Cattle housed yet 2016

I said

Will probably house the cattle in the next fortnight growth has dropped to zero here and the last couple of nights rain have undone the dry spell of weathers benefits.
I was looking at housing dates for the last few years 2015 mid November all in.
2014 2nd week of December.
2013 2nd week of December
2012 disaster this year not far off it.
Will save the ground and hope we get a decent Spring next year.
How soon are people thinking of housing cattle or are some in already?

Mooooo

Will have everything housed by the first or second week of nov

whelan2

Its giving a dry week now for this week. I will be finished powerwashing tomorrow. Cows will come in in the next week or 2. Rest of stock will stay out on outfarm- which is alot drier than home farm- until well into November hopefully

Buford T. Justice XIX

I'll be housing the heaviest of the dry cattle tomorrow before they make a right mess of the paddock they're in. I'm not too worried about it though because I'll be reseeding that one early next year, hopefully.

I have about 2 weeks left for the rest of the dry cattle and 3 weeks for the dairy cows, longer if they have to be housed by night.

TITANIUM.

Sheds are all powerhosed disinfected and ready to go. Was aiming for mid November but I reckon I'll have to start sooner than that. Grass isn't the problem it's the fecking rain. Bucketing down south today. Had to move the autumn calvers on as they were starting to poach ground. On the plus side I've plenty of silage.but once they go in here that's normally it. They don't come out again till well after paddys day.

Who2

I have 60% housed as of today. Overstocked and with the current weather they just aren't doing anything anyway. Earliest winter I've ever had.

Icelandicseige

Ground conditions are OK here. We have plenty of grass but am worried we won't get it grazed in time.

larrymiller

Will house some today. Will keep the rest out for another 3 weeks. If it was up to the old man they would all be housed after the ploughing

Farrell

Have weanlings & cows with calves at foot inside, & dry cows still out.
Dry cows doing well on the bit of picking left

Signpost

Rain has rattled ground down here so cows be going in tonight for the first time. Give then 3 hours out on grass & pull them in then with a bale in front of them. Should hopefully keep them out by day and my nightly ordeal for another 3 weeks to use up what grass is there. All down to a dry week this week thou.

charolais0153

Have a fattening cow and incalf cow in. The heaviest cows will go in soon . the weather after this next week. Weanlings will stay out till mod November if possible . and ewes till mid december

CallofGuti

Springer heifers can roam in and out. Until last two dry weeks, I was in big trouble. Heavy rain over the past 24 hours has us in trouble again. Will wean this week, put cows in and leave weanlings out until November. Tough sailing this year.

OverRide

I had a good walk around the farm just now and the ground is solid despite the past week
That's testimony to the dry summer in the southeast
I'd be confident of keeping the cows out until December this year again if there's no change
According to the radio this morning,next weekends rain might miss us
It's gorgeous this morning and a nice drying breeze thank God

Timmaay

OverRide wrote: »

I had a good walk around the farm just now and the ground is solid despite the past week
That's testimony to the dry summer in the southeast
I'd be confident of keeping the cows out until December this year again if there's no change
According to the radio this morning,next weekends rain might miss us
It's gorgeous this morning and a nice drying breeze thank God

Absolute boys ground here in the south east in comparison to what everyone has had to deal with out West this year. I must remember this while bitching and moaning about the effort of having to lob out afew bales into ring feeders in my tshirt during a summer drought ha!

I'll be well outa grass before Dec tho ha, however given the nature of weather patterns the last few winters, it can all totally change within the space of a week or so. If I can outwinter and feed outside until mid Dec I will again, however I'll have all the sheds fully ready, and won't be caught out like I was Xmas week last yr, with 30cows stuck out in the "dry" sandy paddock for about 10days too long, hardship and effort for everyone!

Mooooo

What stocking rate are ye at that ye can stay at grass till Dec?

davidk1394

Should have cattle out until December here all going to plan

RedPeppers

All weanlings + incalf heifers will be out here for another 4 weeks or so. Milkers out to grass here depending on the weather not leaving them out to plough the ground for the sake of saying I have them out. Some heavy cattle housed in past week and remainder in coming days

AdrianII

Mine are all in since last Wednesday, would have put them in three weeks ago but Only got the slurry out last week. Based in south Sligo, one of the wettest summers in a long while. Ground badly poached. 90% of animals up here are in. Luckily enough I have enough fees for see me through til April.

But it's a long winter when they are in before the clocks go back.

Sam Kade

Mooooo wrote: »

What stocking rate are ye at that ye can stay at grass till Dec?

I've 2 acres/cow, I am increasing numbers but this year I didn't buy any extra cows because of low milk price. It was a nightmare during the summer trying to manage grass. I would want at least 1 cow to 1.25 acres.

I said

Christ there is some difference in ground.On Sunday when I started this thread the ground was saturated today grass is flying on the places that got slurry 3 weeks ago and dry will keep pushing it for another while yet.
Heavy stock going to mart this week lighter stock will graze off reseeded ground.
Land will make a lier out if ya

Signpost

Hasnt stopped raining here in nearly a week. 43mm since last Friday, was only 1mm of that last night but places are well saturated now. Stuck with 3 hour grazings and pulling them in on hay. Nothing but hardship being on poor land

TITANIUM.

