Dry cow management – a critical part of the Rockhouse Farm success story

Launched at the beginning of May by Brian Hamilton, his wife Susie and family, it really is a case of the new venture going from strength to strength.

Brian explained: “Prior to this we sold all the beef produced by our small herd of suckler cows direct to the public. The meat operation, which has a strong grass fed ‘pedigree’ has grown consistently over the past five years with customers coming from as far away as Belfast and Strangford.”

He added:“Our aim has been to take a regenerative approach with regard to the development of the farm as a whole. As a consequence, we have reduced the level of fertiliser used within the business and put a clear focus on producing as much beef and milk from grazed grass as possible.”

The development of the milk vending business has required an investment in a pasteuriser plus the required bottle and milk vending machines. A rigorous health inspection and certification process was also key to getting the venture up and running.

Members of the public can source the milk they want in a state-of-the-art building, which is a converted cow byre. They can either bring their own litre bottles or source Rockhouse bottles on site at a cost of £2.50. The milk is sold at a price of £1/L.

Brian is already reporting a strong passing trade from customers with the vending operation particularly busy at the weekends.

The Rockhouse dairy herd are all British Friesians, going back over many generations.

Meeting their management needs in full at all times is a priority for the Hamilton family. Dry cow management is a case in point.

Brian takes up the story:“All the cows are drenched with Liquid Gold Dairy at drying off. This routine has been followed continuously for the past eight years. We work closely with HVS Animal Health in this regard.

“The cows subsequently calve down in tremendous shape, colostrum quality is excellent and the calves have tremendous vitality.

“Many people have commented to me about the tremendous bloom on our calves. I attribute this fully to the fact that their mothers were drenched with Liquid Gold Dairy at drying off.”

Paul Elwood, from HVS Animal Health, was a recent visitor to Rockhouse Farm. He confirmed that many autumn calving cows will be dried off over the coming weeks.

He said: “It is important to give cows the all important mineral and vitamin boost they need at that time. Liquid Gold Dairy has been developed to meet this specific need.”

With regard to first calving heifers, Paul recommends that they should be drenched with Liquid Gold Dairy four weeks out from calving.

He commented: “The eggs required by heifers to produce their second calves start to develop two weeks before they actually calve down for the first time.

“As a consequence, drenching them with Liquid Gold Dairy four weeks before calving will also act to significantly boost the quality of the eggs actively developing in the animals at that stage.”

Liquid Gold dairy contains all of the minerals and vitamins required by dairy cows and springing heifers with Zinc, Manganese and Copper made available solely in a chelated form.

The dosage rate for pre-calving cows and heifers is 100 mls per animal.

For further information, contact HVS Animal Health on (028) 4483 1700.