Dairy chit chat II

George Sunsnow

Reggie. wrote: »

A lot of moisture held in snow tho

It suffocates grass though if it hangs around
Basically no growth after tomorrow for at least the next week
A lot of frost most nights ,harsh winds and the possibility of snow from fronts eg Monday night into Tuesday and maybe later in the week
I got to 9c today in Wicklow
Not expecting that for a long while again

Not great for cows out

dar31

Not due to start till the 6th Feb on paper, 15 % calved so far. Some run of heifers. 31 hfs 11 bulls.

Mooooo

Keepgrowing wrote: »

The majority of cows are springing or so it appears. I'm sitting here wishing they'd just bloody get on with it and also in dread of what's around the corner. I'd say Sun/Mon the seal will break.

Will start off with 5/6 a day and reach 24/30 in the absolute peak. Its handling the calves that takes the real effort, the cows are the easier bit.

Calf sheds updated with a new she'd just finished. Slurry pipes coming in the morning, last big job, well not really as they don't need any input from us bar where to go. Cows out then with fert next when soil hits 8 and rising

Bring it on.

Do you start ai on cows and heifers the same day? I know some lads do heifers first to get them sorted b4 cows just thinking myself it would be easier milking with the cows calving at same time at the start? Breeding even more critical with switch to spring milk now for me

Keepgrowing

Mooooo wrote: »

Do you start ai on cows and heifers the same day? I know some lads do heifers first to get them sorted b4 cows just thinking myself it would be easier milking with the cows calving at same time at the start? Breeding even more critical with switch to spring milk now for me

Start all the same day

K.G.

lads are scaring me with cows calving early,held off bulling and first due 8th as i knew id be stuck in building and due to past experience things are always down to the wire.new roof on parlour,cublcle house and calving shed base in for the bin but no bin:mad:feeders will hopefully go in when bin comes:mad:.new dairy plastered and will have lights vacumn pump and tank compresser operational by tues evening.new feed troughs in and adjustable head rail.roof on new calf house, side sheeting and inside fit out to do.accounts finsihed monday night with bord bia inspection tuesday so a few close outs to send in and read herd test yesterday.things are getting on track but being honest im flat out to get it there.only started clearing calving house this evening.slurry tanks full and no urea in the yard.

alps

Mooooo wrote: »

Do you start ai on cows and heifers the same day? I know some lads do heifers first to get them sorted b4 cows just thinking myself it would be easier milking with the cows calving at same time at the start? Breeding even more critical with switch to spring milk now for me

Did it years ago....ended up bringing the cows to the rescue as it was impossible to hold them steady...

Same day start now..

kowtow

K.G. wrote: »

lads are scaring me with cows calving early,held off bulling and first due 8th as i knew id be stuck in building and due to past experience things are always down to the wire.new roof on parlour,cublcle house and calving shed base in for the bin but no bin:mad:feeders will hopefully go in when bin comes:mad:.new dairy plastered and will have lights vacumn pump and tank compresser operational by tues evening.new feed troughs in and adjustable head rail.roof on new calf house, side sheeting and inside fit out to do.accounts finsihed monday night with bord bia inspection tuesday so a few close outs to send in and read herd test yesterday.things are getting on track but being honest im flat out to get it there.only started clearing calving house this evening.slurry tanks full and no urea in the yard.

Reading that I feel a bit better. Not a lot better, mind.

Now back to hunting down the bucket pulsator.

GrasstoMilk

K.G. wrote: »

lads are scaring me with cows calving early,held off bulling and first due 8th as i knew id be stuck in building and due to past experience things are always down to the wire.new roof on parlour,cublcle house and calving shed base in for the bin but no bin:mad:feeders will hopefully go in when bin comes:mad:.new dairy plastered and will have lights vacumn pump and tank compresser operational by tues evening.new feed troughs in and adjustable head rail.roof on new calf house, side sheeting and inside fit out to do.accounts finsihed monday night with bord bia inspection tuesday so a few close outs to send in and read herd test yesterday.things are getting on track but being honest im flat out to get it there.only started clearing calving house this evening.slurry tanks full and no urea in the yard.

