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On August 29th was the Dexter Field Day 2015, the day was held at Wedgetail Ridge Dexter Stud by Christine and Graham McCauley in Bullsbrook Perth, Western Australia. After weeks of preparations and organising the day had finally come! Russell and I put out the signs to direct people to the Field Day only to have put them facing the wrong direction. Luckily Christine’s daughter Emma had swapped two around for us, an early morning blunder before any of us had a coffee. Christine and Graham had set their shed up with chairs, whiteboards and tables full of snacks and drinks; it all looked wonderful and was easy to access. At quarter to nine people started arriving parking out the front and coming down to meet Albert Tan, Libby Day and Danielle Berkhout who were doing registration and name tags. Then directed down to the shed everyone was talking amongst themselves until the lecturers had arrived. Karosel Equestrian Halter’s had come down for the day to show us how she makes her halters and of course straight away she got business with everyone marvelling over the bright and colourful colours. Jack Nixon our first lecturer arrived and shortly after setting up he began his talk on Biosecurity and Agriculture Management. The shed was full and everyone was intently listening, he began talking about the basics of the NLIS tag, like the two types the NLIS ear tagging device and the bolus device. The NLIS ear tagging device is pierced into the ear and is visible. The Bolus device is tablets that are inserted down the throat and into the stomach were it stays. Jack also explained the Dexter approved identifier which is any of two of the next three; Ear tattoo, approved brand or NLIS device. Any of the two can be used on our Dexter breed to ensure that the animal is meeting the terms and conditions of the Ag department. Jack explains a lot of topics with great details stating that within two days the Ag department can isolate any outbreak of disease with the information they have on the database. Everyone was really intrigued with many saying that they learnt the most through the day from Jack Nixon. Murray Williams said that “I learnt a lot about the workings of how the system actually works After Jack Nixon finished his lecture, Chris and Russell Cleghorn headed down to Christine’s cattle yards to set up for their animal husbandry demonstration. All the visitors made it down to the yards whilst Russell got the calves separated from the mothers. Chris began with explaining about dehorning “Using the debudder is quicker and gets the pain over and done with quickly, it also ensures that all the horn bud is removed”. He demonstrated on the three calves how to get the whole bud out quickly and without stressing the calf. “The one thing about horns is that the cattle that have them, know how to use them. So it is better to remove them whilst calves otherwise there will be too much stress put on the older cattle.” When they dehorning was finished we sprayed it with anti-septic certigine, and ensured people that the horn blood will bleed a little and its nothing to worry about. We ear tagged the calves with NLIS device ear tag, following up on Jack Nixon’s speech. The ear tag should go towards the back of the ear on the ridge in the middle. If an animal that wasn’t born on your property loses the white NLIS tag, you are to replace it with an orange NLIS tag. As saying that we re-tagged Billabong Daphne with an orange NLIS device ear tag, she was a great older cow demonstration as she was easy to keep calm because she loves her food! At the end we gave all the little calves a 5 in 1 vaccination which was the easiest task, you pinch a little bit of skin on their neck and jab the needle in and squeeze. After we finished the demonstrations Chris Cleghorn explained the uses of other tools he had. Like bigger dehorning gear, castration, ear tagging and nose ring methods. Everyone loved the demonstrations because they had hands on experience and who doesn’t love seeing little calves! Just as we finished up the rain came and pummelled down for the next 30 minutes, Russell and I got our two junior bulls out of the trailer and tied them up in the yards ready for Quentin Hooper’s show prep demonstration. The rain kept coming so it was a good time to serve lunch, Christine and her daughter Alex made a magnificent variety of beef from slow cooked pulled beef to roast beef and of course sausages. It was all perfectly cooked and tasted divine! Of course all the meat was Dexter meat with the topside and brisket donated by Christine and Graham McCauley and the sausages donated by Chris and Russel Cleghorn. Over the lunch break everyone was making halter orders and chatting away, we sold a fair amount of raffle tickets over the lunch break but once the rain stopped Murray Williams started his Lecture on cattle structure. Murray Williams had a couple of cattle skeletons set up, along with pictures and diagrams of cattle and started talking about the pelvic structure. ”The animal is built around the pelvis”, he explained as he moved the pelvis on the skeleton and showed us the correct way it should sit to ensure safe birthing and good body structure. When looking at cattle you would want; Bones in proportion, length in pelvis, width in pelvis and depth in pelvis. “Skin, fat and meat are the most functional thing on an animal’s body, but the function of muscle is to move bone so it follows that different bone structure will produce a different muscle pattern– Murray Williams He explained that when animals are skin and bones that is when you learn the most about them because you can see their bones structure and the way they move around. In the head of the cattle you would want length, 3/8 of the head above the eyes and 5/8 of the head under the eyes. Murray explained everything is great details and used images and diagrams to show what he meant. Murray said he would prefer big ears and nostrils, width of muzzle, good jaw to get food in and a little squareness in the jaw. Murray went through every part of a cow and every part of the bull explaining the good qualities, how you can improve things and how they all function correctly. When explaining the udder he said that to get good suspension underneath the udder the thurl should be more forward. You need good teats for the calf to get their mouth around, no bigger than a finger. Murray started explaining about the bull’s testicles saying that the testicles should be slightly tipped