Kyle Hanbidge: “I can see my cows lasting longer in the herd with AHV”

Meet Kyle Hanbidge, a third generation Dairy Farmer from Kiltegan Co. Wicklow milking 180 Montbeliarde-Friesian crossbred cows, calving 70% in spring and 30% in Autumn.

For Kyle, the most important thing on his farm is getting a cow in calf every year. He explained, “that will put money back in my pocket and it will also keep cows healthier. It’s important not to miss the small things and keep them going right, if they’re looked after they’ll look after me.”

Visible improvements since adopting the AHV Herd Health Programme

During the calving period, Kyle follows the AHV Fertility Protocol which ensures sufficient energy and minerals are provided, stimulating dry matter intake and also ensuring the cow has a clean uterus post-calving.

“We go in two weeks pre-calving with the Booster Tablet. When the cow calves down we’re using the Metri Tablet and the Milk Start Tablet and the StartLac Paste. This helps the cow to hit the ground running and reduces the open days. We found that it’s helping with conception rates and reducing the amount of subclinical and clinical milk fever within the first couple of days of calving.”

Kyle has seen an improvement in his herds udder health status since using the AHV Udder Health Programme. He gives his Montbeliarde-Friesian crossbred cows a Booster Tablet two weeks pre-calving and an Extra Tablet and an Aspi Tablet two weeks post-calving and confirms that this protocol “sets them up for the lactation for the year ahead.”

“With the collars, we can track when the cow is off her rumination and if she’s off rumination or off her milk we’ll give her a Booster bolus and within a couple of days she’s back on track, going again giving us the goods we want, milk in the tank.“

Additional support on the AHV Herd Health Programme

Kyle speaks highly Tommy, AHV Consultant and Technical Support Advisor, and Paul AHV Health & Longevity Manager and the additional level of support made available to Herd Health Programme customers.

“Tommy has discussed problems that we may have come up with and he’s helped us resolve them. He’s always on the other end of the phone via a text message or a phone call, any hour of the day or night. Paul was also here helping discuss problems too and we’ve found them very supportive from day one. Always there to give support and advice which is huge on the farm.

On the AHV Programme, we also go through milk recordings, our bulk tank collections, also walk the cows and see if they are off form. They’re always there at the end of the phone, send them a picture or something they’ll talk you through it.”

Kyle emphasises the importance of patience with AHV products, noting that improvements may take time but are worth it. “Give it time because it’s not going to work overnight. If you’re nervous or anything at all, do one batch and see how you get on. But we couldn’t recommend it enough here, it’s worked for us and it’s working for us daily and we’re very happy with the progress.”

Moving forward on the Hanbidge family farm

“Moving forward with the future I’m trying to make this a more sustainable family farm. I’m the third generation and I’ve a fourth generation and I’ll hopefully get him interested in it. I want to lead by example as my father and my grandfather did here and make it an enjoyable place to work.

I want a cow that’s going to last in the herd for longevity and good fertility. If I can get that right and a good udder health status in the herd, I can see my cows lasting longer which will be more money in my pocket at the end of the day.”