Jesus ground is in great condition. Just had a stroll around there and can't believe how hard the place is.
Grass is the issue now. I don't know wheather to house the autumn calvers and hold everything else out till December or graze everything out now and house the lot in roughly 2 weeks. Everything is weather permitting of course and complicated by the fact that I'm normally under fierce pressure for slurry storage come the 1st of January.

Bullocks

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Jesus ground is in great condition. Just had a stroll around there and can't believe how hard the place is.
Grass is the issue now. I don't know wheather to house the autumn calvers and hold everything else out till December or graze everything out now and house the lot in roughly 2 weeks. Everything is weather permitting of course and complicated by the fact that I'm normally under fierce pressure for slurry storage come the 1st of January.

Some ground here is drier now than it was in July ! Grass is stopped except where it's well fertilised and it's flying in those few spots .
I must get out a bit lime to help for next year and smarten up my act

Sam Kade

Bullocks wrote: »

Some ground here is drier now than it was in July ! Grass is stopped except where it's well fertilised and it's flying in those few spots .
I must get out a bit lime to help for next year and smarten up my act

It's only the top few inches of soil that is dry a few downpours and the place will be in shyte, hopefully the rain will hold off for s while yet.

Reggie.

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Jesus ground is in great condition. Just had a stroll around there and can't believe how hard the place is.
Grass is the issue now. I don't know wheather to house the autumn calvers and hold everything else out till December or graze everything out now and house the lot in roughly 2 weeks. Everything is weather permitting of course and complicated by the fact that I'm normally under fierce pressure for slurry storage come the 1st of January.

Same here as I was driving around in the teleporter filling in holes that the cattle had dug during the year. Never could get the teleporter on the land this late due to dampness

whelan2

Nothing housed here yet and we are a wet farm.

Reggie.

whelan2 wrote: »

Nothing housed here yet and we are a wet farm.

Nothing sees a shed here after 10 week's old. Your boyos are doing well btw

Bullocks

Sam Kade wrote: »

It's only the top few inches of soil that is dry a few downpours and the place will be in shyte, hopefully the rain will hold off for s while yet.

Thanks Sam

davidk1394

Only thing are the bulls that are being finished. Moved heifers onto a fresh paddock if grass yesterday. Ground is in great condition hopefully it'll stay that way.

_Brian

Housed a few small weanlings straight from mart.

Ground is awful soft now and grass grazed out.

Never wrestle with pigs

Cows out nice and clean. No grass but they were moved into a dry field that I will reseed next spring. Put out the ring feeder any they are only picking at the silage. Happy out stretched out in the sun. Hard to believe it's the 6th of November. Every day out is a bonus as I'm tight for slurry storage.

It's 10 days more out than they were ever housed here before and 3 weeks more than I ever had to go in with silage. Happy out. Ground is very dry.

dohc turbo2

That heavy rain we had a month or so ago did fierce damage around here, cows with bull calfs in since , was able to keep the replacements and cows with heiffers out , hopefully will get them out for another week to ten days . Then straight to mart with heiffers not going to feed them over winter

Who2

All housed bar thirty or so weanlings.I presume most that haven't are full time farming. This crack of looking at cattle in the dark is pure torture.

Bass Reeves

Have a pen of cattle that I ma finishing housed since last week in September. Bough some cattle last week and most of them went straight into the shed. Housed another pen of them yesterday. At present I have 14 weanling out on grass and 1kg of ration and minerals. Expect they will be out for another 3-4 weeks. Have 10 away from main farm and they will be finished where they are this week and most will go straight into the shed. I will be left with a bunch of light stores 15ish and the weanling out after next weekend. Those 15 will be out until end of the month.

tanko

What brand of minerals are you giving the weanlings and how much are you giving them?

Jexbullcalf

Milkers coming in tomorrow morning as the forecast is ****e and no grass left.

Incalf girls and calves will be out until December hopefully.

Ground closed up in super shape! I seriously hate cleaning cubicles

Signpost

First frost of the winter here last night. Cows standing in the shed with no silage for another hour here and let them off to clean out the last bit of a field they are in and thats it for 2k16! Heifers will stay out until December 8th, bull and calves got housed in the bad weather in September and there they stayed!

Bass Reeves

tanko wrote: »

What brand of minerals are you giving the weanlings and how much are you giving them?

Superchoice from Dairygold. I was told it was one of the better minerals mixes on the market. It costs about 15.5/25/kgs I think. When feeding minerals reccomended rates are 20 grams/100kgs LW usually most bakd indicate a max level of 80 or 100 grams. any excess minerals are excreated in urine so no point of over feeding. Weanlings are on 1kg of ration with 2% minerals so that is 20 grams. There is 14 in the bunch I have a steel mug and when filled it holds 500grams of minerals so that is about 35grams/head more. Feeding a bit of calcium as well.