Jesus that sounds manic KG. Flat out here too but it's just getting everything ready to go. Spent the whole day fencing today and will spend another day at it tomorrow. Can get cows out tomorrow morning now at least

kevthegaff

K.G. wrote:

lads are scaring me with cows calving early,held off bulling and first due 8th as i knew id be stuck in building and due to past experience things are always down to the wire.new roof on parlour,cublcle house and calving shed base in for the bin but no bin:mad:feeders will hopefully go in when bin comes .new dairy plastered and will have lights vacumn pump and tank compresser operational by tues evening.new feed troughs in and adjustable head rail.roof on new calf house, side sheeting and inside fit out to do.accounts finsihed monday night with bord bia inspection tuesday so a few close outs to send in and read herd test yesterday.things are getting on track but being honest im flat out to get it there.only started clearing calving house this evening.slurry tanks full and no urea in the yard.

Similar to myself, bord bia inspector giving out about the mess. I replied that's the electricians gear for the wiring. Yed think they d have a bit of leeway for a lad putting in a new machine?

Buford T. Justice XIX

https://twitter.com/eamon_sheehan/status/959529080537473025?ref_src=twcamp%5Ecopy%7Ctwsrc%5Eandroid%7Ctwgr%5Ecopy%7Ctwcon%5E7090%7Ctwterm%5E1
Cheeky bugger of a fox. I've heard of an injured cow getting attacked a few weeks ago outside.

dar31

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

https://twitter.com/eamon_sheehan/status/959529080537473025?ref_src=twcamp%5Ecopy%7Ctwsrc%5Eandroid%7Ctwgr%5Ecopy%7Ctwcon%5E7090%7Ctwterm%5E1
Cheeky bugger of a fox. I've heard of an injured cow getting attacked a few weeks ago outside.

Neospora break down in the making.

Mooooo

Our dog has killed foxes around the yard, surprised how they would come so close

K.G.

kevthegaff wrote: »

K.G. wrote:

lads are scaring me with cows calving early,held off bulling and first due 8th as i knew id be stuck in building and due to past experience things are always down to the wire.new roof on parlour,cublcle house and calving shed base in for the bin but no bin:mad:feeders will hopefully go in when bin comes .new dairy plastered and will have lights vacumn pump and tank compresser operational by tues evening.new feed troughs in and adjustable head rail.roof on new calf house, side sheeting and inside fit out to do.accounts finsihed monday night with bord bia inspection tuesday so a few close outs to send in and read herd test yesterday.things are getting on track but being honest im flat out to get it there.only started clearing calving house this evening.slurry tanks full and no urea in the yard.

Similar to myself, bord bia inspector giving out about the mess. I replied that's the electricians gear for the wiring. Yed think they d have a bit of leeway for a lad putting in a new machine?

Must say the inspecter was 100% and put no extra stuff on the list i didnt have to do anyway

Keepgrowing

We're off, calving 2018 is here. 7 calved between 7pm and midnight. Nothing after 12am very obliging cows

White Clover

Keepgrowing wrote: »

We're off, calving 2018 is here. 7 calved between 7pm and midnight. Nothing after 12am very obliging cows

Will you get some grass into them shortly?

Keepgrowing

White Clover wrote: »

Will you get some grass into them shortly?

Make a burst next week

alps

What's people's opinions on cows to grass the day they calve? Some in our DG (aggressive grazers) are now decidedly against it, and hold for 2 or 3 days...

We don't have facilities to keep fresh calvers separate, but we don't have the mob numbers and walking distances of the others, and havnt had issues...

whelan2

30% calved now. Have more fr heifers born so far than I got for the whole spring last year

Keepgrowing

whelan2 wrote: »

30% calved now. Have more fr heifers born so far than I got for the whole spring last year

You'll have Feb born fr heifers to sell. Great sellers

Keepgrowing

alps wrote: »

What's people's opinions on cows to grass the day they calve? Some in our DG (aggressive grazers) are now decidedly against it, and hold for 2 or 3 days...

We don't have facilities to keep fresh calvers separate, but we don't have the mob numbers and walking distances of the others, and havnt had issues...

For us it's a no. We keep a penno group. It's fresh calvers and any antibiotic cows. Kept inside till they pass charm and Cmt, usually a week. Heifers may go out quicker if all ok and eating well. I just find small numbers to be more work out side than the return and also muck gaps as it takes many grazings to finish a paddock

Timmaay

alps wrote: »

What's people's opinions on cows to grass the day they calve? Some in our DG (aggressive grazers) are now decidedly against it, and hold for 2 or 3 days...

We don't have facilities to keep fresh calvers separate, but we don't have the mob numbers and walking distances of the others, and havnt had issues...

