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Tadgh Crowley
My first expoasure to the Salers breed was when I visited the stand at the National ploughing Championships in the mid- 90's. My interest was immediately aroused by their apparent abilty to calve with ease and their good reputation as a suckler dam.
At that stage, I kept a herd of 90 Spring calving sucklers, down on the south coast in Co. Waterford. There was a mixture of Simmental and Angus crosses, with a few Limousin thrown in for good measure. I had two Charolais bulls which I considered as good finishing cross. I was producing weanlngs for sale in earl;y November. The bulls were making great money but the heifers were giving a poor return and added to this, was the problem that they were unsuitable for replacements.
The calving season was becoming a nightmare- keeping losses to a minimum, demanded and awful lot of vigilance. A big percentage of the herd (up to 35%) needed assistance...many nights of broken sleep!! Around this time also, in the year 1994 to 1997 I became the proud father of a daughter and two sons. Such a hectic lifestyle left both Mum and Dad totally wrecked and feeling very frayed at the edges! One more problem, which reared its ugly head quiet regularly on the farm was photsynthesization on animals with white pigmentation which led to severe burns.
An accumulation of these factors, sent me searching for an alternatyive breed to cross with, which would the characteristics to ease these problems......entrez LA SALERS.
In April 2000, I purchased the first Salers bull, Wicklow Max, from Gertie and James Mason at Ballymerrigan, to cover 19 heifers. These duly gave birth to 19 live calves all on their own! I realised that I was on to a winner! There were also 7 or 8 cows served by Max that season with similar results. The second Salers bull, Wicklow Bismarck arrived in Ballydwan for Spring 2002.
Some of the finest stock ever produced on the farm were sold to Kepak, Clonee in early Nov 2002. They were a batch of Saler bulls e.g.
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D.O.B
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23/01/02
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18/02/02
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Weight
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475 kg
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470 kg
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Sold
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€895
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€888
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6 weanling heifers were sold at a special replacement heifer sale at Tullow Mart in Co. Carlow. They were born in early February, and averaged 348 kg and made €584. This performance surpassed my expectations and this year all the calves born, are by the two Salers bulls.
The first Salers X heifers calved this Spring and i am reaping the benefits, namely ease of calving, lively and healthy calves and literally no veterinary bills!! A farming neighbour pops in occasionally and asks " How are those 'sailors' going for you?" I don't even need to answer, he can see for himself!!
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