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

whelan2

Timmaay wrote: »

Had a cow scanned incorrectly in the autumn, and she only ended up getting 1 week dry before she bloody calved down again. Never got much over 20l outa her since, she is back to about 10l/day now, but in very good condition, only one place for her now...

Had a few here only dry 3 weeks, fr bull had a shorter gestation than I thought and they calved just on the 9 months or earlier

pedigree 6

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I thought it was interesting to keep an eye on the research that will be used in forming opinions on the next round of nitrates legislation.

It can't be long until the next round of madcap ideas gets thrown forward again.

Interesting alright but that study is about converting agricultural land back to pre agricultural state. Ryegrass wouldn't survive in such conditions it would be back to scutch grass, plantain (wild stuff), poppy etc that's what they want. They're just including clover as a means of taking phosphorus out of the soil so it can be fed to cattle and then it talks of recycling the phosphorus back from the cattle and returning to the land (as if it was a completely new thing).

We really are blessed with having common sense agricultural advisors in this country who know how to get the most out of land while still protecting the environment.

yosemitesam1

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I thought it was interesting to keep an eye on the research that will be used in forming opinions on the next round of nitrates legislation.

It can't be long until the next round of madcap ideas gets thrown forward again.

This is worth a look to
the-jena-experiment.de/

keep going

Well whats the grass situation, when are ye finishing and much done .stretching with silage by night on 4 kilos and grazing an outsideblock first week in april.to my mind its afc you have to watch at the moment rather than %grazed and while things are picking along growth wise its slow

jaymla627

keep going wrote: »

Well whats the grass situation, when are ye finishing and much done .stretching with silage by night on 4 kilos and grazing an outsideblock first week in april.to my mind its afc you have to watch at the moment rather than %grazed and while things are picking along growth wise its slow

Grazed paddocks are flying it, remaining ground is melting, looking at Mt craniums forecast the weather is looking pretty bad temperture/rainwise.....
If a proper bit of kindness doesn't come weather wise after next week, can see even grazed ground stalling growth wise then the trouble starts, feeding 7kg of nuts here and silage by night, with cows getting approx 7 kgs dm grass by day first round will be pushed out to the 10 th April here unless things take up

Milked out

keep going wrote: »

Well whats the grass situation, when are ye finishing and much done .stretching with silage by night on 4 kilos and grazing an outsideblock first week in april.to my mind its afc you have to watch at the moment rather than %grazed and while things are picking along growth wise its slow

Aiming to finish first round on 9th, will have main grazing block done by 29th of this month. As started late may have to buffer for beginning of round 2. A good few paddocks with a percentage of dead material cows don't want to clear. The delayed fert application and cold weather has me worried about the level of n in ground for start of breeding and it's possible effects

Injuryprone

Lost a month old calf this morning to colic. Vet is adamant that it's feeding straw that did for her. Says I should only be feeding hay, which is news to me. I thought most people are after moving away from hay to feeding straw.

What I'm wondering now is, does it make a difference what type of straw you feed to the calves? It's just that last spring was the first time I fed oaten straw, real golden stuff. Up to that it was always barley straw without any problems. Last spring, out of 20 heifer calves kept, 6 or 7 had to be treated for colic. Didn't lose any thankfully so that's why I'm only wondering about it now.

Any opinions greatly appreciated.

Dawggone

jaymla627 wrote: »

Grazed paddocks are flying it, remaining ground is melting, looking at Mt craniums forecast the weather is looking pretty bad temperture/rainwise.....
If a proper bit of kindness doesn't come weather wise after next week, can see even grazed ground stalling growth wise then the trouble starts, feeding 7kg of nuts here and silage by night, with cows getting approx 7 kgs dm grass by day first round will be pushed out to the 10 th April here unless things take up

I'm in that situation Jay. First round finished and very poor regrowth because there is an easterly wind and low temps. The ground has turned rock hard in the last week from the wind. I'm in two minds on whether to irrigate or not. Cows in by night since yesterday.

jaymla627

Dawggone wrote: »

I'm in that situation Jay. First round finished and very poor regrowth because there is an easterly wind and low temps. The ground has turned rock hard in the last week from the wind. I'm in two minds on whether to irrigate or not. Cows in by night since yesterday.

