Dairy Chit Chat- Please read Mod note in post #1

Base price

Last year I loaned my milk replacer mixer to a neighbor. I warned him to wash and clean it out properly, to leave the lid loose and tap open during feeds. He dropped it back to me on Wednesday morning and its pink inside
I asked a local dairy farmer if he had anything to clean it and he gave me a granular powder to mix with water. I tried it -left it sitting in the mixer for a day and scrubbed it with a nail brush - but it's made feck all difference. I sprayed the inside with household mildew/mould remover, scrubbed it and had a bit of success.
Any suggestions as to what I can use as I need to use it in the next few days as calf numbers increase. My arm is getting sore mixing powder to 23 calves :rolleyes:

pedigree 6

Descaler liquid. Could try with hot water as well.
But don't get this on your skin, as will burn and do serious damage or inhale.

If you ask in coop or agri store you should get it in 5litre container.
If that doesn't work nothing will.

Forgot to add: mix with water.

trixi2011

Base price wrote: »

Last year I loaned my milk replacer mixer to a neighbor. I warned him to wash and clean it out properly, to leave the lid loose and tap open during feeds. He dropped it back to me on Wednesday morning and its pink inside
I asked a local dairy farmer if he had anything to clean it and he gave me a granular powder to mix with water. I tried it -left it sitting in the mixer for a day and scrubbed it with a nail brush - but it's made feck all difference. I sprayed the inside with household mildew/mould remover, scrubbed it and had a bit of success.
Any suggestions as to what I can use as I need to use it in the next few days as calf numbers increase. My arm is getting sore mixing powder to 23 calves :rolleyes:

No matter how many times we wash ours mixer out at the end of the season the same thing happens . Have had some success with a dish washer tablet

Base price

trixi2011 wrote: »

No matter how many times we wash ours mixer out at the end of the season the same thing happens . Have had some success with a dish washer tablet

At the end of the season I always clean it out with a strongish mix of opticide disinfectant, leave the lid sitting on top (not closed) and the tap open and never had the problem.
I will try a dishwasher tablets and if that doesn't work get some descaler liquid.

trixi2011

had to pull the plug on grazing today:[ just too wet have tried everything at this stage only about 4% grazed to date, not looking like were going to get anywhere near 30% by the end of February. How is everyone else getting on ?

Ruxin

trixi2011 wrote: »

had to pull the plug on grazing today:[ just too wet have tried everything at this stage only about 4% grazed to date, not looking like were going to get anywhere near 30% by the end of February. How is everyone else getting on ?

Cows out today and going out tonight hardly anything grazed here so far tried getting them out a few times during the week but they where just making to much of a mess hopefully things improve from here on.

keep going

trixi2011 wrote: »

had to pull the plug on grazing today:[ just too wet have tried everything at this stage only about 4% grazed to date, not looking like were going to get anywhere near 30% by the end of February. How is everyone else getting on ?

About 6 or 7 %done but dont have alot to show for it and were only out a few dry days.in all honesty theres been damage done and not grqzed properly either.had alook around yesterday and the heavy covers are in trouble if we dont get a hard dry month soon and I fear it might have an effect on tillering .the weather with the last 2 weeks would be managable only for the preceding 3 months.no urea out but that s not bothering me either as I belive conditions are ripe for wash off

Buford T. Justice XIX

Just back from tractor shopping, not a great year to go buying but what can you do.

I finally gave up on our JD when she started blowing fuses, one for each grab of silage.

And another right scuttery day here to top it all off.

A nice 9-5 looks very attractive right now:(

Dawggone

keep going wrote: »

About 6 or 7 %done but dont have alot to show for it and were only out a few dry days.in all honesty theres been damage done and not grqzed properly either.had alook around yesterday and the heavy covers are in trouble if we dont get a hard dry month soon and I fear it might have an effect on tillering .the weather with the last 2 weeks would be managable only for the preceding 3 months.no urea out but that s not bothering me either as I belive conditions are ripe for wash off

Just walked a field of silage that should be baled by now and it's just a rotting mess...

trixi2011

Dawggone wrote: »

Just walked a field of silage that should be baled by now and it's just a rotting mess...

you getting a lot of rain over there to dawg

Dawggone

trixi2011 wrote: »

you getting a lot of rain over there to dawg

Didn't get a drop in Oct/NovDec and then since Jan2 it's broken all records.

freedominacup

Maidens out this morning. Slurry appeared through slats in the passage this morning and that was the push we needed. Attach button not working.

trixi2011

freedominacup wrote: »

Maidens out this morning. Slurry appeared through slats in the passage this morning and that was the push we needed. Attach button not working.

putting the last of ours in tomorrow have been on deferred 40 acres of grass all winter hole field now completely shagged will need to be reseeded

Timmaay

15ish % here, but far from a great clean out and too much damage for my liking, but worthwhile compromise, won't be much damage come round2 in April and at least I'll have grass then. Cows back in last two days which is annoying, backed into a corner with the easy to access dry patches.

whelan2

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Just back from tractor shopping, not a great year to go buying but what can you do.

