvus' red clover ley mixture, incorporating hybrid and perennial ryegrasses, plus vetches sown for the first year to bulk up the silage. The results of using this silage on the beef fatteners and young stock was evident. Rob and Alison produced a weight monitoring chart showing the comparison of Dexters slaughtered since mid January this year with those in 2008. They have achieved good weights at an average age of 23.09 months, whereas previously they were getting similar, if not slightly less in some cases, at an average age of 27.7 months.
Rob and Alison stressed that all other stock are fed solely on haylage / silage produced from established grassland, with very little fertiliser being used.
Members were shown the red clover / ryegrass leys which looked really green and in good heart. Rob hopes to begin silaging during mid May to improve quality even further over the first crop cut in 2008.
Rob and Alison have invited all group members to join them on Sunday 7 June for a follow-up herd visit to see the progress of cows and calves out at grass.
Thank you Rob and Alison for your hospitality and giving up your time to show us your lovely cattle, we all agreed that the Boram herd looked well and very uniform.
Due to high demand for a regular monthly supply to pub / restaurants, it meant they had to start slaughtering their Dexters at an earlier age and had been trying to find a way of increasing the weight without introducing concentrates. They had looked hard at their herd management andÊtook the opportunity when they were offered an extra 23 acres of ex set-aside land last year to drill 'Milvus' red clover ley mixture, incorporating hybrid and perennial ryegrasses, plus vetches sown for the first year to bulk up the silage. The results of using this silage on the beef fatteners and young stock was evident. Rob and Alison produced a weight monitoring chart showing the comparison of Dexters slaughtered since mid January this year with those in 2008. They have achieved good weights at an average age of 23.09 months, whereas previously they were getting similar, if not slightly less in some cases, at an average age of 27.7 months.
Rob and Alison stressed that all other stock are fed solely on haylage / silage produced from established grassland, with very little fertiliser being used.
Members were shown the red clover / ryegrass leys which looked really green and in good heart. Rob hopes to begin silaging during mid May to improve quality even further over the first crop cut in 2008.
Rob and Alison have invited all group members to join them on Sunday 7 June for a follow-up herd visit to see the progress of cows and calves out at grass.
Thank you Rob and Alison for your hospitality and giving up your time to show us your lovely cattle, we all agreed that the Boram herd looked well and very uniform.