Housed here at night since Tuesday, going to have to graze paddocks nearly 2km away that are usually kept up for first cut after been grazed with maidens but they're staying in as things stand simply isn't the grass to put them out on grazing block yet....
East wind is doing serious damage here too on ungrazed covers, at two minds weather to even bother going with second round of fert this week until a bit of heat comes, heavy rain forecast for weds/Thurs on top of a cold spell could be better left in the bag, spread fert in similar conditions in 2013 and was a waste of money

Dawggone

jaymla627 wrote: »

Housed here at night since Tuesday, going to have to graze paddocks nearly 2km away that are usually kept up for first cut after been grazed with maidens but they're staying in as things stand simply isn't the grass to put them out on grazing block yet....
East wind is doing serious damage here too on ungrazed covers, at two minds weather to even bother going with second round of fert this week until a bit of heat comes, heavy rain forecast for weds/Thurs on top of a cold spell could be better left in the bag, spread fert in similar conditions in 2013 and was a waste of money

Fert won't grow much in the bag Jay...

mahoney_j

jaymla627 wrote: »

Housed here at night since Tuesday, going to have to graze paddocks nearly 2km away that are usually kept up for first cut after been grazed with maidens but they're staying in as things stand simply isn't the grass to put them out on grazing block yet....
East wind is doing serious damage here too on ungrazed covers, at two minds weather to even bother going with second round of fert this week until a bit of heat comes, heavy rain forecast for weds/Thurs on top of a cold spell could be better left in the bag, spread fert in similar conditions in 2013 and was a waste of money

Calm it down ,we had 4 months of constant rain and 10 days of dry but cold weather and we're still giving out.a couple of nice soft mild days in late March early April will transform the place .you could end up growing more grass in a week than the rest of March and Feb included .my first round has been extended to 07/04 through z grazing back Italian and red clover sward .cows get full whack grass at day and z grass with straw at night .no silage a week now and cows are absolutely flying .2 rounds of fert out (bag of urea and 2.5 bags 18 6 12 with s)and 2500/3 k gallons slurry .cows peeling the place and perfectly set up for a growth burst ..saying that I know Lots with first round ending within a week ton10 days who should be slowing rotation fast as they could end up feeding very heavy for 10/14 days due to not been flexible and reacting to afc and growth rates quicker

orm0nd

Dawggone wrote: »

Fert won't grow much in the bag Jay...

@ up to 400 yo yo a ton it's better in the bag if you won't get full kick

whelan2

Injuryprone wrote: »

Lost a month old calf this morning to colic. Vet is adamant that it's feeding straw that did for her. Says I should only be feeding hay, which is news to me. I thought most people are after moving away from hay to feeding straw.

What I'm wondering now is, does it make a difference what type of straw you feed to the calves? It's just that last spring was the first time I fed oaten straw, real golden stuff. Up to that it was always barley straw without any problems. Last spring, out of 20 heifer calves kept, 6 or 7 had to be treated for colic. Didn't lose any thankfully so that's why I'm only wondering about it now.

Any opinions greatly appreciated.

mine have been on oaten straw and have had no bloat. What meal are they on? Does hay not give them a pot belly? They will leave the meal to eat the straw here

mahoney_j

orm0nd wrote: »

@ up to 400 yo yo a ton it's better in the bag if you won't get full kick

The kick will come though and fert will have been taken in by plant and ready to pounce once temps increase .id certainly prefer spread now in good dry conditions than wait for weather to come right ,weather could turn wet etc and chances to get it out could be limited

Injuryprone

whelan2 wrote: »

mine have been on oaten straw and have had no bloat. What meal are they on? Does hay not give them a pot belly? They will leave the meal to eat the straw here

