At Te Mania Angus all calves are weighed and tagged with an NLIS tag and stud tag on the day they are born. They are weighed again at weaning and at 400 days, when they are ultrasound scanned for marbling, fat cover and eye muscle area. Testicle measurements are taken on the bull calves. Heifers are weighed again at 600 days and all this data is submitted to Breedplan.
At weaning, the calves stay in the yards for two days with silage. We spend time walking amongst them and making them feel secure and used to people. The calves only stay in the yards for two days as they have already been through the yards six times with the artificial insemination programme, so they have some yard training already.
After two days, we put the calves on summer crops to ensure they are meeting their energy and protein requirements.
