cows in.

topgeas

had to put in the cows again today. looks like they be in by nite also. made sum rain last nite. try and leave out by day from now on. any body else in the same boat?

djmc

I have cows and heifers in since late aug sept only calves out
I have second cut pit and bales used and silage cant be bought at any price.
You dont know how lucky ye are to have good land

bob charles

seems like others are only catching up with the rest of us. cattle in since August and most now indoors

boroboy

topgeas wrote: »

had to put in the cows again today. looks like they be in by nite also. made sum rain last nite. try and leave out by day from now on. any body else in the same boat?

that boat arrived to me on july 4th,out only 19 nights and 53 days since then,housed full time last few weeks!!:mad:

kevthegaff

boroboy wrote: »

that boat arrived to me on july 4th,out only 19 nights and 53 days since then,housed full time last few weeks!!:mad:

must be costin ye lads mad money havin them in since?

boroboy

kevthegaff wrote: »

must be costin ye lads mad money havin them in since?

working in the hope it will never again be so bad,fodder is the big problem now or should i say lack of it!!most farmers in same boat..

babybrian

jasus lads I feel very sorry for ye who had/have to put cows in, it must be painful to look out at grass and not be able to get at it. I am very thankful that I have dryish land although this year is challenging its status as that!

I kept them in after milking this morning on silage and let them out on 1 of the driest fields after lunch with very little grass cover on it so they werent trampling good grass into the ground, they are gone back to same field as last night so we will see how it looks in the morning.

Hope this year just ends soon and we get onto next year, maybe it will be another 2011 :cool:
And now that the protest is over sure the government cant take any more money from us!!!!! :rolleyes:

bob charles

babybrian wrote: »

it must be painful to look out at grass and not be able to get at it.

Ah thats not a problem for most of the guys hit hardest as the grass didnt grow either

blue5000

In calf heifers and dry cows came in today. I am trying to stretch the grass that's left for another month if possible.

Bodacious

blue5000 wrote: »

In calf heifers and dry cows came in today. I am trying to stretch the grass that's left for another month if possible.

trying to do the same here but i can never remember being as shurt on grass at this time of the year before... i outwinter sucklers and normally its December or last days of November at least before a bale is opened but no way in the world will i hold out that long this year... im not complaining as i know lads on here have cows inside since August

Ive silage ground cut since Sept 6th and its not great the regrowth and even still its a chess game and total weather watch where and when to graze them while trying to minimise damage to the ground

snowman707

In calf heifers in

cows in by night ...some lighter weanlings in

need to get slurry out looks like we will have to draw it to the out farm ,, better order a fill of diesel

freedominacup

Cows out day and night but eating 40kgs/head of wettish 1stish cut. Cut mid June but only 6 weeks stopped, strong paddocks really. Started feeding silage around a forthnight ago. But in my defence was feeding cows silage from early August last year no grass due to the drought. One of the neighbours fed maize at over 30kgs/head for all but around 2 weeks last summer for the same reason. The rest of ye were knee deep in good grass wondering how ye were going to get it all grazed.

dar31

Bodacious wrote: »

still its a chess game and total weather watch where and when to graze them while trying to minimise damage to the ground

sums up the year

jimmydkid

Thought i might be able to keep them out untill nov 1st but the rain this week means il start putting some of the bigger dry cows in on monday. At this stage i wish they were all in and i could start a fresh next year

jimmy G M

All cows in past 2 weeks apart from 4 on rough rented ground. All calves weaned, bar the 4. Calves on silage & meal, have access to fields from slatted shed. Year & half heifers out, getting some meal, for sale shortly.

Bodacious

dar31 wrote: »

sums up the year

And an awful load of dark clouds for this week coming too!!:mad::mad::mad:

stanflt

had to reluctantly dust the beds today and keep them in at night from now on. there was a severe frost coupled with persisant rain

whelan1

Bucketing down now

kevthegaff

whelan1 wrote: »

Bucketing down now

have them in meself, its grand tho bringin them in to milk in the morning, compared to shouting like mad in the dark with a torch:D

Tipp Man

kevthegaff wrote: »

have them in meself, its grand tho bringin them in to milk in the morning, compared to shouting like mad in the dark with a torch:D

Milk later in the morning then;)

Have cows in some of our inches tonight - loads of grass but worried if they'll be swimming up to the gap in the morning

Timmaay

Ugh the automatic scrapers have been out of action all summer, despite several (like 10 or 20) phonecalls to the chap who services them, we still haven't managed to get him up to fix them !!! Cows are left in for an hour or so on bale silage after both milkings, and leave them out on a dry paddock then, all this rain this evening will problem force us to keep them inside more, with the fun of cleaning out the cubical channels manually!