I finally gave up on our JD when she started blowing fuses, one for each grab of silage.

And another right scuttery day here to top it all off.

A nice 9-5 looks very attractive right now:(

What make are you thinking? 0% grazed here :rolleyes: my dad always says , dont muck til ya have to muck.

Milked out

If next week comes dry thinking of putting out smaller maidens on grazing block but if conditions improved a good bit cows won't be long catching up and heifers may have to go back in as their ground is old and has little cover, and cows generally graze all ground and silage ground here in first round. would I be as well off leaving heifers in and just try work with the cows?

Buford T. Justice XIX

whelan2 wrote: »

What make are you thinking? 0% grazed here :rolleyes: my dad always says , dont muck til ya have to muck.

I was looking at a new Claas Axos 340 this morning with a FL100 loader and a 2011 MF 5455 with a loader and cab suspension for the same money:pac:

I must go to the JD man on Monday but I doubt he has anything for me atm and I kinda need it last week:rolleyes:

Claas finance is mental, 1.5% over 5 years on 39k coming in at 700 a month over 5 years.

Not really keen on changing but needs must:(

keep going

Finished up the jobs this morning around 11 and got a fit of depression just looking at the s##t weather.so to snap out I got a bag of anti depressants, that is a bag of tex screws and fixed up sheeting on a shot of gates and doors and then finally came up with a solution to a couple of double gates that were tied with wire.next after lunch came the big one , attacked the s##t corner of the shed that hasnt been properly cleaned with years.hopefully on monday we ll powerwash it and make up a couple of pens for sick calves and a place for ration bags .nothing like a bit fixing up to put you in a good mood

Viewtodiefor

trixi2011 wrote: »

had to pull the plug on grazing today:[ just too wet have tried everything at this stage only about 4% grazed to date, not looking like were going to get anywhere near 30% by the end of February. How is everyone else getting on ?

Not great didn't leave them out yet but sure hey no one has died plenty silage and tanks near full, but sure will get a few loads out somewhere, not losing any sleep over it they will go out when weather picks up, not going chasing my tail running after wires to try get grass that shouldn't be grazed as ground too wet. 5%10%30% out the window so maybe we'll be cutting bales in April! If we are we are

whelan2

Viewtodiefor wrote: »

Not great didn't leave them out yet but sure hey no one has died plenty silage and tanks near full, but sure will get a few loads out somewhere, not losing any sleep over it they will go out when weather picks up, not going chasing my tail running after wires to try get grass that shouldn't be grazed as ground too wet. 5%10%30% out the window so maybe we'll be cutting bales in April! If we are we are

Exactly too many lads going by targets for specific dates, those targets are for an ideal year -not this year- no sleep will be lost here over those dates

jaymla627

Viewtodiefor wrote: »

Not great didn't leave them out yet but sure hey no one has died plenty silage and tanks near full, but sure will get a few loads out somewhere, not losing any sleep over it they will go out when weather picks up, not going chasing my tail running after wires to try get grass that shouldn't be grazed as ground too wet. 5%10%30% out the window so maybe we'll be cutting bales in April! If we are we are

Have 20 acres of paddocks here with covers that are up over 25000 kgs/ha at the minute not a hope they'll be grazed, will get two bags of 18.6.12 when weather drys up and mowed middle of April weather permitting, a lot better option then walking it into the ground with cows and a lovely clean sward to boot afterwards...
Its not a year to follow the rulebook according to teagasc

orm0nd

jaymla627 wrote: »

Its not a year to follow the rulebook according to teagasc

and everybody isn't in moorepark either
dr. jack doesn't seem to realize that,

no cows out here, had some very heavy covers on a few paddocks took it off with sheep ,

will strip some silage fields for cows when things improve,

a bit of time involved but well worth the effort to save poaching & encourage quality regrowth,

frazzledhome

Of course it not the end of the world not to be grazing. No need to lose precious sleep over it either.

These figures are targets and getting out where possible should be top priority. Despite what ye say about JK or Teagasc these targets are there for a reason and not plucked out of the sky either.