The Cuban

No cattle housed yet but grass is tight. I`m feeding everything 1kg+ of meal. No problems getting them to the trough they come charging!!
If this weather keeps up they will see very little silage or the inside of a shed this side of christmas

Bass Reeves

The Cuban wrote: »

No cattle housed yet but grass is tight. I`m feeding everything 1kg+ of meal. No problems getting them to the trough they come charging!!
If this weather keeps up they will see very little silage or the inside of a shed this side of christmas

I could keep cattle out longer but when grass runs out they stop putting on weight. If I them feed outside there will be no regrowths on the fields they are in. I have paddocks with a bit of grass in them but aim is to have good covers on them to let cattle back out in early March. The weanlings are far from hungry they stroll up to the troughs for the ration. Was feeding 2kgs earlier in the wet weather but when weather changed they stopped eating it so I am back to 1kg/head. I am feeding it more to get minerals into them than for the sake of the ration they are getting.

4odh4n

cattle housed on Saturday (east donegal), could have stretched another week or so out of the grass but don't think there was much value left in it. they were getting 1-2kg a day for last few weeks as a top up, but also to make getting them in easier... which worked!, they followed the bucket out of the field up the road and straight into the shed! Pretty sharp frost this morning too so don't think they are complaining too much.

on a side note, opened bales of 2yr old silage to get it used up and they are going mad for it, lovely smell from it too. Wouldn't mind but I didnt think much of it last year when using it, so had held it off the finishers and was using it for some younger stock. the extra 8months has brought it round nicely... must have been on a slow cook setting! It was some grass that was attempted for hay but had to be baled up a day or so before being fit

So its back into the winter routine we go...

freedominacup

The Cuban wrote: »

No cattle housed yet but grass is tight. I`m feeding everything 1kg+ of meal. No problems getting them to the trough they come charging!!
If this weather keeps up they will see very little silage or the inside of a shed this side of christmas

Get them in once the grass is gone. Don't go back on anything grazed since early Oct. Give yourself the chance of an early turnout next spring. Every day you graze regrowths from Oct id costing you a lot more than you are gaining.

Everything bar weanlings will be in by the weekend. They should have another month out. Strip grazing silage ground with back fences. Feeding two kg of a 16% blend to them. May increase it if weather deteriorates. We're on some of the driest land in the country and haven't had a drop of rain for weeks so no strain in doing it.

mahoney_j

Cows in tonight ,another 12,days grazing during day
Incalf heifers in by weekend
Bull weanlings in Wednesday
Heifer weanlings about 3 weeks grass left

whelan2

Just did all the sheds with lime and sawdust. Grand job when the wind isnt howling or lashing rain

The Cuban

freedominacup wrote: »

Get them in once the grass is gone. Don't go back on anything grazed since early Oct. Give yourself the chance of an early turnout next spring. Every day you graze regrowths from Oct id costing you a lot more than you are gaining.

Everything bar weanlings will be in by the weekend. They should have another month out. Strip grazing silage ground with back fences. Feeding two kg of a 16% blend to them. May increase it if weather deteriorates. We're on some of the driest land in the country and haven't had a drop of rain for weeks so no strain in doing it.

Calving them outside at the moment. It never has gone better. Calves are up and about no scours or downer cows to deal with. Its a nightmare trying to keep calves healthy and dry inside in sheds. You cant beat nature to have them outside.
I`m not worried about early grass next spring, a light run of the tine harrow, a bag of fertilizer and a weeks warm weather would drive the grass over the wall in spring

darragh_haven

Housed approx 20% of the animals a weeks ago. To allow the rest of them stretch out grazing on whats left. Bales out in round feeders now while grazing as it'd be a sin to house in this fine weather. All will be housed by friday regardless of weather tho.
Need to have grass set up for mid February besides grazing regrowth now.

blue5000

Finishing bulls are in, won't be long before cows and heifers are in. Weanling bulls will be going to the kale at the end of the month.

Buford T. Justice XIX

The Cuban wrote: »

Calving them outside at the moment. It never has gone better. Calves are up and about no scours or downer cows to deal with. Its a nightmare trying to keep calves healthy and dry inside in sheds. You cant beat nature to have them outside.
I`m not worried about early grass next spring, a light run of the tine harrow, a bag of fertilizer and a weeks warm weather would drive the grass over the wall in spring

We all will have grass next spring but having enough and early enough is a whole different criteria.

jaymla627

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

We all will have grass next spring but having enough and early enough is a whole different criteria.

Getting the dry spring to utilize it is another matter all together too haha, have been a rarity here the past couple of years

GrasstoMilk

Every thing " in " here, would still be out if I buffered earlier but not going to worry myself over 2 weeks, hopefully get the benefit in the spring

Panch18

jaymla627 wrote: »

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

We all will have grass next spring but having enough and early enough is a whole different criteria.

Getting the dry spring to utilize it is another matter all together too haha, have been a rarity here the past couple of years

We have found that due to weather we have had less grass in Feb than in Dec or Jan for the last couple of years

It would make you wonder. Especially for us as it's unlikely we'all get out early anyway due to stocking rate and some land flooding