I'm thankful though that I'm still in a way better position than many others of ya who have been forced to have them in much sooner!

whelan1

Timmaay wrote: »

Ugh the automatic scrapers have been out of action all summer, despite several (like 10 or 20) phonecalls to the chap who services them, we still haven't managed to get him up to fix them !!! Cows are left in for an hour or so on bale silage after both milkings, and leave them out on a dry paddock then, all this rain this evening will problem force us to keep them inside more, with the fun of cleaning out the cubical channels manually!

I'm thankful though that I'm still in a way better position than many others of ya who have been forced to have them in much sooner!

if you have a j hook- the one you lift the slats with- you can put it on the scraper and pull the scraper across iykwim, we do this saves using the hand scraper. What is wrong with the scrapers?

dar31

Timmaay wrote: »

Ugh the automatic scrapers have been out of action all summer, despite several (like 10 or 20) phonecalls to the chap who services them, we still haven't managed to get him up to fix them !!! Cows are left in for an hour or so on bale silage after both milkings, and leave them out on a dry paddock then, all this rain this evening will problem force us to keep them inside more, with the fun of cleaning out the cubical channels manually!

I'm thankful though that I'm still in a way better position than many others of ya who have been forced to have them in much sooner!

that sounds like my milking machine service lad, been waiting a month for the parlour wash down pump to be fixed

kevthegaff

dar31 wrote: »

that sounds like my milking machine service lad, been waiting a month for the parlour wash down pump to be fixed

was talking to my serviceman last week while he was putting a new sensor on the scrapers, theyre starting to put in new parlours this week, after putting in new scrapers for the last month for a good few dairymen, theyll be quite busy id say from now on

Timmaay

whelan1 wrote: »

if you have a j hook- the one you lift the slats with- you can put it on the scraper and pull the scraper across iykwim, we do this saves using the hand scraper. What is wrong with the scrapers?

Hmmm, Tank is at the end of the scrapers, and I cant drive over the slats with the tractor, and don't have the room to go straight on further. I'd have to put in some sort of wheel to let me pull the rope at 90degrees to the scraper, and down the feeding passageway, which isnt worth the hassle!

But anyways, the seal in on of the hydraulic rams is gone, it dumped all the oil out when it went.

whelan1

we dont have rope scrapers, could you not just take the ram off and bring it somewhere to get it fixed yourself?

Tipp Man

whelan1 wrote: »

we dont have rope scrapers, could you not just take the ram off and bring it somewhere to get it fixed yourself?

A bit of scraping s##t never killed anybody:D

Although it is some pain when they do break down

whelan1

Tipp Man wrote: »

A bit of scraping s##t never killed anybody:D

Although it is some pain when they do break down

i said it in a previous thread, some people are too posh to push:D

whelan1

just went out to check cows,scrapers wouldnt work, low oil,put in oil and flaot switch stuck:mad: gave box a few wallops, and then a few more and they are working, hope there isnt a leak

Tipp Man

whelan1 wrote: »

just went out to check cows,scrapers wouldnt work, low oil,put in oil and flaot switch stuck:mad: gave box a few wallops, and then a few more and they are working, hope there isnt a leak

were the wallops thrown in a fit of rage;)

Been there got the T shirt

whelan1

Yup first few hits where with my fist. Then a piece of wood and finally an iron bar:rolleyes:

keep going

cows in tonight. didnt have a house this time last year so i dont know myself and its not a big deal cows coming in at night,its when they finish grass that makes it winter

red bull

What a year apart from March early April the only months I did not have to feed silage were just a few weeks in July and August. Cut my first cut silage on June 7. 3 weeks later than usual. 75% of that ground closed for 2nd cut then 75 units of N not cut till end of August again 3 weeks later than usual and a 40% decrease in yield. Practically no aftergrass despite 27 units N and slurry. Ground saturated, what more can I say a pure disaster of a year

pakalasa

Going to put mine in this evening. What a year, is right?
Apart from one evening, this is the first year I can remember where the cattle were miserable every evening I went to herd them. You know one of those lovely summer evenings where the calves are running around with their tails in the air. May me never see another one like it!!

Bodacious

red bull wrote: »

What a year apart from March early April the only months I did not have to feed silage were just a few weeks in July and August. Cut my first cut silage on June 7. 3 weeks later than usual. 75% of that ground closed for 2nd cut then 75 units of N not cut till end of August again 3 weeks later than usual and a 40% decrease in yield. Practically no aftergrass despite 27 units N and slurry. Ground saturated, what more can I say a pure disaster of a year

+1

Horrible year