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

mahoney_j

Timmaay wrote: »

Throughout the summer, at what stage do you change, and to what? We've always fed calves meal here during their 1st year but it's very ad hoc, 1/2 bucket/bag of meal ha, and buying the 5 25 bags at a ripoff price a time from Glanbia.

Yep at just 1 kg though and it stands to them .theyll be on that till end first week Jan and then nothing till they hit parlour in 2018

Buford T. Justice XIX

Rain just starting here and it's gone bitter cold here with the last hour.

Land has gone rock hard and I'm finding it hard to roll silage ground so a good sup would be welcome.

And a couple of big bags of heat wouldn't go astray after that either.

Milked out

Once it stops at again

Kovu

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Rain just starting here and it's gone bitter cold here with the last hour.

Land has gone rock hard and I'm finding it hard to roll silage ground so a good sup would be welcome.

And a couple of big bags of heat wouldn't go astray after that either.

Will ya whist, can't even get out on grazing ground here to spread fert!

Buford T. Justice XIX

Kovu wrote: »

Will ya whist, can't even get out on grazing ground here to spread fert!

Different strokes for different folks.:)

We need rain here every week to keep grass growing, especially when there is good drying like we have had the last 2 weeks.

trixi2011

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Kovu wrote: »

Will ya whist, can't even get out on grazing ground here to spread fert!

Different strokes for different folks.:)

We need rain here every week to keep grass growing, especially when there is good drying like we have had the last 2 weeks.

Add your reply here.
Need heat here enough rain sleet and snow fallen here in the last week to do us till june

Kovu

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Different strokes for different folks.:)

We need rain here every week to keep grass growing, especially when there is good drying like we have had the last 2 weeks.

Different toil on different soil!

Another week of drying would be perfect here.

Buford T. Justice XIX

trixi2011 wrote: »

Add your reply here.
Need heat here enough rain sleet and snow fallen here in the last week to do us till june

Kovu wrote: »

Different toil on different soil!

Another week of drying would be perfect here.

Feck ye anyway, did ye not think of sharing?:mad:








:pac:

visatorro

Anyone feeding beet to cows still? How long does beet last once it's chopped? what are you paying for it and how do you test it's quite as quality?

Timmaay

Going straight from checking heats with the heifers to seeing if any of the springers are calving. Every year I say I'll avoid this again...

whelan2

Had 5 cows in crush for ai this evening and they opened the crush gate :eek: as luck would have it I didnt open gate to paddock properly and we had to repick the 5 back out from the cows that had been milked. Added half an hour to milking time

ozil10

Quick Question

any help would be appreciated

Bulk tank is nearly full by collection at the moment and was just wondering is there a cheap alternative to store say 500 to 800 litres surplus milk for collection. hope to be putting up new parlour in the next year as currently milking 75 cows in 6 unit parlour. any ideas besides going for second hand tank that i would be getting rid of again or is there good value to be got in second hand tanks at the moment

Cheers

Timmaay

ozil10 wrote: »

Quick Question

any help would be appreciated

Bulk tank is nearly full by collection at the moment and was just wondering is there a cheap alternative to store say 500 to 800 litres surplus milk for collection. hope to be putting up new parlour in the next year as currently milking 75 cows in 6 unit parlour. any ideas besides going for second hand tank that i would be getting rid of again or is there good value to be got in second hand tanks at the moment

Cheers

Whereabouts are ya based? I got a mobile tanker that did jsut this job before I got in the new bulk tank, it had no cooler or anything on it but I use to fill it with cold milk from the main tank jsut before the final milking, using a submersible pump. I've no real use for the tank at the second, feel free to borrow it if you only need it to get you through the peak in June, I'm in Wicklow.

ozil10

Timmaay wrote: »

Whereabouts are ya based? I got a mobile tanker that did jsut this job before I got in the new bulk tank, it had no cooler or anything on it but I use to fill it with cold milk from the main tank jsut before the final milking, using a submersible pump. I've no real use for the tank at the second, feel free to borrow it if you only need it to get you through the peak in June, I'm in Wicklow.

Cheers Timmaay
I am down in Cork, where did you get the mobile tanker and was there any problem holding the milk in the tanker, my collection is usually around two or three in the afternoon

Timmaay

ozil10 wrote: »

Cheers Timmaay
I am down in Cork, where did you get the mobile tanker and was there any problem holding the milk in the tanker, my collection is usually around two or three in the afternoon

I use to put it in at 5pm and it wouldnt be collected until about 4am! Never an issue with temperature or tbcs etc. My dad got the tanker about 10/15years ago 2nd hand, it actually came with a mobile refrigeration unit And compressor, but neither were in great nick so were scrapped. I've heard of lads that stuck for milk storage they end up leaving it in the jars for an hr or so until the milkman came ha, that was a step too far for me defo ha.

Dawggone

A steering wheel attendant comes up to me earlier complaining that he got sunburned through the cab glass yesterday (it was 28*), so can he take a half day...I'm a quiet man.

