August 2017 NZHCS Newsletter

New Zealand Highland Cattle Society Winter Newsletter BREEDING - One eye on the future www.highlandcattle.org.nz August 2017

President’s Report It is my pleasure to welcome Alison Wilson, Cheryl Evans and Ginni Alexander to Council.

Aaron Wilson-Jones and Martin McLeod have been elected as co-vice Presidents and I look forward to working with them. Welcome home to our new Secretary, Claire Yeoman, home from holiday. A new year begins with a full quota of management “staff” and Councillors.

Council members from the past few years will miss Judy Smyth who has been vice President over the past year, and who I have worked with closely. Judy has excellent perspective on issues and a passion for the Highland breed. Thank you, Judy, for all your work behind the scenes.

We are continuing with the Newsletters and will re-evaluate them after the next issue. Your feedback would be appreciated to assist in our decision.

The 2016/2017 Show season closed with the AGM and North Island Winter Show. There were some lovely cattle on show, and being held during the Clevedon Markets made for excellent exposure of our cattle and an appreciative audience. Our thanks go to all participants and our Judges, Willie Christie and Alison Wilson.

Congratulations to Alison for her first stint as an Associate Judge.

The NHR was wound up voluntarily on 30 June this year, and the Registrar has contacted the members with information in the hope we can be of assistance to them.

The NZHCS has a healthy bank account at present and Council will be looking at ways the Highland Cattle breed can be supported and promoted across the country. Expressions of interest are invited for ways of doing this for Council consideration.

An area of concern centres around the low number of Herd Returns received by the Registrar. Without a timely Herd Return, each animal that is registered will need to be DNA’d at the added cost to the breeder and extra work required by the Registrar. If you have still to lodge your Herd Return, or if you need help / advice in completing it, please contact the Registrar or a Councillor.

All the best for a successful calving and relatively easy finish to the winter farming.

Doug Sheldon

Expressions of Interest—Bull Training day

28th October 2017 Future bull assessors / buyers Ardargie Fold, Parish Line Road, Clevedon 1/2 day training, learning, sharing knowledge, Or just come along for a cuppa !

Contact Martin to express an interest 027 445-6050 / 09 292-4120

or martin.mclead@portacom.co.nz North Island Highland Cattle Winter Show :

Supreme Champion -Eadon Raita and Doug Sheldon

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NEW ZEALAND HIGHLAND CATTLE SOCIETY WINTER SHOW 2017 Cow 3 years and over Tiki of Te Mata Hills Eadon Paige Heifer 2 years Bess of Ardargie Chinchilla of Te Mata Hills Senior Female Champion: Tiki of Te Mata Hills

Yearling Heifer Eadon Raita Eadon Fiona Girl Cindy of Te Mata Hills Heifer Calf Eadon Magdalene Eadon Sassy Dubh Dorothy of Ardargie Junior Female Champion : Eadon Raita

Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Doug and Jenny Sheldon Ginni Alexander Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson

Doug and Jenny Sheldon Doug and Jenny Sheldon Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Doug and Jenny Sheldon Doug and Jenny Sheldon Ginni Alexander

OVERALL FEMALE CHAMPION : EADON RAITA RESERVE : TIKI OF TE MATA HILLS CALF – GRADE C, B, A, OR STEER Dougal of Ardargie Bambam of Te Mata Hills

Ginni Alexander Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson

CHAMPION C, B, A, OR STEER : DOUGAL OF ARDARGIE Bull Calf Eadon Douglas Dannyboy of Northbrook Rosso of Te Mata Hills CHAMPION BULL: EADON DOUGLAS RESERVE: DANNYBOY OF NORTHBROOK

RESERVE: BAMBAM OF TE MATA HILLS

Doug and Jenny Sheldon Ginni Alexander Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson

