does anyone have their cows out?

whelan1

was at a walk this morning, he had his cows out for a while but it was bitterly cold, anyone have theirs out?

6480

i had a lad hoof triming this morning and he forgot to close the shed door after him but not a cow left the shed ,

kevthegaff

i have 24 calved and out for a couple of hours during the day, im on hilly land tho

GERMAN ROCKS

the only place ours are out is grazing the rape for an hour or two in the morning. I actually have more than enough silage so dont need to push them onto grass as fast as others might

bob charles

whelan1 wrote: »

was at a walk this morning, he had his cows out for a while but it was bitterly cold, anyone have theirs out?

Did you know Whelan1 that there is a direct correlation between having cows out in this atrocious current weather and the farmers willie size or willie waving ability;)

Manoffeeling

bob charles wrote: »

Did you know Whelan1 that there is a direct correlation between having cows out in this atrocious current weather and the farmers willie size or willie waving ability;)

Small man syndrome?

Timmaay

Ha I was expecting Bob to have come out with a smart comment! Anyways I had to bring the Bull and two dry cows up from the sandy field where I was outwintering them, and through afew of the paddocks that are on the grazing block, hmm the milkers will be staying put for now, paddocks would be in a total mess looking at the damage the 3 of them did! Pity as the grass is greening up nicely, and growing well (feckit, I should have got a photo of the grass, Bob even you'd have to admit the grass in those fields is better than any silage :P)

linebacker52

Going out Monday hopefully would have had them out to day but spend most of it in hospital. Getting on for 20 calved now plenty more in February takes a lot of pressure off once they are out.

If your using back fences on-off grazing temporary roadways your not going to do a whole lot of damage anyway its not as if your locking them into the paddock for a week.

PMU

reminds me of a diss group meeting in mid feburary a few years ago.
dave arrives in at 12 .00, an hour late. "well dave",says the teagasc man,"have you the cows out". "yes.... just the lame ones"

joe man utd

Cows out for past two days here.. 18 calved now..2 heifers to calve tonite...il be black and blue from kicks tomorrow nite

1chippy

we have cows accessing on an out door tank if that counts.usually have some out at this time of year however i am going to hold them a bit longer. The fields around me seem dry one day but a shower of rain and it seems to lye a lot more than usual. fields are greening up ok but no sort of cover yet and we will be spreading a few in a week or so if it dries off.

delaval

Fresh calvers out, winter milkers still in for another while anyway. On off grazing. No cows calved here yet just heifers going well fairly ok in parlour except for one!!!!

stanflt

delaval wrote: »

Fresh calvers out, winter milkers still in for another while anyway. On off grazing. No cows calved here yet just heifers going well fairly ok in parlour except for one!!!!

how are they milking

delaval

stanflt wrote: »

how are they milking

No idea Stan stared calving this week they are only finding their feet, ha done calved with start but seems to be clearing up.Really hope not to lose quarter

mahoney_j

Have 8 calved and lots of grass but conditions are too poor to even think of letting them out.I have a dry farm and as soon as conditions allow (hopefully next monday cows will be turned out by day firstly and night if conditions are ok.They will be allowed back in for some high quality wraps at night and will get beteween 4 and 6 kg of a high maize 18% nut daily depending on yield.

yellow50HX

see its mostly the milking lads that are talking about getting cows out this early (assume your not in reps then).

we have sucklers and have them out during the day strip grazing beet. Usally leave the 1st calved cows + thier calfs and the bull out on grass full time in early march then leave the rest out on grass after they calf untill all the beet is gone.

Did something similar with the milkers when we had them, but it was usally around mid feb before we let the milking cows out on grass and then staggered the rest until the beet was gone usually around 2nd week in march.

Western Pomise

Sucklers here...if I let anything out would be calling that rescue helicopter ya see on the telly to lift it back out of field after 5 mins:)....ground conditions v wet up whest,even on 'dry' land.

td5man

Western Pomise wrote: »

Sucklers here...if I let anything out would be calling that rescue helicopter ya see on the telly to lift it back out of field after 5 mins:)....ground conditions v wet up whest,even on 'dry' land.

