Calving is just around the corner and winter is the ideal time to prepare the calving and calf-rearing areas well in advance of the start of calving, according to Teagasc.

Cleaning out such houses now allows them time to dry out and this helps to break any carry over of infection from one year to the next, it states.

It advises to make sure that handling gates are working properly – there’s still time to repair them if necessary.

One of the unforeseen consequences of using higher fertility sub-index AI sires is shorter gestation lengths, according to Teagasc.

Some cows are now calving at around the 270-day mark instead of the more traditional 280 days and it states that it makes a big difference.

Teagasc states that many farmers have been ‘caught on the hop’ with the arrival of such early born calves.

Here’s a checklist of the tools of the calving trade that need to be readied before calving starts: