milking parlour build

kevthegaff

Unless im going back into the software industry or leasing another farm, i wont get a fulltime lad with me,. just think its too costly unless i get to 150 and i duno is that too many on my land. Ill go to 120 post 2015. if i can rent or buy 40-50 acres for silage and replacements i could go to 140-150. The only problem i find with going up in numbers is springtime which i should get in some help. Also its too hilly for alot of contractors so i end up doing all the tractor work which kills me in springtime. Ill definitely do something about the parlour if im upping the numbers, 7-8 rows is enough for me(i get bored especially as i have been milking since january). if i have a surplus of $$ i might put an extra few units on this year, as the pit is long enough for 18 units and the augers are long enough for 18.

delaval

jaymla627 wrote: »

Therez a thing called cubicles and rubber mats does help alot, a new greenfield site in england milking 700 cows have no concrete exposed in their sheds even the feed areas are rubber matted along with the holding yard there was a trend on british farming forum about it before it crashed was really impressive.

Funny how people build fancy sheds for dry cows that are designed to mimic the outdoors?????
Are sheds for cows or people?
A spring herd calving to grass only needs cubicles for 30% of their cows to milk at back end.
Building at €2500/ cow for 4 weeks milking or dry cows is nuts. Outdoor cubicles or pads the answer!!!!!???

jaymla627

dungfly wrote: »

jaymla627 thanks so much for posting such details and photos. Iam going to upgrade an old parlour too and was fascinated by your expansion of the build and parlour. Could you post more pictures of the parlour building (roof and especially the railway supports and what looks like a crush at one side of the building). Can you tell us any more about the building expansion, such as mass concrete, things you outsourced or didn't. Particularly interested in the roof, walls, supports etc. I have the same old feeders, where did you source extras, what would you recommend/lessons learnt/ costs? Very impressed here. Well done!

All building work/ground work was done by ourselves and a local lad done all the block work/plastering with a local concrete crew doing the floors/pit/holding yard etc this was all done the one day with 11 loads of concrete and a telescopic pump in about three hours was a super job with everything laser leveled etc....
The frame is made up of rsj's joined up with steel barriers and five steel thrushes joining up the whole lot, the crush was a homemade job done for about 300 euro.
My top tips in my expirence would be make sure you leave plenty of room for expansion and lots of room at the front of the parlour; if your not sure about how your going to design your parlour layout get professional help,put in plenty of skylights over the parlour pit cows prefer bright spaces, dont build up your parlour walls to high cows are a lot more settled when they can see around them

Going forward...

delaval wrote: »

Funny how people build fancy sheds for dry cows that are designed to mimic the outdoors?????
Are sheds for cows or people?
A spring herd calving to grass only needs cubicles for 30% of their cows to milk at back end.
Building at €2500/ cow for 4 weeks milking or dry cows is nuts. Outdoor cubicles or pads the answer!!!!!???

You have to compare like for like. For a start, that shed is in Scotland.

But it's clear there are vastly different systems, land quality, weather etc involved. I don't disagree with you on spending money on reseeding, roads, fencing, water etc but for many Irish farmers, winter is a reality and is a tad longer than your one so milking indoors is very much part of that. Sheds are a necessity, I have nothing too fancy but cows are safe and comfortable.

delaval

Going forward... wrote: »

You have to compare like for like. For a start, that shed is in Scotland.

But it's clear there are vastly different systems, land quality, weather etc involved. I don't disagree with you on spending money on reseeding, roads, fencing, water etc but for many Irish farmers, winter is a reality and is a tad longer than your one so milking indoors is very much part of that. Sheds are a necessity, I have nothing too fancy but cows are safe and comfortable.

I totally agree but I know of two men who broke them selves with sheds. I know there were other issues at play.
Some people go over the top and calving to growth is part of the answer.
I know a guy in Scotland milking 750 spring calvers with topless cubicles and all is well. He will roof if selling farm as unlike here buildings add value to their farms

mf240

The way I look at it is that cows will need a cubicle each even if their only in for six weeks.

It makes the winter easier on man and beast and the option is there to milk on for the winter.