Not much better here and we have a reasonably dry farm, theres floods where ive never seen them before.
Grass is growing or at least getting greener.

funny man

bob charles wrote: »

Did you know Whelan1 that there is a direct correlation between having cows out in this atrocious current weather and the farmers willie size or willie waving ability;)

there is a strong correlation between tonnes of grass utilized and profit/hectare. anyone that milked cows will understand the value of getting grass into the diet.

delaval

yellow50HX wrote: »

see its mostly the milking lads that are talking about getting cows out this early (assume your not in reps then).

we have sucklers and have them out during the day strip grazing beet. Usally leave the 1st calved cows + thier calfs and the bull out on grass full time in early march then leave the rest out on grass after they calf untill all the beet is gone.

Did something similar with the milkers when we had them, but it was usally around mid feb before we let the milking cows out on grass and then staggered the rest until the beet was gone usually around 2nd week in march.

Just wondering what has REPS got to do with turnout?

yellow50HX

delaval wrote: »

Just wondering what has REPS got to do with turnout?

Cattle have to be housed for a certain period, usually mid November to early march.

delaval

yellow50HX wrote: »

Cattle have to be housed for a certain period, usually mid November to early march.

Are you not allowed 1lu/ha outside?

dar31

yellow50HX wrote: »

Cattle have to be housed for a certain period, usually mid November to early march.

In reps and no problem with it, there is a difference between 3&4 in relation to it.

Wires set up and ready to let them out in morn or mon morn.

Had put out the load this morn before I realised how good a day it was shaping up to be

Let it begin

Better get out and measure mon/tue

case 5150

spring grazing is all about flexibility no mater what the weather is, have the cows out since this morn and we wouldnt be a dry farm, cows did no damage, there only out for 3 to 4 hrs max, strip wires up, backfence ready and mulitle access points to each paddock and ther be little or no damage done, cows out now may get the urea out once it becomes a bit milder, and the cows thougt bad of coming in stretched out in that sun today, does human and beast good to see them out

TEAT SQUEEZER

ive nearly 60 ready between aut and fresh springs .. its a little harder to let that bunch off in a bang as opposed to a spring situation where a v small number go out first day and any new additions are joining a calm group ...
i tink i`ll hang on till next week , i think the weather is gettin hardier..
i agree its good for the soul to see em out ..

its been a long winter even here in the sunny s east:P

Manoffeeling

case 5150 wrote: »

spring grazing is all about flexibility no mater what the weather is, have the cows out since this morn and we wouldnt be a dry farm, cows did no damage, there only out for 3 to 4 hrs max, strip wires up, backfence ready and mulitle access points to each paddock and ther be little or no damage done, cows out now may get the urea out once it becomes a bit milder, and the cows thougt bad of coming in stretched out in that sun today, does human and beast good to see them out

I think a lot of beef farmers have a mental block about a few hours out. When they are out, they stay out. How come you never see suckers out for a few hours and in at night?

1chippy

Manoffeeling wrote: »

I think a lot of beef farmers have a mental block about a few hours out. When they are out, they stay out. How come you never see suckers out for a few hours and in at night?

Id say due to pure hardship and the fact that most suckler farmers are part timers.

bob charles

Manoffeeling wrote: »

I think a lot of beef farmers have a mental block about a few hours out. When they are out, they stay out. How come you never see suckers out for a few hours and in at night?

Big difference I see is that for dairy there is usually only one or two groups of animals whereas in a beef farm there could be 20 different groups that can't be mixed if letting in and out. Also if animals are in there last 60 days of finishing you would get a serious drop in performance over those last 60 days if you let these animal out as they would take the best part of a week for them to adjust to a grass system again. I usually try and get all the sick and lame animals on off grazing as early as possible but this year that can't even happen and also try and get 2 or 3 bunches of animals out for a few hrs, but its very labour intensive putting in and out 3 or 4 groups of animals and borderline worth the effort

freedominacup

We put them out around 4 weeks ago but they spent more of weeks 2 and 3 in than out and really only got going in the past few days. Silage intake is down by around 50% since last weekend. We won't touch concentrate levels for a few weeks yet as I doubt if the grass is as good as good silage yet. We turnout as soon as we can simply for the health and comfort benefits. In the past week the cows would spend more time eating indoors than lying down and would spend a good bit of time outdoors lying down.