Breeders Group of Three – any age or sex Te Mata Hills Entry Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Eadon Entry Doug and Jenny Sheldon Best Bums – two animals, any age, grade or sex, owned by same fold Te Mata Hills Entry Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Eadon Entry Doug and Jenny Sheldon Ardargie Entry Ginni Alexander

BEST HIGHLAND OF THE SHOW: EADON RAITA

AWARDS Champion Female (NZHCS Cup) Champion Bull (NZHCS Cup) Champion C, B, A or steer (NZHCS Cup) Best Highland of Show (Ferguson Cup) Most Successful Exhibitor (NZHCS Trophy) don Most Successful Exhibitor 1-3 entries (NZHCS Trophy) Effort and Enthusiasm Award (Braco Trophy) Counties Manukau Highland Cattle Club Cup (Most successful Club exhibitor)

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Eadon Raita Eadon Douglas Dougal of Ardargie Eadon Raita Doug and Jenny ShelNot awarded Alison Wilson Te Mata Hills Fold

ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION FEATURE

GENETIC ENTERPRISES A PROUD NEW ZEALAND FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS

There are many advantages in having an Al (artificial insemination) programme in any cattle breeding situa-

tion. Purchasing a bull for small herds can be an expensive exercise.

GENETIC ENTERPRISES STRAW DONATION

There are animal health issues to consider such as TB, BVD to name a couple. There are paddocking requirement s to consider as you need to keep bulls away from neighbour's cattle and your own heifers and then

there is the cost of purchasing a breeding sire, insurance and freight.

Genetic Enterprises has kindly donated some straws to the NZHCS. The monies raised will help subsidise the cost of this newsletter.

Details are on the back page of the newsletter, how ever they are to be auctioned on TradeMe.

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INBREEDING

the process usual requires ruthless culling.

The order of c1oseness is:1.

2.

4.

child.

First cousins.

"We have been conditioned by moral attitudes to reject incestuous breeding methods, but the danger that we should be more concerned to avoid is the increase in homozygosity resulting .from inbreeding, which reduces genetics variability and so leads to genetic wastage. It is essential to maintain each breed in sufficient numbers to minimise the risk of genetic wastage and genetic drift.� (Dr L Alderson in the Ark 1992..)

"If crossing inbred lines use an inbred male 011 a female out of crossed inbred lines rather than vice versa; a male inbred for good qualities will breed better than be looks, whereas an outbred male is less likely to breed as well as his looks suggest."" (Sir J Hammond in Hammond’s Farm Animals) This is worth considering when looking at bulls in the competitive show ring as opposed to "working bulls'. It is a curious circumstance that no meritorious award assessment of importance both to the wholesome maintenance of the breed standards and to the competitive maintenance of the breed's economic value unless they are also prepared, trained, and entered for the showring circuit.

ARTIFICIAL INSEMlNATION In folds where Artificial Insemination (AJ) is used and a cow or heifer remains barren the first complaint is often made against the quality of the semen. The Scottish Milk Marketing Board is responsible for overseeing the production and preparation of straws of semen for commercial They thoroughly check all abnormalities which might reduce fertility potential before accepting any bull for their supply. They can readily check how long sperm can live and frankly acknowledge that of the 20 to 30 million sperms allocated per straw (the saleable unit of sperms) at the start of the procedure up to 1/3 can die in the freezing process, and up to 1/3 can die in the thawing out process. But that still leaves up to 7 million live sperms per conception when only l sperm is necessary to do the job. In view of the fact that straws prepared elsewhere in Europe allocate only 5 million sperms at the start of the procedure and not as in Scotland 20 to 30 millions the complaint that poor conception rates are due to too-diluted straws is unreasonable.

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frozen on your behalf then these will be stored at the collection centre until required or can be sold on your behalf

I. Maiden heifers preferably of a dairy or dairy cross breed.

MOET, FOT, ET Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer. Fertilized Ovum Transfer, Embryo Transfer. To take advantage of an exceptionally good cow she can be injected to release many eggs instead of just one. A1 is conducted a number of times within 24 hours to fertilize many of her eggs. The fertilized eggs (embryos) are collected (flushed) from the donor cow and transplanted into the uterus of the foster mother which has been prepared by injection to cycle correctly to be ready to receive the embryo. In the I970’s "from an average of 15 super-ovulated eggs collected per Cattle of the World 1978) cattle mainly in: 1.