I would prefer to have a nice shed than an off farm investment or a fancy jeep or car or a massive house.

I have no plans to be the richest man in the graveyard, but I am fond of my cows and work with them seven days a week so I like to make things as comfortable and user friendly as possible.

Going forward...

Topless cubicles. Surely there must be a rule against them. All sounds rather barbaric tbh.

Markcheese

Going forward... wrote: »

Great thread.

Milking 74 through a six unit. Two hours from start to finish so not too bad. Space isn't limited and could squeeze in two more with new troughs as the shed is atm. Finding a window to do the work is my problem, cows are always milking.

Dump line, feeders, drafting and more
importantly, getting rid of the slow
milkers make a massive difference to
output in smaller parlours. Also, I think
there's a notion amongst farmers that
one hour is the absolute maximum,
which is nonsense imo.

Rather than looking at spending 100000 on a parlour could you get a lad to relief milk for either a few morning or a few evenings a week , might get you an occasional weekend or Sunday off.
If it's a regular thing you could probably come to an hourly rate...

delaval

Going forward... wrote: »

Topless cubicles. Surely there must be a rule against them. All sounds rather barbaric tbh.

Barbaric?????

Sam Kade

delaval wrote: »

Barbaric?????

He probably doesn't realize that cows wear leather jackets:)

yellow50HX

delaval wrote: »

I totally agree but I know of two men who broke them selves with sheds. I know there were other issues at play.
Some people go over the top and calving to growth is part of the answer.
I know a guy in Scotland milking 750 spring calvers with topless cubicles and all is well. He will roof if selling farm as unlike here buildings add value to their farms

intresting thread, but like most things i just love wading in to throw a few spanners around.

topless housing and open sheds may be cheaper to have but whats the knock effect with your waste storage. i know cows have been living in the open for thousdands of years but being in a nice big open grassland is rather diffent then being in closed in shed.

The upgrades that were done over the last number of years with the FYM scheme have transformed the infratsuce within most irish farms, with the amont of rain we get in this country over the winter the old open yard and open tanks used to fill up quite quickly.

off the top of my head im not sure what size slurry tank would be required but housing for around 40 cows in a cubile shed uses up a full 4 bay 12.5 foot tank in a covered setup. you could double that with the amount of water that falls on the roof over a winter. if you rise the numbers up to 200-300 thats a huge amount of storage required and then there is spreading it, not much fun having full tanks and nowhere to spread. I would say that the overall extra costs of slurry storage and handling and spreading would be not much more then the cost of roofing the shed. it also makes feeding silage a working with the cows indoors a whole lot easier. And thats not taking into account the dairy washings and collection yards for dairy herds

a simple roofed cubicle shed and feeding passage is defo worth it, not only in terms of waste water reducion but also in making working conditions a lot eiser on man and beast. being able to feed and check teh cattle out of teh wind and rain at 5am on a miserable january is a godsend

Timmaay

This argument is done to death by now! Yes a nice big portal shed with cubicles, underground slurry and a nice feeding passage are the easiest and most ideal way to winter cows, but that all costs a shed load of capital, nobody but the banks would win in the case that you start out with a greenfield, and spend a million in concrete before the 1st cow gets milked! Without lads being initiative and going with the likes of topless cubicles, outwintering pads, and even just outwintering the animals in dry fields etc, we would be shy alot of large dairyfarmers who have started from very little!! The same people who bash outwintering pads are up moaning that land is too fragmented in Ireland etc etc, the likes of these low capital dairyfarmers are well and truly not letting land fragmentation hold them back! Same thing with the JE verse HO, yes the HO gives more milk, end of the story, but the JE offers a solution where using HOs would make very little financial sense. Having come from a different industry with my previous jobs, the strangest thing I find among farmers is the whole attitude of they themselves are right and everyone else (esp Teagasc ha) are utterly wrong, and yourman who goes off the beaten track at all is considered a clown (to quote Jay!).