funny man

20 different groups bob! you must be in a big way and all set stocked. we will let the yearling heifers out mid-february to graze and they will be let back to the shed if weather deterioates, no doubt there is a bit of work putting up fences but with the ufl of spring grass between 1.05-1.15 it is critical to growing animals to grass as early as possible. from looking across the ditch at beef farms there usually is no grass in early spring and they are slow to invest in roadways, paddocks etc. on the other hand good sheep operators always have early grass as they know the value of it.

funny man

freedominacup wrote: »

We put them out around 4 weeks ago but they spent more of weeks 2 and 3 in than out and really only got going in the past few days. Silage intake is down by around 50% since last weekend. We won't touch concentrate levels for a few weeks yet as I doubt if the grass is as good as good silage yet. We turnout as soon as we can simply for the health and comfort benefits. In the past week the cows would spend more time eating indoors than lying down and would spend a good bit of time outdoors lying down.

silage will rarely test better than grass. unless old unreseeded ground or very heavy covers carried over the winter.

freedominacup

funny man wrote: »

silage will rarely test better than grass. unless old unreseeded ground or very heavy covers carried over the winter.

Whatever about "tests" we would always have found an increase in yields and soliids with autumn calvers once they come inside fulltime in the backend. An increase in costs also. I doubt if grass from mid-Nov to mid-Feb would even be close to good silage and I say this as someone who expects to have cows at grass 300 days per year.

funny man

freedominacup wrote: »

Whatever about "tests" we would always have found an increase in yields and soliids with autumn calvers once they come inside fulltime in the backend. An increase in costs also. I doubt if grass from mid-Nov to mid-Feb would even be close to good silage and I say this as someone who expects to have cows at grass 300 days per year.

November grass is low dry matter (i've seen as low as 12%), so this would lead to an energy imbalance. spring grass carried over unless more than 1400kgs or 2900kgs total cover is usually from 16-25%dm with a CP of 18%. if you are getting cows out for 300 days i'm sure you are well aware that when you let milkers to grass in the spring they go up in milk, this is due to the higher ME and CP in the grass over silage.

mahoney_j

Opened the gates yesterday and let fresh calvers off ,In last night and out again today.Hopefully weather wont get too wet and they can stay out by day at least and possibly by night as ground conditions improve.The benefits of getting cowws out if only for a few hours per day far outweigh any precieved negatives.Cows have to go out with an appetite though.I milk at about 7 am and leave cows standing in yard after milking till about half 10 and then let them off.They go out with an appetite and depending on the day they will come back in after 3 to 4 hours if weather is wet or cold but if weather is ok theyre out for the day

freedominacup

mahoney_j wrote: »

Opened the gates yesterday and let fresh calvers off ,In last night and out again today.Hopefully weather wont get too wet and they can stay out by day at least and possibly by night as ground conditions improve.The benefits of getting cowws out if only for a few hours per day far outweigh any precieved negatives.Cows have to go out with an appetite though.I milk at about 7 am and leave cows standing in yard after milking till about half 10 and then let them off.They go out with an appetite and depending on the day they will come back in after 3 to 4 hours if weather is wet or cold but if weather is ok theyre out for the day

Ours would be out of feeding sometime during the night probably 3-4 in the morning and go straight out after milking but other than that same as yourself if conditions are ok they stay out until the evening.

funny man

What's the thoughts on on/off grazing? i tried it hear and found it too hard on the cow. it maybe ok for a couple of days but over time i think cows need some stable feed when conditions are poor.

freedominacup

funny man wrote: »

. spring grass carried over is usually from 16-25%dm with a CP of 18%.

if you are getting cows out for 300 days i'm sure you are well aware that when you let milkers to grass in the spring they go up in milk, this is due to the higher ME and CP in the grass over silage.

Good silage will have a dm of around 25% as a minimum with protein of around 15% and an ME figure of 11.5 to 12.

I wouldn't agree at all that milkers automatically go up at turnout in fact we'd normally be monitoring performance closely at turnout to try to make sure that yields don't drop.

stanflt

im gonna maybe regret saying this- but with current conditions and feed crisis. poor bcs on most spring herds and the fact that cows will be under fed post calving there will be no superlevy in 2014

case 5150

think/hope your right stan, we were banking on a early spring but dat didnt happen. btw have you your cows out stan

stanflt

case 5150 wrote: »

think/hope your right stan, we were banking on a early spring but dat didnt happen. btw have you your cows out stan

no ive loads of grass but conditions are to wet- id love to have them out for 2-3hrs a day but with the dm levels so low the cows intake would be negatively affected. with a couple days drying ill have them out- really need to get them out or the second round of grazing will be too low of covers, feb is the month when you set yourself up for the year

funny man

freedominacup wrote: »

Good silage will have a dm of around 25% as a minimum with protein of around 15% and an ME figure of 11.5 to 12.