2.

multiplying recently imported breeds,

3.

producing larger numbers of offspring from individual animals of high value.

2. Young healthy cows up to approximately 6 years of age, which have bred regularly and have had no recent problems such as retained afterbirth discharges etc.

Our results indicate that heifers of the Ayrshire breed due to internal height of their pelvis oich leads to easy calving, have proved to be particularly successful recipients. They are also excellent mothers.

Embryo Transfer: is an extremely valuable and profitable tool for you to use in improving your herd in the correct way if carried out by an experienced team.

Infertile cows can still give good results occasionally if their problems can be resolved, as we have proved with certain animals with infections, blocked or partially blocked oviducts and certain hormonal conditions, but if the family as a whole, has a history of infertility, then the situation should be carefully considered before use for embryo transfer.

1

still in the prime of her breeding life, for example, on average below 10 years of age from a family which has a consistent history of longevity and regular breeding history. Below 8 years of age perform best. Those between 8 and 10 usually are satisfactory animals over 10 years of age decline steeply in their ability to respond.

her genital tract.

3. Is in good bodily condition and is as near as possible either 4. Has excellent production and conformation characteristics.

Freezing of Embryos: Not all embryos we collect will be capable of storage in liquid nitrogen. The methods used depend on the stage of embryo development at collection.

Some cows produce more suitable embryos for this purpose embryos to date and our experience dictates a loss of 10% at thawing and a pregnancy rate of 60%, of those surviving. However, careful selection of recipients can improve to over 70% as mentioned above. If embryos are

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GENETIC ENTERPRISES A PROUD NEW ZEALAND FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS

Timeline for an AI mating program

The Timeline

With small herds of cattle a FTM (fixed time mating) is likely to be the best and easiest mating program.

Fixed time is about having all your females to be mated synchronized to come into estrus (heat) on the same day.

There are significant costs involved in a FTM program as opposed to individually mating when the individual cow comes into estrus (heat) naturally. These costs will need to be discussed with your local Veterinarian.

1.

Establish the mating date for your herd. This may be determined by when you wish to have the cows calve.

2.

Find and engage an AI Technician to carry out the physical aspect of the insemination process. Some vets will carry out the insemination, however it is likely you will need to find a qualified technician through contact with local dairy farmers should you live close to them, or through the Genetic companies like Genetic Enterprises, CRV Ambreed or LIC. You will need to find out from the technician whether the semen order is to be delivered by the Genetics semen supplier to you the client in to your own AI nitrogen tank if you have one , or to a loan tank loaned to you, or to the appointed AI Technicians own tank.

An individual cow mating where the cows may come into estrus on different days will require the AI (Artificial Insemination) technician visiting the farm over a number of days for which he/she will charge travel along with the insemination fee. An insemination charge will vary from approximately $4.50 per cow to $25.00 per cow. The lower price reflects the technician carrying out many inseminations on a given day and will likely return over further days to continue inseminations as cows come into heat. The top end of pricing reflects perhaps a visit for may be one or two cows only.

Estrus (heat) detection is critical to determining when the cow is ready to mate. There are aids available to purchase to help with this. Some aids are better than others. Genetic Enterprises market one of the better aids.

Heat detection can be discussed with your Vet or with your AI Technician.

Below I have set out a Timeline guide. This timeline may vary depending on you, your local vet’s advice and or your local AI Technicians advice and availability of a technician.

Ensure cattle yards and vet race are in good repair and are ready for the confirmed mating day.

3.

Select the bulls you require and order the semen with a delivery date and place of delivery to be confirmed. Delivery needs to be made at least one week prior to the confirmed mating date.