Straight out by day here, but getting maize and grass silage by night still. Still got 28 may calvers milking who are going out also, the way I see it is take every single day of grazing you can get in the spring, ground is dry now but definitely won't be all plan sailing.

whelan2

Timmaay wrote: »

Straight out by day here, but getting maize and grass silage by night still. Still got 28 may calvers milking who are going out also, the way I see it is take every single day of grazing you can get in the spring, ground is dry now but definitely won't be all plan sailing.

Is it not abit harsh to send them out just after calving on a cold day?

Gawddawggonnit

whelan2 wrote: »

Is it not abit harsh to send them out just after calving on a cold day?

Cows out on grass by day since Monday.
Milk tank took a hit of well over 1k litres a day. I told them to hold tough and the milk would rise. It hasn’t. Back in full time from tomorrow. Nearly €2k lost in finding out that there’s feck all value in grass at this time of year.
Drys and beef heifers out instead to set up paddocks for grazing later when there’s some feed value in grass.

atlantic mist

were on a run of bulls at moment 11 heifers and 24 bull calves

getting hit with smallemberg virus here lost 4 to it so far, anyone else getting hit, horrible thing altogether

cows wouldnt get out here till mid march, ground is sopping

Gawddawggonnit

atlantic mist wrote: »

were on a run of bulls at moment 11 heifers and 24 bull calves

getting hit with smallemberg virus here lost 4 to it so far, anyone else getting hit, horrible thing altogether

cows wouldnt get out here till mid march, ground is sopping

Are calves born deformed or are cows aborting?
I’ve the t-shirt.
There’s pretty much nothing you can do only sit back and watch it rattle through the herd.
You’ll need to be very careful come breeding season. There’s a few things you can help with at breeding if grass is very rich.

freedominacup

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Are calves born deformed or are cows aborting?
I’ve the t-shirt.
There’s pretty much nothing you can do only sit back and watch it rattle through the herd.
You’ll need to be very careful come breeding season. There’s a few things you can help with at breeding if grass is very rich.

What things? We got a small number of deformed calves a few years ago. I think we were lucky in the time of year it hit. What is the story with acquired immunity? We haven’t had the conditions in recent years for another hit but I remember someone saying that an animal who had the disease wouldn't get it again. There was an assumption that if cows showed symptoms every animal had been exposed to it and would be immune ginger forward.

freedominacup

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Cows out on grass by day since Monday.
Milk tank took a hit of well over 1k litres a day. I told them to hold tough and the milk would rise. It hasn’t. Back in full time from tomorrow. Nearly €2k lost in finding out that there’s feck all value in grass at this time of year.
Drys and beef heifers out instead to set up paddocks for grazing later when there’s some feed value in grass.

I had a look at paddocks last weekend. Covers upto 14/1500kg on some but I'm very slow to go out atm. I just couldn't see the same feed quality available outside. Where would sugars come from. Probably have to increase conc levels when we do go. Hitting the 30% by 01/03 will force our hand.

blackdog1

freedominacup wrote:

I had a look at paddocks last weekend. Covers upto 14/1500kg on some but I'm very slow to go out atm. I just couldn't see the same feed quality available outside. Where would sugars come from. Probably have to increase conc levels when we do go. Hitting the 30% by 01/03 will force our hand.

Put out fertiliser yesterday so I won't be going out for 2-3 weeks weather permitting. I'm feeding. Under 1 kg of soya a cow with silage and whole crop with crimp wheat/maize mix. Protein was dropping to 3.23 and after 5 collection since I put in the soya its back up to 3.39. Total protein in the diet was down a slight bit. Cows are currently doing 24litres 4.28 fat 3.39 protein 5.04 lactose. 50% autumn herd.

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

Is it not abit harsh to send them out just after calving on a cold day?

If it's too wet and cold to graze all the cows will stay inside (aside from 2 hr strip grazing if possible), only out by day yet, nice reasonably sunny day here now.

Mooooo

freedominacup wrote: »

I had a look at paddocks last weekend. Covers upto 14/1500kg on some but I'm very slow to go out atm. I just couldn't see the same feed quality available outside. Where would sugars come from. Probably have to increase conc levels when we do go. Hitting the 30% by 01/03 will force our hand.

For the amount you'd give them would it .and much odds?. Out for 3 or 4 hours back in again. What would they eat in that time?