F.D

interesting stuff and fairy play for people putting up costs and showing there set up
i am surprised at how lads can justify not spending money on there place of work and making life easier on them selves
one question, how much per cow do people have in there head to spend on a milking parlour
i am not in milk but looking but as a part time farmer we are investing a lot into making things easier for ourselves, and if i was going milking it would this would be a factor included in making an investment as well as the cost benifit

70k for the parlour shown does not seem a lot to spend across 100 cows
I know milk prices are high as well as costs but am i missing something

yellow50HX

Timmaay wrote: »

This argument is done to death by now! Yes a nice big portal shed with cubicles, underground slurry and a nice feeding passage are the easiest and most ideal way to winter cows, but that all costs a shed load of capital, nobody but the banks would win in the case that you start out with a greenfield, and spend a million in concrete before the 1st cow gets milked! Without lads being initiative and going with the likes of topless cubicles, outwintering pads, and even just outwintering the animals in dry fields etc, we would be shy alot of large dairyfarmers who have started from very little!! The same people who bash outwintering pads are up moaning that land is too fragmented in Ireland etc etc, the likes of these low capital dairyfarmers are well and truly not letting land fragmentation hold them back! Same thing with the JE verse HO, yes the HO gives more milk, end of the story, but the JE offers a solution where using HOs would make very little financial sense. Having come from a different industry with my previous jobs, the strangest thing I find among farmers is the whole attitude of they themselves are right and everyone else (esp Teagasc ha) are utterly wrong, and yourman who goes off the beaten track at all is considered a clown (to quote Jay!).

i know what your saying but farmers need to be imaginative with how they do stuff too. like you say outwintering on stand off pads and on stubble is certainly a way (we partially outwinter cows on beet during the day to reduce our slurry storage and handling and silage costs). do that is not always praticale when every bit of grassland is needed. most lads have good enough sheds already that can be modified. the number of fellas that now have housing in the old hay barn or silage pit is growing. with many guys looking to expand in the coming years that may not always be a solution. however i do think the hidden costs of open sheds need to be flushed out too like extra slurry storage and handling, and being cold and wet all the time, ho many of us use an old tractor with no cab to feed out silage during the winter?

jersey101

Been to visit a fair few operations over the ladt year with college and i have seen alot of different setups from stand off pads to out wintering on kale and turnips, self feeding off pit faces and sheds, any stand off pads i saw if they worked they were a brilliant job and if they didnt they were a night mare, one of the sheds i seen was a 300 cow shed cost 1000 cubicle and was the nicest shed i ever seen real bright and very airy

Timmaay

I only flicked through this quickly, but afew pages on low cost parlours in the IFJ today, in fairness some farmers have put in a parlour for very low costs. Although one of the articles was about some lad with a 14unit dairymaster with all the bells and whistles, 15000 stg per unit!

Going forward...

Thought you had an extra zero there Tim, until I read the article myself.:eek: He is happy with it and after spending his life getting his farm set up, it was the final piece in the jigsaw.

Good value alright in second hand and if you're crafty yourself, more savings can be had. All for every conceivable gizmo in tractors but I prefer a simple parlour.

mahoney_j

Going forward... wrote: »

Thought you had an extra zero there Tim, until I read the article myself.:eek: He is happy with it and after spending his life getting his farm set up, it was the final piece in the jigsaw.

Good value alright in second hand and if you're crafty yourself, more savings can be had. All for every conceivable gizmo in tractors but I prefer a simple parlour.

Where do u spend more time every day and which mSkes you more?????.stick the gizmos in the parlour,reduce the time you spend in it and make milking a pleasant job for man and beast ,

Going forward...

They won't make me more money or speed up the job that much. I'm perfectly happy milking in it and I'm sure it's not the limiting factor in allowing the cows to express their full potential. Just my personal opinion. If it comes down to gizmos in a parlour or front/cab suspension on a tractor, I'll go with the tractor tbh. My spine will be more thankful I reckon.

Basic, no frills parlour does not mean sub standard milking or a hell hole to work in.