4. Fixed time mating means that females to be inseminated will be synchronised. Mating will take place over one or two day period. This may be an option for individual herds or it may not.

5. A synchronized program will need to be discussed with your vet as veterinarians are the only people that can carry out this program. A day and time will need to be established with the vet to carry out the program which will involve the vet attending the farm and inserting ciders. Coordination and communication with the technician and Genetics Company now needs to take place so that all are clear on dates and actions required.

6.

Prepare a costing of all costs associated with the program. i.e Semen costs delivered , Technician fee, Vet fees and associated synchronised program costs

Investing in the future

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KUMEU A&P SHOW – 12 MARCH 2017

MORRINSVILLE A & P SHOW – 4 MARCH 2017

Heifer Calf Golden Dawn of Northbrook - Alison Wilson & Glenda Stimpson Yearling Heifer Cindy of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Cerussite of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson JUNIOR FEMALE CHAMPION: Cindy of Te Mata Hills – Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson RESERVE: Golden Dawn of Northbrook - Alison Wilson & Glenda Stimpson

Junior Heifer Calf Golden Dawn of Northbrook – Alison Wilson and Glenda Stimpson Yearling Heifer Cindy of Te Mata Hills – Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Cerussite of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson JUNIOR FEMALE CHAMPION: Cindy of Te Mata Hills – Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson RESERVE: Golden Dawn of Northbrook - Alison Wilson & Glenda Stimpson

Heifer 2 years Chinchilla of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Cow with Natural Progeny at Foot – 3 yrs and over Tiki of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Tzarina of Northbook - Alison Wilson & Glenda Stimpson Tiree of Claddagh – Debbie and George Clarke SENIOR FEMALE CHAMPION Tiki of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson RESERVE: Chinchilla of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson

Heifer 2 years Chinchilla of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Cow with Natural Progeny at Foot – 3 yrs and over Tiki of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Tzarina of Northbook - Alison Wilson & Glenda Stimpson CHAMPION FEMALE : Tiki of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson RESERVE: Chinchilla of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson

Bull Calf Rosso of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Patu of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Dannyboy of Northbrook - Alison Wilson & Glenda Stimpson Platinum of Claddagh – Debbie and George Clarke CHAMPION BULL: Rosso of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine RESERVE: Patu of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine

SUPREME GRAND HIGHLAND -

Cindy of Te Mata Hills – Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson

Bull Calf Patu of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Dannyboy of Northbrook - Alison Wilson & Glenda Stimpson CHAMPION BULL: Patu of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Reserve: Dannyboy of Northbrook - Alison Wilson & Glenda Stimpson Best two yearlings, either sex Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Group – 1 bull and 2 females - any age Te Mata Hills Entry Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson Northbrook Entry A Wilson & G Stimpson

COMMENTARY SUPREME CHAMPION HIGHLAND A few hardy souls braved the weather and were not disapTiki of Te Mata Hills - Martin McLeod and Catherine Atkinson pointed. It bucketed down, however the show must go on and everyone moved indoors. With the weather improving, the Kumeu Beef Challenge was held outdoors, with Te Mata Hills Fold taking third place in an impressive field of very large beef cattle. Congratulation, Martin and Catherine!

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HIGHLAND CATTLE SEMEN STRAWS FLEUR OF WINDSWORTH UKDWW8631185 (F) RUSHMORE BRACKEN

UKGRC907582 (F) WALLACE OF ACHNACLOICH UKNEA867198 (F) _______________________________________________________________ RIOGHAIL OF BALMORAL

CAMPBELL OG OF KILLARA

QUEENS BALMORAL FOLD

BEAN CLUASAG OF MAPLE VIEW

NO PHOTO AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE FROM Trademe SEARCH UNDER HIGHLAND CATTLE SEMEN STRAWS

Island of Mull in Scotland

By Mike and Claire Yeoman

Ginni in action

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