Preparation for mating has begun....

With calving nearly over the next job we are preparing for is mating and getting the cows ready for becoming mums and having calves next year. I'm really excited and wanting to learn as much as possible about this process.

The preparation started over a month ago when we started to tail paint all the cows with a bright pink paint that had had calves during August.

There are now a mixture of different coloured cow tails and I am learning a new colour coded system, just like the one I initially learnt when I first arrived (about showing the difference between new mums, three teeted cows etc). We now have pink, yellow and blue tails and from a funny fashion minded person like myself, it makes me feel as though the cows are all accessorising for summer.

The pink as I have already mentioned shows the cows that calved during August. The yellow is to show all the cows that calved during September and the blue paint it to show the cows that have had their first cycle (for example the pink cows would come on heat and will be mounted by another cow in the herd, therefore removing some of the paint from their tail head, which shows us they have cycled so they will then have their tail head painted blue).

A process called Metro checking has also been carried out. This process has happened twice and it's carried out by a local vet who inserts and quickly removes a thin, long, metal stick like device that checks if the cows have cleansed properly after giving birth. If puss gets pulled out in this process then the cows will be treated to clean up any infection there may be. This process also gives William and Janice the opportunity to check the tail paint to see if cows have cycled or to add extra paint if required. Previous to the metro checks William and Janice have been adding a small amount of iodine to the water tank system around the farm, as the iodine helps the cows to cleanse.

The cows have all been given a dose of vitamin B12 to keep their energy levels up and the keep them healthy during the mating process. Janice has informed me that this will happen again later in the cows pregnancy to keep their energy levels up while they are carrying their calves.

The only process that remains, alongside constantly checking the tail paints, is to CIDR (Controlled Internal Drug Realease) the cows. This is only carried out on the cows that have not shown signs of cycling yet (basically the pink tailed cows that remain at present). Cows usually have their first cycle roughly 55days after giving birth, and will keep cycling every 18days until the become pregnant again. If a cow shows that she hasn't cycled they get CIDR'd. This CIDR will help the cow come on heat. This CIDR process ideally needs to take place before the mating starts so that the cows have all started cycling at roughly the same time and therefore will all be mated at the same time so that there are no breaks in the next calving season.

The mating process is due to start from the 1st November. The bulls semen which will be used would have already been selected by Mike and Marie and the technician who carries out the AB (artificial breeding) or AI (artificial insemination) as I know it by, will have a large selection of bull semen to choose from.

H x