Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Boards Beef Discussion Group

1356716

Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,329 ✭✭✭redzerologhlen


    Having a fair idea of the type of animals that you are producing and in the climate they are used too, I couldnt see how finishing them would leave any extra margin. The stores in your parts are a sight to behold and command a serious price premium

    Exactly bob, I agree 100% with you which is why we got out of it!!


  • Registered Users Posts: 24 spt88


    just in the middle of dividing up a 60 square block of land into approx 4 acre paddocks. im just wondering how many sucklers could you run in a four acre paddock. im hoping for a 30 day rotation.it'd be good dry land (wel for around here anyway)


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,583 Mod ✭✭✭✭blue5000


    spt88 wrote: »
    just in the middle of dividing up a 60 square block of land into approx 4 acre paddocks. im just wondering how many sucklers could you run in a four acre paddock. im hoping for a 30 day rotation.it'd be good dry land (wel for around here anyway)

    Sorry gone too late to work it out (15kg dm per cow x no of cows, 100 kg dm/ha per day in may june) Why 30 days?
    VERY Rough ballpark would be 4 days for 40 cows in a 4 acre paddock,

    If the seat's wet, sit on yer hat, a cool head is better than a wet ar5e.



  • Registered Users Posts: 24 spt88


    blue5000 wrote: »
    Sorry gone too late to work it out (15kg dm per cow x no of cows, 100 kg dm/ha per day in may june) Why 30 days?
    VERY Rough ballpark would be 4 days for 40 cows in a 4 acre paddock,
    am 30 days well this wil be governed by growth of course.. no real reason for the 30 days just that the place is going to work out in about 15 paddocks.. looks like il have to buy more cows :):)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    ......40 cows at the moment and the most of their calfs to year and a halfs. Big potential for improvement but hard to know where to start!!
    Redz,
    If it was me, I'd be looking to produce those big framey yellow charolais, that the area if famous for. I'd source big growty type red lims that would calve easily to a char bull (you're well on the way to this with your heifers in the video). The limstone is ideal for growing frame. Let the boys in the east of the country do the finishing. I wouldn't go down the muscley side of things with BB and BA either. Play to your advantages. Your land is dry, so ideal for carrying big framey cows.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 11,174 ✭✭✭✭Muckit


    Moved cattle off the last of the silage ground yesterday evening and rolled up temp dividing fences. I don't use reels, hand and elbow is reel of choice:D. I've started leaving the end of the wire on the egg at the ditch and hanging the roll on hedge. White stakes from each line stuck down in a group beside it. They're out of the way for silage and easy to put up to graze aftergrass after slurry is out. ;) What used to happen before was either myself, oul lad or brother would roll up and all was dumped in the shed or the yard. Nobody know then what roll went where and you'd be cutting or joining wire :rolleyes: Total headwreck and time wasting.

    The ground is marked, but ate out well for the conditions. Will get fertiliser and chain harrow in the next few days.

    I think (hoping) that the upshot of all this poor weather will be that there will be good quality grass coming in May if/when we get a bit of heat. I just want to have the majority of grazing paddocks skint before that.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,583 Mod ✭✭✭✭blue5000


    Muckit wrote: »
    Moved cattle off the last of the silage ground yesterday evening and rolled up temp dividing fences. I don't use reels, hand and elbow is reel of choice:D. I've started leaving the end of the wire on the egg at the ditch and hanging the roll on hedge. White stakes from each line stuck down in a group beside it. They're out of the way for silage and easy to put up to graze aftergrass after slurry is out. ;) What used to happen before was either myself, oul lad or brother would roll up and all was dumped in the shed or the yard. Nobody know then what roll went where and you'd be cutting or joining wire :rolleyes: Total headwreck and time wasting.

    .
    Muckit where do you live? I could do with a few more white stakes.:D

    Seriously though you just need the reels long enough. I have a couple of (expensive) geared reels with 500m on them......

    For the rest I use empty mig wire reels. I usually divide a 500m roll in 3, cut 200m off on one and have two smaller ones of 150m. Then get a bottle of tippex and write the amount of meters on the BLACK reel;)

    When I get as good as redzer and legwax with youtube I must make a few fencing videos.....

    If the seat's wet, sit on yer hat, a cool head is better than a wet ar5e.



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    I bought a geared reel winder and 200m of polytape yesterday. I measured the different distances on Google Earth beforehand so I know 200m will cover all the lengths I need to do. I'm hoping too that the calves will see the orange tape better than the white polywire.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,735 ✭✭✭lakill Farm


    i know a lad who has the reels set up for a cordless drill. :rolleyes:

    Cordless drill always in the jeep with 2 batterys.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,174 ✭✭✭✭Muckit


    blue5000 wrote: »
    Muckit where do you live? I could do with a few more white stakes.:D

    Seriously though you just need the reels long enough. I have a couple of (expensive) geared reels with 500m on them......