I wouldn't agree at all that milkers automatically go up at turnout in fact we'd normally be monitoring performance closely at turnout to try to make sure that yields don't drop.

unless silage is exceptional UFL of grass always higher. what covers do you turn out to, yields dropping at grass would be a serious concern.

bob charles

Sounds like some people are starting to believe me about the quality of current grass. Comfort and excerise are the main things cows will get from being outdoors so early. but dont underestimate the power of this. People that see a rise in production when cows go out should take a good look are their winter diets as they mustnt be up to much.

stanflt

bob charles wrote: »

Sounds like some people are starting to believe me about the quality of current grass. Comfort and excerise are the main things cows will get from being outdoors so early. but dont underestimate the power of this. People that see a rise in production when cows go out should take a good look are their winter diets as they mustnt be up to much.

ignorance is bliss bob:D:D:D:D

case 5150

bob charles wrote: »

Sounds like some people are starting to believe me about the quality of current grass. Comfort and excerise are the main things cows will get from being outdoors so early. but dont underestimate the power of this. People that see a rise in production when cows go out should take a good look are their winter diets as they mustnt be up to much.

i have silage here 75% dmd but it not bout the silage it cost alot to produce milk indoors, get cows out to grass in feb allows the farm to be set up for the grazing year, now there whole diet isnt grass there getting concentrates as well as grass silage but at the same time solids is rising and the grazing is been set up properl, how many farms that let cows out in march been grazing stemmy grass in may, i can say a lot because they havent there farm set up for second round grazing in april and it ther pockets taking the hit, grass based system = jingles in ur pocket

stanflt

case 5150 wrote: »

i have silage here 75% dmd but it not bout the silage it cost alot to produce milk indoors, get cows out to grass in feb allows the farm to be set up for the grazing year, now there whole diet isnt grass there getting concentrates as well as grass silage but at the same time solids is rising and the grazing is been set up properl, how many farms that let cows out in march been grazing stemmy grass in may, i can say a lot because they havent there farm set up for second round grazing in april and it ther pockets taking the hit, grass based system = jingles in ur pocket

couldnt have said it better myself

bob charles

may I ask anyone who can answer at what price do you cost grass per kg/DM?

Its very important getting set up for the grazing season but if a sward gets damaging at this side of christmas I can assure you its going to be back on kgs produced for the year.

stanflt

bob charles wrote: »

may I ask anyone who can answer at what price do you cost grass per kg/DM?

Its very important getting set up for the grazing season but if a sward gets damaging at this side of christmas I can assure you its going to be back on kgs produced for the year.

growing 16ton of dry matter per hectare it costs about 30-35 euro per ton of dm compared to 120 /ton silage

awaywithyou

stanflt wrote: »

growing 16ton of dry matter per hectare it costs about 30-35 euro per ton of dm compared to 120 /ton silage

do you follow teagasc spring rotation planner for the first round....?

stanflt

no i do my own to weather conditions but make sure that i finish first round by 1april- if i cant get out earlier i will graze a large % of farm in the first few days so i will get the regrowth going- unfortunately as i have a lot of grass this might not be possible

delaval

freedominacup wrote: »

We put them out around 4 weeks ago but they spent more of weeks 2 and 3 in than out and really only got going in the past few days. Silage intake is down by around 50% since last weekend. We won't touch concentrate levels for a few weeks yet as I doubt if the grass is as good as good silage yet. We turnout as soon as we can simply for the health and comfort benefits. In the past week the cows would spend more time eating indoors than lying down and would spend a good bit of time outdoors lying down.

Out very early, 3 wks ago what was your opening cover?

delaval

stanflt wrote: »

growing 16ton of dry matter per hectare it costs about 30-35 euro per ton of dm compared to 120 /ton silage

16 tonne are you achieving this on all hectares