Planting maize for forage to be harvested in 120 days.

mahoney_j

Dawggone wrote: »

A steering wheel attendant comes up to me earlier complaining that he got sunburned through the cab glass yesterday (it was 28*), so can he take a half day...I'm a quiet man.

Planting maize for forage to be harvested in 120 days.

Steering wheel attendant ......lol

Milked out

whelan2 wrote: »

Had 5 cows in crush for ai this evening and they opened the crush gate :eek: as luck would have it I didnt open gate to paddock properly and we had to repick the 5 back out from the cows that had been milked. Added half an hour to milking time

Add your reply here.
Same thing happened me but all cows in field before I realised was 2nd day ai and 7 in crush....

Milked out

Second Tanker came late, waiting for tank to wash now, was planning on hitting fert early and all, balls

whelan2

ozil10 wrote: »

Cheers Timmaay
I am down in Cork, where did you get the mobile tanker and was there any problem holding the milk in the tanker, my collection is usually around two or three in the afternoon

Be very careful if leaving spare tank outside with milk in it in daylight hours, what Timmaay was doing worked well as tamker driver was coming during the night and night time temps wouldnt be as high

Charliebull

how bare do you guys graze the paddocks in the first rotation. Last years covers and want to fertilize behind them

ozil10

whelan2 wrote: »

Be very careful if leaving spare tank outside with milk in it in daylight hours, what Timmaay was doing worked well as tamker driver was coming during the night and night time temps wouldnt be as high

Ya that thought had occured to me alright and where collection is would have direct sunlight as well, so not too sure what ill do,

Brown Podzol

ozil10 wrote: »

Ya that thought had occured to me alright and where collection is would have direct sunlight as well, so not too sure what ill do,

There's a charge for every day collection with DG but it was never collected here. If the truck is passing anywhere near you they come and take enough to get you sorted. If you are buying a new tank for the new parlour you could do worse than do the deal now, the phones are not exactly jumping off the hook now, and whoever you do the deal with will set you up with a small secondhand tank foc until you are ready to proceed with the new parlour.

Milked out

Charliebull wrote: »

how bare do you guys graze the paddocks in the first rotation. Last years covers and want to fertilize behind them

As tight as u can, 4cm if possible. As frazz used to say here the first round is for the grass and the rest are for the cows

keep going

Proteins seem ti be very good this year, running plus 3.6 and its not just me

Milked out

Down at 3.4 here, was at 3.6 last year for early May. Tighter on grass this year so more meal going in however I have also culled all rollovers and have 10 less autumn calvers milking so that could be it. Took a while to recover from being housed in early and mid april as well

simx

mines down at 3.32 last collection, rising every collection though, bf is low though, any ideas? would access to straw after milking help a bit?

Panch18

The brother was working out there that the bad weather at end of March and April has cost us north of 15k on a 140 cow herd, and it could well end up at more than that

Has anyone else worked out how much the bad weather cost them?

the main factors we took account of were:

1) a huge amount more nuts used - probably 2.5 times what we would usually use
2) about 150 round bales used that wouldn't have normally been
3) protein fell through the floor in the last test in March and the first few in April - will cost us a fair bit per litre
4) yields down by having them indoors
5) a huge fertiliser bill and f##k all grass grown for it
6) will probably have to buy in silage for next winter as we don't think we'll get the yield that we would normally

Milked out

simx wrote: »

mines down at 3.32 last collection, rising every collection though, bf is low though, any ideas? would access to straw after milking help a bit?

You could leave it there if they want to pick at it but it's just grass combined with this stage of lactation causing it there isn't a whole pile u can do for it really. Just make sure they're health otherwise no acidosis or anything

Timmaay

Panch18 wrote: »

The brother was working out there that the bad weather at end of March and April has cost us north of 15k on a 140 cow herd, and it could well end up at more than that

Has anyone else worked out how much the bad weather cost them?

the main factors we took account of were:

1) a huge amount more nuts used - probably 2.5 times what we would usually use
2) about 150 round bales used that wouldn't have normally been
3) protein fell through the floor in the last test in March and the first few in April - will cost us a fair bit per litre
4) yields down by having them indoors
5) a huge fertiliser bill and f##k all grass grown for it
6) will probably have to buy in silage for next winter as we don't think we'll get the yield that we would normally

Escaped the worst of it here, 90cows and probably 3k in extra silage/nuts over normal springs and another grand or so in lost milk, the unknown figure is how much loss in growth from the big of damage done having cows out days they shouldn't have been. The main saving grace is despite the extra silage used this spring I'm still carrying over a pit and a 1/2 of silage to next winter, some of it is from 2014, we've bought in a decent bit last 2 years at a much lower cost and hassle than trying to grow it ourselves and renting more ground etc, it certainly helped offset the tax bill in 2014 also. Soyahulls at 16c/kgdm are a very competitively priced alternative if I end up short on feed this winter, however by the sounds of other local farmers nobody is any mood to drive things on so I would say I'll have no issues picking up silage locally, either from the paddock or bales next winter. A spring to forget definitely, but on the back of a perfect 2015 I'm not complaining too much, give it this combination over summer 2012/spring 2013 anyday.