They're on the Dairygold calf starter, not eating hugh quantities yet. Are eating a nice bit of straw tho as you say. I would've thought the same about the hay. The only reason I'm wondering about the oaten straw is that it's the only thing I can think of that changed the past 2 years.

orm0nd

Injuryprone wrote: »

They're on the Dairygold calf starter, not eating hugh quantities yet. Are eating a nice bit of straw tho as you say. I would've thought the same about the hay. The only reason I'm wondering about the oaten straw is that it's the only thing I can think of that changed the past 2 years.

have used DG starter with no probs. & good results

are they on feeders for the milk, if so double check teats & don't have too high, have seen new teats faulty & causing bloat

use nothin only barley straw here (all I have)

Timmaay

mahoney_j wrote: »

Calm it down ,we had 4 months of constant rain and 10 days of dry but cold weather and we're still giving out.a couple of nice soft mild days in late March early April will transform the place .you could end up growing more grass in a week than the rest of March and Feb included .my first round has been extended to 07/04 through z grazing back Italian and red clover sward .cows get full whack grass at day and z grass with straw at night .no silage a week now and cows are absolutely flying .2 rounds of fert out (bag of urea and 2.5 bags 18 6 12 with s)and 2500/3 k gallons slurry .cows peeling the place and perfectly set up for a growth burst ..saying that I know Lots with first round ending within a week ton10 days who should be slowing rotation fast as they could end up feeding very heavy for 10/14 days due to not been flexible and reacting to afc and growth rates quicker

Largely agreed. Taking the foot off the brakes here now definitely, 70% grazed, afc 611, the 30% not grazed is as Jay said going backwards, the aim here is to plough on through that and get it grazed out, which I'll do over the next 12/14days, and round2 early April as usual. Small bit of a gamble if the weather stays cold, but worth the risk definitely.

whelan2

Oaten straw is supposed to be great for tickle factor in the rumen better than barley or wheaten straw can't see it giving them bloat

Dawggone

whelan2 wrote: »

Oaten straw is supposed to be great for tickle factor in the rumen better than barley or wheaten straw can't see it giving them bloat

Have you ever tried unrolled maize?
Mixed in with nuts it works well. After a couple of weeks they'll pick out the maize grains from the nuts. I had a problem with bloat in calves a few years ago and an old boy told me to do that and I've never had the problem since.

Agree on golden oaten straw, especially if it was poorly threshed.

trixi2011

keep going wrote: »

Well whats the grass situation, when are ye finishing and much done .stretching with silage by night on 4 kilos and grazing an outsideblock first week in april.to my mind its afc you have to watch at the moment rather than %grazed and while things are picking along growth wise its slow

Grass situation not great here either lost a lot of ground to floods, cows only getting 5kg of grass all spring one herd in during the day and one in at night. Getting 4kg of 13% meal in the parlour and a mix of silage and vita gold when inside. second rotation usually starts 10th to 15th of April up here, going to take some feed to get us to this date this year. Looking into introducing palm kernel and caustic wheat to replace some of the silage as stocks are getting low and both feeds are now cheaper on a dm bases than buying in average quality silage. One the positive side cows are milking well and ground conditions are the best they have been all year and growth is starting to get going

keep going

whelan2 wrote: »

Oaten straw is supposed to be great for tickle factor in the rumen better than barley or wheaten straw can't see it giving them bloat

Reckon my calves are very slow getting goingeating meal which I putdown to the milk.but a buddy is suggesting to feed straw tco boost eating as they are not housed on straw.never like feedi g hay or straw for that matter as it givesthem pot bellys

howdee

Dawggone wrote: »

Have you ever tried unrolled maize?
Mixed in with nuts it works well. After a couple of weeks they'll pick out the maize grains from the nuts. I had a problem with bloat in calves a few years ago and an old boy told me to do that and I've never had the problem since.

Agree on golden oaten straw, especially if it was poorly threshed.

