February is a busy month at Archers, our spring calving herd starting to calve from the first to announce spring is in the way. We aim to have half of our herd of 350 cows calved by the 21st of February so it’s all hands on deck, the staff split into teams with the expecting cows needing to be checked throughout the night, the most experienced member of the team goes nocturnal. The new born calves are given two feeds of colostrum to ensure they get the best start in life before moving on to groups of 10, they are also given calf jackets to keep the chill of a February night away and make sure they are warm and comfortable. The cows are back out to grass as soon as the weather allows. We aim to graze the entire farm before April in order to stimulate this years grass growth which in wet years is no mean feat.
