Hico provides a range of quality Farm Services
- Artificial Insemination (AI)
- Freeze Branding
- Dehorning
- Labour Services
Freeze Branding
Good animal identification continues to be of huge importance, particularly as herd sizes continue to grow. Hico offers a freeze branding service using either dry ice or liquid nitrogen (LN2). Dry ice is the most commonly used method as it displays a clearer and sharper number. Dry ice is particularly good when branded onto the darker skin pigment of a cow as the dry ice will change the colour of the black hair to white. Dry ice branding generally takes 8 to 12 weeks for the brand to come through.
Liquid nitrogen is often the preferred method for use on white or jersey cows as it actually scars the brand into the cows hide rather than changing the colour of the hair particles. The hair that borders the brand does need to be kept short to enable the brand to be clearly seen.
Dehorning
Hico provide a dehorning service for calves ideally aged between 2 to 8 weeks of age, and there is an option of using a local anaesthetic to block the pain around the bud available. The Hico Livestock Service Technician will arrive on farm with their calf crate and gas-fired dehorning iron. The calf if secured in the calf crate and the hot dehorning iron is then placed over the horn bud for 3 to 4 seconds, which completely cauterises the skin around the bud.
Artificial Insemination
Hico offers a quality artificial breeding service on all days of the year. This service is provided by an experienced and qualified Farm Service Technician, who has been through a stringent training program focussing on strict hygiene practices, careful semen handling and best practice insemination techniques. All Hico technicians’ conception rates are carefully monitored to ensure a best results for your farm.
Labour Services
If you require an extra hand for some of your livestock service jobs, Hico can help. Hico’s Farm Service Technicians can assist with your drenching and vaccination programs through to ear tag application or DNA sampling!