Timmaay

I'd prefer basic with both and pay some other bugger to do both machinery work and milk ha! Automatic feeding to yeild is the one thing I'd consider though, esp with my spread in cow yeilds and calving pattern. I know fairly well myself which cows to givs extra feed to now, but abit messy with tailtape for when the relief milker is in.

mahoney_j

Going forward... wrote: »

They won't make me more money or speed up the job that much. I'm perfectly happy milking in it and I'm sure it's not the limiting factor in allowing the cows to express their full potential. Just my personal opinion. If it comes down to gizmos in a parlour or front/cab suspension on a tractor, I'll go with the tractor tbh. My spine will be more thankful I reckon.

Basic, no frills parlour does not mean sub standard milking or a hell hole to work in.

Wouldn't be without acrs feed to yield plant washer or drafting in my set up anyway.was milking for 3 to 3.5 hours daily before I put in new parlour and now no more than 1.5 hours a day.cows milking better and a lot of money saved on meal due to feeding cows to yield.saying that I'd love to have a big fancy tractor in yard but not essential or practical for me as a dairy farmer.have a 2010 new holland with wide tyres and its a horse of a yolk!!

Timmaay

"maloney_j wrote: »

was milking for 3 to 3.5 hours daily before I put in new parlour and now no more than 1.5 hours a day

Your at about 80cows? Was it with a 4unit parlour when it took 3.5hrs ha? 75cows now in a horrible wreck of a 6unit parlour (pit too low, too narrow for HOs at the minute), but in fairness it does the job, and never longer than 80mins from clusters on to clusters off.

kevthegaff

i have a 12 unit bog basic for 90 cows, batch feeders. first cluster on at 3:45, In drinking tae at 5. Early this evening as im off to spain in the morning. Obviously id love the works with acrs etc but i dont want to be crippled with debt. Id prefer in investing in reseeding, roadways and maybe a land investment if it came up for sale;)

Going forward...

Similar story here, Tim. Things can only get better for us.;)

We'd all like to have such parlours but like the lad in the IFJ said, other things take priority. Tractor isn't one of those priorities for me either, your 2010 is a few years fresher than my yoke.:pac:

mahoney_j

Timmaay wrote: »

Your at about 80cows? Was it with a 4unit parlour when it took 3.5hrs ha? 75cows now in a horrible wreck of a 6unit parlour (pit too low, too narrow for HOs at the minute), but in fairness it does the job, and never longer than 80mins from clusters on to clusters off.

That was for both milkings Tim,it was an 8 unit senior with anything but automation.col yard could only hold half the cows ,other half had to be kept in yard.when finished milking col yard could only hold 16 cows so u was like a yo yo in and out of parlour.also as more Holstein came into cows my 8 unit was turning into a 7 unit at times,'twas pure hardship.agree about putting money into reseeding etc.i am doing thAt anyway and thru the years land fertility and ainmAl husbandry were never neglected.going to paying for my gadgets for next 9 years but well worth it now I have a daughter and don't want to be a slave to the job.

Timmaay

Fair enough, 1 1/2 hrs a day is impressive in fairness so.

jersey101

We built a 12 unit parlour here 9 year ago and put the old 6 unit into it with the idea of putting in the 12 in a few years time.......9 years later we still have the 6 unit in takes 1hr15min to milk, were talking about finishing it off in two years time. 60k for a 12k litre bulk tank 12 unit parlour with a low line wash unit and a dump line going very basic and if there is funds left maybe a backing gate

Markcheese

I suppose a lot of lads start off with a basic set in their heads , and then it's just a little more for ACR, a little more for a flashy feed system, a backing gate in the yard, better drafting,dump
Line, ect , ect ... Pretty easy to price yrself up ....

jersey101

Trying to work out what size of a collecting yard i need so i can order a backing gate. Does anyone know what the regulations are for collecting yards i.e. The area a cow needs or else the area of the cow. Need to make one for 150 cows

grazeaway

jersey101 wrote: »

Trying to work out what size of a collecting yard i need so i can order a backing gate. Does anyone know what the regulations are for collecting yards i.e. The area a cow needs or else the area of the cow. Need to make one for 150 cows

Right down at the end

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/farmingschemesandpayments/farmbuildings/farmbuildingspecifications/pdfversions/S103%20September%202011.pdf