The clocks went back this weekend, the evenings are closing in, and on most farms around Wexford and the south-east cattle are either in the shed or not far off it. A couple of hours’ preparation now pays you back every day of the winter. Here’s our checklist, drawing on the latest Teagasc advice for October 2026.
1. Measure your pens before the cattle come in
Overcrowding quietly costs you weight gain even when feed and health are right. Teagasc research found that finishing cattle given 3m² of lying space each produced carcasses around 20kg heavier than cattle on 2m² over a 105-day period, with no extra benefit beyond 3m². Get the measuring tape out, work out the space per head in each pen, and match numbers to it.
2. Check ventilation – properly
If you had coughing, condensation or a stuffy shed last winter, fix it now rather than in January. A smoke test on a calm day will show up dead spots and draughts. Remember that once cattle are housed, their body heat helps push warm, stale air up and out of the shed, so it’s worth checking again after they’re in.
3. Put the health plan in place before housing
- Vaccinate early: housing and weaning stress can trigger respiratory disease such as IBR, RSV and Pi3. Where vaccination is appropriate, Teagasc advises giving it ideally a month before housing – talk to your vet.
- Dose based on need: treat for worms, lungworm, lice and fluke at housing according to your farm’s history and test results.
- Don’t stack stresses: avoid castrating at the same time as weaning, housing or transport.
4. Have bedding ready – and a sick pen
Teagasc’s advice is simple: have bedding in place where it’s needed and keep a separate pen ready for sick animals. Clean, dry bedding keeps calves and weanlings comfortable and helps reduce the dust and damp that respiratory problems thrive on.
Our KosiBed is dust-extracted chopped straw bedding, made here on our own farm in Foulksmills from straw we harvest ourselves. It’s easy to spread, highly absorbent and ideal for calf pens, sick pens, lambing pens and stables. For stables and smaller pens, we also sell KosiBed straw pellets.
5. Weigh at housing
Record a housing weight for growing and finishing cattle. It gives you a starting point for the winter and tells you early if a group isn’t performing. If you’re in SCEP or the National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme, remember weights are due by 1 November 2026.
6. Get the feed right
- Test your silage so you know what you’re balancing.
- Weanlings and young stock: FibreGold Calf & Yearling 16% and FibreGold Weanling Complete are designed to keep young cattle growing through the winter.
- Diet feeder users: FibreGold ReadyFibre and our Diet Feeder Ready Straw are precision chopped and go straight into the mixer – no splitting bales, no long straw wrapping around augers.
7. Mind yourself in the dark evenings
With the clocks gone back, more yard work happens in poor light. Check yard and shed lighting now, keep children away from machinery and livestock handling, and never enter a slurry tank – even an empty one. Claims under the National Farm Safety Measure are due by 6 November 2026.
Need bedding or feed for the winter?
We deliver nationwide and supply through distributors around the country. For a quote on KosiBed, FibreGold feeds or ReadyFibre, message us on WhatsApp at 087 283 2443 or contact Kehoe Farming.
Sources: Teagasc Beef Management Notes – October 2026; Teagasc Future Beef Newsletter – October 2026. Always consult your vet or adviser for advice specific to your farm.
