© Hereford Traditional Cattle Breeders Club Maintained by Local PC Care
Holloway Herefords
The Holloway herd was started in 1990 to graze meadows full of natural herds and flowers in south Wiltshire. Herefords were chosen because of their quiet temperament, and because they are such good converters of grass to beef.
It is a closed herd, only young unrelated bulls are brought in. For this reason the herd health status is good. Females are reared and kept or sold for breeding, whilst pedigree bulls are sold for breeding with traditional Herefords, and also with other native breeds and New Zealand Friesian heifers, for which they are very popular. Occasionally males are castrated and sold as steers, and many excellent reports have been received of superb eating quality.
Calves are born in the spring and early summer, and kept with their dams until 5 or 6 months of age, when they and their dams are housed, and the calves weaned over a couple of weeks. The calves then stay housed for the winter, and if there is dry hill land available the cows are out wintered, being fed medium quality hay. Other wise they spend the winter in a wooden pole barn, well strawed, and are fed hay or silage. After their first winter the young stock spend all of their time in fields, and are put to the bull at 2 years of age. They are usually wonderful mothers, easy calving and producing lots of milk, so that the calves grow very well over their first summer. The only time the cattle see cake is when they are housed as calves, or they need to be loaded into a trailer!