    For the rest I use empty mig wire reels. I usually divide a 500m roll in 3, cut 200m off on one and have two smaller ones of 150m. Then get a bottle of tippex and write the amount of meters on the BLACK reel;)

    When I get as good as redzer and legwax with youtube I must make a few fencing videos.....

    I have no confidence in the polywire or tape. It's just me and my experience with it. I use mild steel tying wire for all temp fences. I find it carries current better and you can make an effective join in it if it breaks. The old polywire I have lying around might be used sometimes along with the MS wire just to highlight a section, like a temporary runway.

    In saying that I do intend to buy ONE geared reel and possibly polywire/tape to have for this purpose (making temporary runways)

    Yes the empty MIG reels... I got a few of these off a relative years ago with the intention of making fencing reels, but they were never used. I don't think they'd be suitable for MS wire and I'd have to make a holder, which would probably weigh a ton! :rolleyes:


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 11,174 ✭✭✭✭Muckit


    blue5000 wrote: »
    Muckit where do you live? I could do with a few more white stakes.:D

    They're not pigtails blue! I mainly use ones like these;)

    I do have a load of pigtails that the fence blew through if they're any good to ya :D

    !Bt(Osog!2k~$(KGrHqMH-DcEvsKVUrWNBL7sFJqGCg~~_35.JPG


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,329 ✭✭✭redzerologhlen


    pakalasa wrote: »
    Redz,
    If it was me, I'd be looking to produce those big framey yellow charolais, that the area if famous for. I'd source big growty type red lims that would calve easily to a char bull (you're well on the way to this with your heifers in the video). The limstone is ideal for growing frame. Let the boys in the east of the country do the finishing. I wouldn't go down the muscley side of things with BB and BA either. Play to your advantages. Your land is dry, so ideal for carrying big framey cows.

    Thats the way I intend to go pak but wouldnt mind having a few blonde cows either hence the blonde with the heifers, they cross well with a Charolais too. Just want to have the right type of a cow for a charolais first.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,716 ✭✭✭1chippy


    what sort of time frame do you work your cows to graze for. we just put 30 cows into a 7 acre field. we dont usually use paddock system but have started implementing this year. we have split off around 2 acres of the ground(temp fencing). On the last field we worked out what they would clear in a day and move the fence every two days. with this one we were going to try to keep them tight meaning we leave enough for a bit less than a day but still only move every day. more or less meaning they will always be hungry. should we be leaving them with enough for a couple of days (2-4) or strip grazing it. I know that moving the fence is extra work but were trying to graze tight till we get decent growth. what sort of method do you use.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,174 ✭✭✭✭Muckit


    over 2500 views... only 75 posts.

    Have you contributed yet? If not, why not? :rolleyes:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    Muckit wrote: »
    over 2500 views... only 75 posts.

    Have you contributed yet? If not, why not? :rolleyes:

    And here was me enjoying the read without having to add anything.:)

    I will say this now though in relation to fencing. This white polywire/tape is the bane of my life. It works for a while but invariably will let you down if you come to depend on it. I have found the mains fencer particurlarly hard on it. Maybe it's just me, perhaps people change it more regulararly than me and dont run into problems.

    On the subject of drinkers I often thought a simple gate valve at the trough was a good idea to isolate/repair/drain etc.


  • Registered Users Posts: 383 ✭✭jerdee


    got seven off a lad that makes them they had hairline cracks in them tried tek7 but no use then i just plaster insides with a good coat with some pvc bond mixed in a it worked at treat only thing was i had to get new ball cocks as older ones are too short to go through the concrete .

    paddock system 2 acres heavy land all high tensile

    next job is to upgrade water system might try 3/4 and new fast fill althought i have only little numbers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 378 ✭✭KCTK


    jerdee wrote: »
    got seven off a lad that makes them they had hairline cracks in them tried tek7 but no use then i just plaster insides with a good coat with some pvc bond mixed in a it worked at treat only thing was i had to get new ball cocks as older ones are too short to go through the concrete .

    paddock system 2 acres heavy land all high tensile

    next job is to upgrade water system might try 3/4 and new fast fill althought i have only little numbers.

    Well worth spending the few extra bob on 3/4, we have 1/2 pipe in some areas and god it is painfully slow to refill the trough, cattle just standing around waiting for it to fill during the summer!!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,258 ✭✭✭Tora Bora


    KCTK wrote: »
    Well worth spending the few extra bob on 3/4, we have 1/2 pipe in some areas and god it is painfully slow to refill the trough, cattle just standing around waiting for it to fill during the summer!!

