Late Feb – 1st week March | | - Weaning (pre rut)
- Selenuim, Copper, Iodine administered at this time (property dependant)
- Blood sample MA hinds at this time to monitor for Leptospirosis
- Treat light hinds
- First calvers should be mated separately
- Hinds should have a condition score of >3 to not impact on cycling dates. Hinds with BCS < 3 should be given a drench
| |
1st week of March | | - Stag joining
- Mating mob allocation
- Stags should be observed showing normal rutting behaviour.
- Back-up essential where single-sire used.
- Farmer observation determines action in multi-sire situation
| |
1st week of April | 1 cycle before end of mating | Back-up Stag joined or dominant stag removed (multi sire) | |
Last week of April | 7-8 weeks (after 3 oestrus cycles) | Stag out | A judgement call, based on condition, must be made at this time as to whether the stags need a drench (A must-do for Wapiti sires) |
Late May/early Jun | | - Scanning
- Copper treatment (property dependent)
- Identify early conception, late, and dry hinds.
- Use dry hinds to test for copper & selenium status at the works
| |
Aug/Sep onwards | | - separate management of early and late calving mobs
- Feed management
| Calving date can be brought forward by feeding hinds well to Improving their condition |
Sep/Oct | 3 weeks pre-calving | - Scan or udder test
- Put into calving mobs
- If you have concerns about foetal loss, do a second scan or udder test pre set-stocking
- Mobbing at this time allows social hierarchy 'establishment before calving'
| |
Oct/Nov | | Set Stocking | - First calvers need to be mobbed separately
- Later calving mob can be set stocked 1 month later
|
Dec/Jan | fawns > 2 weeks old | Rotation | - Aim to optimise feed quality
- Start once calves at least 2 weeks old
- Rotate early calving mobs from mid-December
|
Late Jan/ early Feb | | - Drench and NAIT tag calves
- Feed Management
- If there is a parasite problem this is the earliest date to think about drenching especially for lungworm
- Avoid using pour-ons: use a combination Mectin (ML) & White (BZ) component
- Aim to optimise feed quality for hinds and calves
| |
Mar | First calved mob of 3 month old weaners | | - Yersinia 0 2 shots (4 -6 weeks apart)
- Lepto ac (property dependent)
|
Apr | Late born calves |