Double celebration for our Whitebred Shorthorn herd
Following a visit from the veterinary surgeon this morning we were able to confirm we have no TB in our newly formed herd of Whitebred Shorthorn cows and also following a pregnancy test all 3 of our girls were found to be in-calf.
We have had a magnificent pure Belted Galloway bull belonging to a friend in Nidderdale running with the herd for the last couple of months and were hoping that all the girls would be served and become in-calf. To our great relief the threesome Tasha, April and Annie are all in-calf. The gestation (length of pregnancy) in cows is 284 days so, as well as our daughter’s wedding at Nethergill next June we shall also be expecting some new born calves!
Ultrasound scan of Tascha's foetus. The top right hand part of the photograph shows the developing foetus.
Brian the 3 month old calf was also clear in his TB test.
TB is a constant worry to all cattle owners. The debate about what, if any animal carries TB and how to control it, continues countrywide and TB continues to spread across the country. The latest and nearest outbreak was in Huddersfield at the beginning of October. It was a great relief to find we did not have any TB in our small herd. In order to test for this disease the vet had to inject a small amount of tuberculin into the skin of the animal. In most cattle infected this will cause the animal's immune system to react to the tuberculin and cause a localised allergic reaction (swelling) of the skin a few days after the injection.
