About
We currently have 300 pedigree Aberdeen Angus breeding females and 7 stock bulls. We have around 550 Aberdeen Angus cattle in total . Our Wagyu herd is much smaller in numbers being between 45 -50 and they are a very different animal to rear compared to pedigree Aberdeen Angus, both in temperament and time to reach maturity. We have closed our herds meaning that all our replacement stock will now be home bred with our main calving period in the Spring and a smaller number in the Autumn. We aim to improve our future stock with the use of genetics introduced from Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
We take the health and welfare of our animals seriously and by closing the herd we have eliminated our exposure to disease from other herds. We provide all our animals with a lot of care and attention daily resulting in an extremely healthy, contented and good-natured herd.
We also have a small flock of breeding ewes comprised of a hand full of rare breed Norfolk Horns and 60 Lleyns. We have a pedigree Norfolk Horn ram and a Composite Ram. We breed and retain the female Norfolk Horns and we cross the Lleyns with our Charolais to produce lamb for the commercial market. They are bred outdoors in our paddocks in Spring and graze outdoors year round.
We have a strict policy here at Wildfell that we do not use any imported feed for our animals which is helping us to minimise our carbon footprint. All our animals are outdoor grazed and any additional food is home grown or where necessary supplied by local farmers.
All our animals are born and reared outdoors either here at Wildfell and neighbouring conservation land or on our other site in Norfolk. The cattle are grazed on grass and forage and the majority are finished on grass during the Summer months.
We wean our young cattle into open yards with wind protection but without cover, which is much healthier for them. They are fed a mix of home or locally grown forage including fodder beet, lucerne, with small additions of rolled cereals, peas, beans and linseed.
We have an ongoing programme of Artificial Insemination and Embryo Transplantation, where we have introduced some of the very best of Australian, New Zealand and American Aberdeen Angus genetics, including the superstar that is Te Mania Berkley. Our current and future breeding is focused on the production of animals that are easy to calve, with high fertility, docile, milky and can finish off grass in Summer, whilst producing highly marbled, tender meat resulting in a great eating experience.
We are also crossing our full blood Wagyu bull with some of our pedigree Aberdeen Angus females which again produces marvellous beef.
We want to produce discernibly better cattle and better beef so all our customers will come back for more.