Hydeaway Calf Hotel (Heifer Raising)

Hydeaway Farm started raising heifers in September 2009. Currently we are raising stud Friesland heifers for Brett Gordon of Arcadia Farming.

How it Works

Once a month we receive a batch of about twenty heifers, newly weaned off milk and ready to be fed only hay and concentrates. For the first month they live in groups of ten; and then up until they are twenty-two months old and two months from calving, they live in batches of twenty according to age and weight.

Every month they are weighed, measured, and treated for external parasites. They are also given any inoculants or deworming remedies they require. Every day, twice a day, they are fed a carefully chosen formula of concentrates individually; once a day either Dinki or Jon supervises the feeding. They are fed in their individual bowls to pick up problems quickly and eliminate competition. If a sick animal is noticed, she is immediately treated according to her disease.

The calves are also fed as much eragrostis hay as they will eat.

When they have reached the required weight (350kg for Holsteins), usually at the age of twelve to fifteen months, the calves are artificially inseminated with the semen of their owner's choice.

The heifers live in a feedlot system, a series of grassy paddocks of moderate size, where they have enough space to frolic as calves are meant to frolic. They do not go out to graze, however, due to the size of the farm. We try to keep their handling as stress-free and relaxed as possible. We are very careful to keep the records up to date.

We are hoping to expand the heifer raising business, but we only raise dairy heifers.

Currently, we also take some of the very best heifers to shows for their owners. In our first year of showing, at a large and very prestigious show that the judge called the highest quality Holstein show he had ever judged, two of the heifers won third and fifth respectively. This is our second year and we hope to do Lovett Holsteins proud!

Ready to go: our 2012 heifer two days before the show

Our Heifers

It took us some time to get used to the sheer size and wild personalities of the Holsteins, but before long, we had fallen head over heels in love with them, too. We love them all, but some are just special, with quirks and personalities that stand out a mile. Jentle aspired to be the cow who jumped over the moon, but was as gentle as a dog with us; Just Nuisance earned her name, fair and square; the Duchess - pictured above - always walks slowly and calmly with her head high, knowing her superiority over us mere humans; sweet little Dottie dwindled to a skeleton during her illness, but several months in the garden transformed her into a sleek, fat heifer with an identity crisis (she thought she was a large spotty dog); Jumping Jess jumped over anything in her path; Raisin, Quilla, and Quiver could never be persuaded to stay in their paddocks for more than twenty seconds at a time; the list goes on, like a hall of fame for cowkind. So much so that we eventually found a tag pen and wrote the names of our favourites all over one wall of the shed, right next to the crush, where cattle dealers, farriers, vets, and any other important people can ask about it and then look at us in a funny way.

Ordinary, my friend, is just another word for boring.