Holy cow! Heifers arrive safe

Ten healthy heifers arrived in Bermuda yesterday morning to join the Kromer dairy herd.

The pregnant livestock were brought in on the Bermuda Islander inside two specially-adapted containers.

The Holstein cows have been specially chosen from a cattle farm in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania.

They will soon join the Kromer herd at Spittal Pond and help boost milk supplies during the summer season.

Harry Kromer, whose father Harry Senior owns Kromer’s Dairy, told the Sun: “I went up to farm in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago and we specifically picked out the cows we wanted.

“All of these cows are due to give birth in or around July so the milk they produce will start to be in supermarkets in the next two to three months.

Fresh blood

“It’s important that we bring in fresh blood to the herd as it ensures healthy future generations.

“And it’s good to have the extra milk supply, especially in the summer when not so much milk is produced.

“We will give them time to acclimatize and keep them on their own for a while before they join the rest of the herd.”

Government vet, Jonathan Nisbett, was on hand this morning at Hamilton Docks when the containers with the young cows inside arrived on the dockside to check their condition.

He said: “They all look pretty good.

“It’s my job to identify the animals, check the numbers and check their condition after the sea crossing.

“The movement of animals is always stressful on the animal and some can develop shipping fever.

“But these cows look to be in good condition.”

Robert Holdipp, Assistant Manager of Meyer Freight, told the Sun “We pride ourselves on meeting and exceeding our customer requests.

“We have a common horse box or converted container that can be used to import up to four horses.

“But when we were approached by this customer with the requests to import possibly 20 cows or more, our overseas Agents, Voigt Maritime, rose to the occasion and retro-fitted those two containers in order to carry five cows per container.”