Easy calving Cowden Vesuvius is sought after by dairymen

 “My primary concern is the cow, and with the Vesuvius bull we have had no problems with calving….it takes the worry out of watching calving cows!”

Andrew and Mavis Woodford farm their 80 cow Holstein herd in Bootle West Cumbria. They are carefully expanding their 80 cow unit and place great emphasis on ensuring their herd is performing at peak production. With 75% of the cows in calf to beef bulls, it is no surprise that their primary concern is easy, problem free calving that allows the cows to hit full production as soon as possible. In recent years Andrew has experimented with Belgian Blue’s and limousin's but has found that using the Belgian Blue sire Cowden Vesuvius has produced good quality easily calved young stock.

“My primary concern is the cow, and with the Vesuvius bull we have had no problems with calving” explains Andrew, “it takes the worry out of watching calving cows!”

It is no surprise that the ease of calving has persuaded Andrew to stick with Cowden Vesuvius! He confirmed that he had already taken stock of a repeat order for the bull, despite the fact that his calves are still only 6-8 weeks old.

“The majority of the calves are blue and they all seem to be thriving very well” he said. “Our calves are reared to stores before being sold in the local auction at Cockermouth.

Although he doesn’t normally sell calves, Andrew did point out that he was recently offered quite a lot of money for one of the 3 week old Vesuvius calves. He has however, decided to keep hold of him – he has great potential as a prize winning beef cross!