The reason for early grazing is to encourage and stimulate growth in order to have some quality grass coming back when whole herd is calved.

I'm well aware that some land can't even be looked at not to mind walked but every trick in the book should be employed to get grazing.

It is tough going at the moment, no doubt. We are grazing heavy clay over limestone soils at the moment. The kind of stuff that you'd pay a high price for abusing. It's a balancing act between getting a reasonable clean out and not doing damage.

It involves restricting cows to max 4 hrs grazing and the minute their finished whipping them in to the cubicles. Feeding no silage and 5 kgs is the key for us.

All this silage that people are talking about will be needed during bulling in May while cutting more as it'll be gone strong is some window doesn't arrive and soon.

Met eireann are giving a hardy drier week after weekend so things may change quickly.

We've gravel land on an out farm but no facilities to stand off cows so will stay plugging here till we see this window

Buford T. Justice XIX

frazzledhome wrote: »

Of course it not the end of the world not to be grazing. No need to lose precious sleep over it either.

These figures are targets and getting out where possible should be top priority. Despite what ye say about JK or Teagasc these targets are there for a reason and not plucked out of the sky either.

The reason for early grazing is to encourage and stimulate growth in order to have some quality grass coming back when whole herd is calved.

I'm well aware that some land can't even be looked at not to mind walked but every trick in the book should be employed to get grazing.

It is tough going at the moment, no doubt. We are grazing heavy clay over limestone soils at the moment. The kind of stuff that you'd pay a high price for abusing. It's a balancing act between getting a reasonable clean out and not doing damage.

It involves restricting cows to max 4 hrs grazing and the minute their finished whipping them in to the cubicles. Feeding no silage and 5 kgs is the key for us.

All this silage that people are talking about will be needed during bulling in May while cutting more as it'll be gone strong is some window doesn't arrive and soon.

Met eireann are giving a hardy drier week after weekend so things may change quickly.

We've gravel land on an out farm but no facilities to stand off cows so will stay plugging here till we see this window

I've no figures for growth but the early grazed paddocks here have much better growth all year. More fertile soil that has poor access and better grasses on them have poorer growth.

I do what I can to graze within reason because I can see the benefits. Pushed by lack of facilities, pulled by returns on the effort of doing it.

Deepsouthwest

keep going wrote: »

Finished up the jobs this morning around 11 and got a fit of depression just looking at the s##t weather.so to snap out I got a bag of anti depressants, that is a bag of tex screws and fixed up sheeting on a shot of gates and doors and then finally came up with a solution to a couple of double gates that were tied with wire.next after lunch came the big one , attacked the s##t corner of the shed that hasnt been properly cleaned with years.hopefully on monday we ll powerwash it and make up a couple of pens for sick calves and a place for ration bags .nothing like a bit fixing up to put you in a good mood

How can u have time for that sort of work in mid feb, I'm flat to the mat with cows and calves at the moment and can't see it changing anytime soon either. My "other jobs" list is getting longer and longer, but cows and calves take priority

freedominacup

Bulk tank still running after machine stopped this morning. Must be Oct since that happened last.

Deepsouthwest

freedominacup wrote: »

Bulk tank still running after machine stopped this morning. Must be Oct since that happened last.

That's a great feeling, collection amounts rising fast here now too. Wait til we get the weather and the grass, then the milk will really flow.
Just hope we'll be able to find someone to buy it all!

Milked out

Are ye on 3 day collections? We are here still, with old tank we'd be just hitting the point where we wouldn't hold a 5th milking, new tank gives a nice bit of leeway now. Only thing is won't see the satisfaction of looking into a full tank for a long time

whelan2

Milked out wrote: »

Are ye on 3 day collections? We are here still, with old tank we'd be just hitting the point where we wouldn't hold a 5th milking, new tank gives a nice bit of leeway now. Only thing is won't see the satisfaction of looking into a full tank for a long time

We are on 1 day, 2 day or 3 day collections here. Pain in the butt as we have to leave yard set every night as we dont know when milkman will come.

Greengrass1

jaymla627 wrote: »

Have 20 acres of paddocks here with covers that are up over 25000 kgs/ha at the minute not a hope they'll be grazed, will get two bags of 18.6.12 when weather drys up and mowed middle of April weather permitting, a lot better option then walking it into the ground with cows and a lovely clean sward to boot afterwards...
Its not a year to follow the rulebook according to teagasc

How have you pddks with covers of 2500 on them?
I'd be skeptical there 2500 being honest.
Still out here grazing full time. Bit of damage done last night, confident it'll recover and it'll all be cleaned up in the 2nd round.
Milk is rising like fcuk here too