Fattening Dairy Cows

hawley

Is it necessary to put tubes up cows that are being dried off for fattening?

Blue Holland

I always would with teat sealer as well, less risk of dry cow mastitis. If they have been giving very little milk and on a bare paddock ya prob be ok without but for the sake of the few tubes i would'nt risk it.

hawley

Blue Holland wrote: »

I always would with teat sealer as well, less risk of dry cow mastitis. If they have been giving very little milk and on a bare paddock ya prob be ok without but for the sake of the few tubes i would'nt risk it.

Thanks.

delaval

Why fatten dairy cows. They are a byproduct

Blue Holland

delaval wrote: »

Why fatten dairy cows. They are a byproduct

Do you put culls in factory or Mart?

poor farmer

delaval wrote: »

Why fatten dairy cows. They are a byproduct

I have a bunch of culls .the are small young cows .I tried to sell them the day i stopped milking them (2weeks ago) I could only get 400 euro for them .I just put them on a paddock and i will move them to an out farm where I have surplus grass,no tubes .So far so good.

Dampintheattic

poor farmer wrote: »

I have a bunch of culls .the are small young cows .I tried to sell them the day i stopped milking them (2weeks ago) I could only get 400 euro for them .I just put them on a paddock and i will move them to an out farm where I have surplus grass,no tubes .So far so good.

Weaned a 9 year old scuckler early July. Was getting €950 in the mart.
Brought home. Put her on a bit of rough grass, and 5kg a day of mixture of beef nuts, rolled barley and maize. Reckon she ate €95 ,eal.

Sold yesterday €1465. Bless her.
Four more old ladies, weaned of last week, and on same feed regime. Should be gone by end October.

arais

delaval wrote: »

Why fatten dairy cows. They are a byproduct

maybe the midgets you have are, for us the value of the cull has always been a very important part of cash flow



@OP we never use dry cow tubes, not even in the milkers , (can't see the point of treating a problem that does'nt exist)

had 3 in the mart a week or so ago were only making €860 , these are now dried off , and hopefully will be finished off grass and bit of 4 way mix for a few weeks before killing

completly different story from last year , loads of grass and no need to sell

Timmaay

Dampintheattic wrote: »

Weaned a 9 year old scuckler early July. Was getting €950 in the mart.
Brought home. Put her on a bit of rough grass, and 5kg a day of mixture of beef nuts, rolled barley and maize. Reckon she ate €95 ,eal.

Sold yesterday €1465. Bless her.
Four more old ladies, weaned of last week, and on same feed regime. Should be gone by end October.

Had afew culls at the mart about 6wks ago, including a 14yr old light cull (525kg), got offered 385 for her, so brought her home (if it was my choice I'd probably have left her on, but would have been war with the father ha), anyways my dads been feeding her on, with afew other culls the last month, sent them to the factory the other day, she only made 430. Certainly wasn't worth the hassle between feeding her on, and transport etc. If it was my choice any culls would be gone straight from the parlour, zero point having another group of animal on the farm which are going to produce me no margin, at the expense of grass/space for more cows actually producing milk.

Blue Holland

Timmaay wrote: »

Had afew culls at the mart about 6wks ago, including a 14yr old light cull (525kg), got offered 385 for her, so brought her home (if it was my choice I'd probably have left her on, but would have been war with the father ha), anyways my dads been feeding her on, with afew other culls the last month, sent them to the factory the other day, she only made 430. Certainly wasn't worth the hassle between feeding her on, and transport etc. If it was my choice any culls would be gone straight from the parlour, zero point having another group of animal on the farm which are going to produce me no margin, at the expense of grass/space for more cows actually producing milk.

How did the rest of them do?

delaval

arais wrote: »

maybe the midgets you have are, for us the value of the cull has always been a very important part of cash flow



@OP we never use dry cow tubes, not even in the milkers , (can't see the point of treating a problem that does'nt exist)

had 3 in the mart a week or so ago were only making €860 , these are now dried off , and hopefully will be finished off grass and bit of 4 way mix for a few weeks before killing

completly different story from last year , loads of grass and no need to sell

When you're lowly stocked as clearly you are then you'd need to add value as your output per ha is probably low.

Midgets?

Muckit

Dampintheattic wrote: »

Sold yesterday €1465. Bless her.
Four more old ladies, weaned of last week, and on same feed regime. Should be gone by end October.

Fair play that was great money for her, but don't be expecting the same price for the next batch!!

mahoney_j

delaval wrote: »

When you're lowly stocked as clearly you are then you'd need to add value as your output per ha is probably low.

Midgets?

I'd say he's referring to your jex ladies,you know the ones I referred to as Runts earlier in the year!!!!!!

Timmaay

Blue Holland wrote: »

How did the rest of them do?

3.10/kg and 2.80/kg killout, both were in good shape.

delaval

mahoney_j wrote: »

I'd say he's referring to your jex ladies,you know the ones I referred to as Runts earlier in the year!!!!!!

I know what he's at alright!!!

bob charles

arais wrote: »

had 3 in the mart a week or so ago were only making €860 , these are now dried off , and hopefully will be finished off grass and bit of 4 way mix for a few weeks before killing

by the time you sell them they will have to be killing out over a €1000 to breaking even from the price you were offered :rolleyes:, 40 days feed and €30 of deductions and transport.

mf240

[quote="delaval;
Midgets?[/quote]

there the yokes that eat ya when your on the bog!!!