Having mad trouble here with bloat and colic this year. Have lost 5 calves in total. The most recent was a 9 week old bull calf this morning, ran out of calf nuts and put in a bag of ration, the fecker must have devoured them as i found him as a baloon this morning.
Never had problems like this before. There on milk oad and barley straw and calf nuts.
Really feeling sorry for myself tonight with them. Half afraid to go into the calf shed. Funny thing is its all bull calves.

jaymla627

keep going wrote: »

Reckon my calves are very slow getting goingeating meal which I putdown to the milk.but a buddy is suggesting to feed straw tco boost eating as they are not housed on straw.never like feedi g hay or straw for that matter as it givesthem pot bellys

Give mine lucerne here, get the horsey stuff in local co-op really high in fibre and palatable too they go mad for it

Milked out

keep going wrote: »

Reckon my calves are very slow getting goingeating meal which I putdown to the milk.but a buddy is suggesting to feed straw tco boost eating as they are not housed on straw.never like feedi g hay or straw for that matter as it givesthem pot bellys

Just meal no roughage or dp u give baled silage? Autumn calves working away on pit silage here now cows are.out. would have been getting milkers mix when inside

Timmaay

What age do yas change calves over from the likes of gains startcalf ration to a nut? Early Feb born, eating the best part of a kg/day of it now.

kevthegaff

mahoney_j wrote: »

Calm it down ,we had 4 months of constant rain and 10 days of dry but cold weather and we're still giving out.a couple of nice soft mild days in late March early April will transform the place .you could end up growing more grass in a week than the rest of March and Feb included .my first round has been extended to 07/04 through z grazing back Italian and red clover sward .cows get full whack grass at day and z grass with straw at night .no silage a week now and cows are absolutely flying .2 rounds of fert out (bag of urea and 2.5 bags 18 6 12 with s)and 2500/3 k gallons slurry .cows peeling the place and perfectly set up for a growth burst ..saying that I know Lots with first round ending within a week ton10 days who should be slowing rotation fast as they could end up feeding very heavy for 10/14 days due to not been flexible and reacting to afc and growth rates quicker

Is the z grazers fella with a class and new z grazers j,how are u finding it? Increase in yield/solids?

Base price

Injuryprone wrote: »

Lost a month old calf this morning to colic. Vet is adamant that it's feeding straw that did for her. Says I should only be feeding hay, which is news to me. I thought most people are after moving away from hay to feeding straw.

What I'm wondering now is, does it make a difference what type of straw you feed to the calves? It's just that last spring was the first time I fed oaten straw, real golden stuff. Up to that it was always barley straw without any problems. Last spring, out of 20 heifer calves kept, 6 or 7 had to be treated for colic. Didn't lose any thankfully so that's why I'm only wondering about it now.

Any opinions greatly appreciated.

We rear a fair few calves most years and we would never offer them oaten straw. We offer them barley straw and good quality hay. If I had no barley straw I would try to get my hands on nice wheaten. I would never offer oaten straw to calves as it is too waxy.
Years ago Thoroughbred horses were bedded with oaten straw as they would never pick at it due to its palatability.

whelan2

Timmaay wrote: »

What age do yas change calves over from the likes of gains startcalf ration to a nut? Early Feb born, eating the best part of a kg/day of it now.

I am changing to a nut now as crows are going mad for the crunch

Base price

whelan2 wrote: »

Oaten straw is supposed to be great for tickle factor in the rumen better than barley or wheaten straw can't see it giving them bloat

When we were feeding factory bulls/cows we would use either wheaten or oaten straw in the diet feeder for roughage. Both are cheap sources of roughage but I would not recommend them for young stock/calves.

pedigree 6

Timmaay wrote: »

What age do yas change calves over from the likes of gains startcalf ration to a nut? Early Feb born, eating the best part of a kg/day of it now.

Rightly or wrongly I give the calves the goldgrain nuts from 2 weeks of age and never had any issues. I don't give the ration as I think it only encourages birds into houses.