    It's not as if they have a load of work to get done or anything:rolleyes:


  • Registered Users Posts: 378 ✭✭KCTK


    Tora Bora wrote: »
    It's not as if they have a load of work to get done or anything:rolleyes:

    Could be lying down putting on weight!!!!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,184 ✭✭✭Dozer1


    I feel my land is too segmented for paddocks, biggest block together is 10 acres and this is used for silage, might try temp fences on the after grass and see how it goes.

    I rent about 15 acres in one block but the only water source is river at the bottom of one of the fields so not really an option to sub-divide it out.
    perhaps a pasture pump might work but it would have to bring the water about 200m to the next field.

    i'd agree with the lads on the fast fill fittings, if cattle are fighting for space then they end up poaching the ground or breaking something else.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,570 ✭✭✭Rovi


    KCTK wrote: »
    Well worth spending the few extra bob on 3/4, we have 1/2 pipe in some areas and god it is painfully slow to refill the trough, cattle just standing around waiting for it to fill during the summer!!
    The problems we found with slow to fill/undersized water troughs included bullying, with the strong ones forcing the weaker ones to go without water for considerable lengths of time, and physical damage to the trough and pipework. An empty trough is much lighter than a full one and is much easier to convert to a bovine 'football', leading to a mangled trough and a mud wallow with a pretty fountain in the middle of it.
    3/4" and/or 1" supply pipes, low pressure/high flow float valves, and concrete troughs pretty much made those issues a thing of the past.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,583 Mod ✭✭✭✭blue5000


    Anyone have concrete water troughs cracking in the 2 hard winters?

    If the seat's wet, sit on yer hat, a cool head is better than a wet ar5e.



  • Registered Users Posts: 28 connormi


    I think if going to trouble of laying water hose 3/4 is the minimum, and over long distances would ue inch or more. If theres iron in the water it wont be long blocking 1/2 inch piping.
    Have a single leg mole plough modified to lay water hosing later in the year, if it works will make the job very easy with very little diturbance to fields. Got the idea from following:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVXHWGg3_rw


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,258 ✭✭✭Tora Bora


    connormi wrote: »
    I think if going to trouble of laying water hose 3/4 is the minimum, and over long distances would ue inch or more. If theres iron in the water it wont be long blocking 1/2 inch piping.
    Have a single leg mole plough modified to lay water hosing later in the year, if it works will make the job very easy with very little diturbance to fields. Got the idea from following:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVXHWGg3_rw


    Onlt fella in that video doing a bit of work, is the garsoon, in the orange shirt;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,253 ✭✭✭jfh


    blue5000 wrote: »
    Anyone have concrete water troughs cracking in the 2 hard winters?

    we had good concrete troughs from the dairying days & one of them cracked out of 5. got that blue waterproofing concrete adhesive and re-concreted over the botton, no good, still leaked.
    be interesed to hear if there's a solution.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,345 ✭✭✭MfMan


    jfh wrote: »
    we had good concrete troughs from the dairying days & one of them cracked out of 5. got that blue waterproofing concrete adhesive and re-concreted over the botton, no good, still leaked.
    be interesed to hear if there's a solution.

    Hard frost cracked 2 troughs in me. One of them was split so badly along the base it was unusable. The other wasn't too bad, I put a good coat of sealant (black stuff, can't remember name) and it did the trick. For worse cases, you could try coating with a generous cover of quick-set cement, (maybe mix in a bit of bonding, dunno - not a tradesman). It taught me to empty them as completely as possible once the grazing season is finished.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,217 ✭✭✭Viewtodiefor


    jfh wrote: »
    blue5000 wrote: »
    Anyone have concrete water troughs cracking in the 2 hard winters?



    we had good concrete troughs from the dairying days & one of them cracked out of 5. got that blue waterproofing concrete adhesive and re-concreted over the botton, no good, still leaked.
    be interesed to hear if there's a solution.

    Try tec7 on them it's good stuff!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,025 ✭✭✭Tipp Man


    jfh wrote: »
    we had good concrete troughs from the dairying days & one of them cracked out of 5. got that blue waterproofing concrete adhesive and re-concreted over the botton, no good, still leaked.
    be interesed to hear if there's a solution.

    there is

    Mr JFC in Mayo or whereever he is;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,202 ✭✭✭Bitten & Hisses


    I only have plastic troughs in my place and I always try to keep them elevated (have used concrete blocks to date). Vet recommends to have the top of the trough a minimum of 3 feet off the ground. The problem is trying to keep the troughs on top of the concrete blocks. Does anyone else do anything similar, but better?


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 383 ✭✭jerdee


    I only have plastic troughs in my place and I always try to keep them elevated (have used concrete blocks to date). Vet recommends to have the top of the trough a minimum of 3 feet off the ground. The problem is trying to keep the troughs on top of the concrete blocks. Does anyone else do anything similar, but better?


    i was just cleaning out iron from ballock this evening and i noticed the lad i have land taken from had concrete blocks inside plastic to keep them in place but it was a large one ...good idea i taught.


Advertisement