Limited by land fragmentation and quota here. Most years cull price would mean the same to me as an extra two cents on all milk supplied.

Had a cow make 1600 early last year.

delaval

mf240 wrote: »

there the yokes that eat ya when your on the bog!!!

Limited by land fragmentation and quota here. Most years cull price would mean the same to me as an extra two cents on all milk supplied.

Had a cow make 1600 early last year.

You must be culling some amount of cows or your solids are low?

mf240

delaval wrote: »

You must be culling some amount of cows or your solids are low?

around 10% usually kill 5 or 6 a year and get about 6 k or 7 k

I sell almost 300,000 litres a year. 300k x.02 =6k

Solids are low 3.4 and 3.6 at moment but Cant see how solids would change the 2 cent per litre as that would still be 2 cent regardless of the price I get for milk.

The lad that buys your culls doesent buy them to lose money.

delaval

mf240 wrote: »

around 10% usually kill 5 or 6 a year and get about 6 k or 7 k

I sell almost 300,000 litres a year. 300k x.02 =6k

Solids are low 3.4 and 3.6 at moment but Cant see how solids would change the 2 cent per litre as that would still be 2 cent regardless of the price I get for milk.

The lad that buys your culls doesent buy them to lose money.

No, but that's his business. Mine is selling as many kgs solids as possible off each ha. I'm lucky to be fully stocked between cows and followers so won't tolerate and cow not producing.

As a matter of interest why are your solids on the low side? I'd say there are many with lower

mf240

delaval wrote: »

No, but that's his business. Mine is selling as many kgs solids as possible off each ha. I'm lucky to be fully stocked between cows and followers so won't tolerate and cow not producing.

I get that and being honest if they were eating grass that could be grazed by milkers I might sell them earlier.

mf240

delaval wrote: »

As a matter of interest why are your solids on the low side? I'd say there are many with lower

not breeding for it would be one thing, we are now though.

Also some freshly calved cows and rest spring calvers, herd are averaging 24.7 litres a day so kgs of solids prob not that low.Something to work on though.

Will be way over quota id say. :mad:

delaval

mf240 wrote: »

not breeding for it would be one thing, we are now though.

Also some freshly calved cows and rest spring calvers, herd are averaging 24.7 litres a day so kgs of solids prob not that low.Something to work on though.

Will be way over quota id say. :mad:

Are they on good quality grass?

mf240

delaval wrote: »

Are they on good quality grass?

grass is good well fertilized and well grazed out each rotation. Took bales from strong paddocks anytime we could. More resseding will probably help but I really think its 90% a breeding problem.

Sam Kade

Would it be worth finishing Holstein cows or would they be better off going to the mart?

Farmer Pudsey

arais wrote: »

had 3 in the mart a week or so ago were only making €860 , these are now dried off , and hopefully will be finished off grass and bit of 4 way mix for a few weeks before killing

It amazes me that dairy farmers which is the most profitable part of farming expect to get virtually the finished price of cows less the final finishing expenses for a by product of there system. The saddest part is that dry stock farmers in general over pay for dairy stock. There seems to be a problem with trying to make a profit out of dry stock farming.

I see lots of friesian cattle going through the marts at present and I cannot see any profit in them. In finishing in general the amount invested is huge compared to the return on capital. Even a very small dry stock farmer could have 100K tied up in stock and finishing costs before capital costs are included.

MF you talk about cull cows being worth 2c/litre after finishing how much would they be worth before finishing/litre you also have to factor in costs. If you disregarded the culls and put all effort into dairying would you be better off. Would these cows have made 1.5c/L selling straight away.

Arais these cows would need to kill over 300kgs to break even and 330kgs for it to be worth while keeping you are dependant on prices staying high for you to make a profit, if prices fall you will be at nothing.

grass2milk

thinking of buying fattening/cull cows for around €1.30/kg. Il buy them in March and they will be on grass until around august. How much would you expect them to weigh by then? Hope to buy around the 550kg mark, probably fresian cows. Just wondering what kind of weight I could expect to put them into over the summer on grass?

Bullocks

grass2milk wrote: »

thinking of buying fattening/cull cows for around €1.30/kg. Il buy them in March and they will be on grass until around august. How much would you expect them to weigh by then? Hope to buy around the 550kg mark, probably fresian cows. Just wondering what kind of weight I could expect to put them into over the summer on grass?

Don't know what weight you will get them to to but would mastitis be a concern if that type cow if they are getting well fed at that time of year

grass2milk

I dont think so as they wouldnt necessairly be getting overly fed. its an outside block, good dry land but has never been reseeded and, by the looks of it, hasnt been fertilised in many years so the grass wouldnt exactly be top class! I think they would fatten well on it though nevertheless

simx

grass2milk wrote: »

thinking of buying fattening/cull cows for around €1.30/kg. Il buy them in March and they will be on grass until around august. How much would you expect them to weigh by then? Hope to buy around the 550kg mark, probably fresian cows. Just wondering what kind of weight I could expect to put them into over the summer on grass?

Loads of variables to what weight gained, cows vary a good bit in quality, could be all tits or belly, I wouldn't be mad to give 1.30kg for store cows for grass anyway, all I'll say is don't buy a small cow, if under 270kg deadweight you'll be cut Nicley