back, with a decent sized epididymis. Semen is produced in the testicles but matured and stored in the epididymis. “No good having a lot of money if you don’t have a bank to put it in”, Murray quoted. “Females should be feminine and Males should be Masculine” – Murray Williams To wrap things up Murray went over everything he said and said that for good structure your animal needs to walk smoothly and freely and that to keep udders correct use a bull whose rudimentary teats are wide apart and on the underline (not the scrotum) and preferably from a cow that has a good udder or if his father’s mother has a good udder as well. " By the end of Murray’s Lecture the rained had calmed, after a couple of questions we all headed outside on the turf and began Quentin Hooper’s demonstration on Show Etiquette. Russell and I grabbed our two junior bulls and our foot canes and tried our best to stand them up correctly. Quentin started with explaining the basics of standing your animal up naturally without stretching the head to far forwards. The three important things in the show ring to remember are; you’re animal, the judge and the crowd around you. Make sure you know your animal and how the animal will react. At show or any other events there will always be children, balloons popping and loud noises coming from every direction. Whilst in the ring ensure the safety of your animal before keeping an eagle eye on the judge. Also remember that nervousness follows through the handler to the handler. When presenting your animals try to put your animal on the highest point of the ring that allows elevation of the animals. When pulling your animal to stand up, allow natural positioning rather than trying to push and pull them into position. Remember also give your animal a scratch to calm down and relax while standing. Always remember to keep space for the animals and other competitors, allow enough room between you and the person in front and the person behind. Good karma in the show ring is being considerate of your fellow exhibitors. Quentin went on to explain holding the lead rope and nose ropes, saying that the nose clip is an emergency break not the controller. There are two types of rope holds the right hand hold which is all ropes in the leading hand whilst standing the animal up and double hand hold which is ropes in both hands whilst walking. Choose the hold you’re most comfortable with and know your animal’s reaction to that hold. When showing a cow and calf, the handler leading the calf should always remember to not block the calf from the judge or the cow. If the cow is stressed or not walking, pull the calf into the cow’s sight to calm her down and make the experience in the ring smoother. Whilst Quentin was explaining everything myself and Russell were doing laps of the “ring” and standing our animals up the way he wanted. Until my young bull Maurice decided it was time for a nap. Down he went and curled up in the sun, luckily this was fortunate as Quentin explained what to do when this happens in the ring. “There showed always be a steward in the ring who will come up and help the animal up or in any other circumstances the judge will come up and give the animal a little nudge until his up and walking again.” To end the talk Quentin told everyone a couple of extra tips like always walking smoothly with your animal so not to distract the judge away from the animal or distract the animal itself. When in the ring make sure you smile as it will make you, the judge and also the crowd all happy to be there showing cattle. He also quoted “that there are no losers in the show ring unless you act like it”! Up next was Russell Cleghorn doing a halter making demonstration, we sold 7 –10 halters and Russell began teaching everyone how to create one. After one or two mistakes and help from other members everyone had a brand new halter to test out on their cattle at home! Shortly after we began the Raffle Draw, Christine was handing out Prizes and Graham reading out tickets. The winners were: Quentin Hooper – Bunnings Voucher Murray Williams – White Towel Set Stephen Ellis – Karosel Equestrian free halter Rachel Ellis – Hamper Emma Lewis – Dexter Meat (donated by Glenwarlock Dexter’s) Megan Feddema – Halter and wine Annex Littleton – Hamper and halter Brett Lunns – Champagne Glasses Colin Howell – Beanie and dental hygiene kit The day ended on a big high and everyone was happy and satisfied with the day. As everyone was leaving I asked a few questions for feedback with couple Megan and Nick saying they learnt everything new and the day was extremely informative and now have a good run down on how to start our own Dexter farm. Rachel Eliss said they learnt absolutely loads and Jack Nixon was very helpful as we have bought two new cows and calves for our property. They agreed that they would come 100% next year for another great day! Matthew and Deborah Lunn of Gidgegannup Little Acres said they learnt an efficient way of dehorning and that making halter was a great difficult but fun task. Matthew was very interested in becoming a member of DCAI. Brett McGuiness and Annie Hayes have a cow and calf already and found the de-horning demonstration great; also seeing a crush in action was a great learning experience! They explained that the NLIS information was most informative and that they would definitely come again! Murray Williams said that he would be happy to come again to lecture but even happier to come down to visit! He said it was a good refresher by Russell Cleghorn on halter making. We would like to thank all the lecturers for coming down and giving everyone great knowledge and learning experiences. Everyone learnt something new and I myself learnt many things that I've always been curious about. We hope you had an amazing day as well! Also most of all a great big thankyou to Christine and Graham McCauley for throwing a great field day, the set up of the shed and yards was brilliant and the whole day went so smoothly with all of your fantastic help! A big thank you to your daughters Alex and Emma for cooking such amazing food and helping with setting up! You were all such fantastic hosts! Lastly a big thank you to everyone who came down for the day without you guys the day wouldn't have been such a great success! It was great seeing some familiar faces plus some new faces and we hope to see you all again next year for another great Dexter Field Day! |
AuthorChelsea and Russell Cleghorn. Archives
September 2015
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