Dairy chit chat II

GrasstoMilk

whelan2 wrote: »

Heading out at half 2 , will fill up drinkers and start milking at half 3. Hope to be back in house with a glass of wine before 6

We only got finished milking at 11.30. Doubt we'll be milking tonight

whelan2

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

We only got finished milking at 11.30. Doubt we'll be milking tonight

I'm afraid I mightnt be able to milk in the morning so at least if they're done tonight it wont be as much pressure in the morning

yewtree

Heading for cows at 3.30.
We actually got a bit of a thaw today, so managed to get parlour washed and water to cows.
No snow at all today here yet

Gawddawggonnit

Coolfresian wrote: »

And they get very upset if they think it's coming out of holidays or they have to pay back the day.

Daughter said to me yesterday to promise that I would blind her if she asked to go farming...:) Don’t worry I replied, we’re only working on your problem solving skills.

einn32

On OAD here. Parlour freezing so had to work quickly. Took few hours to milk but done now. I've arc eye from the snow and wind burn. It's a slog. I really hope this south coast thaw happens.

Mooooo

Feck8ng birds have taken up residence in the feeding passage and sheds. ****ting all over the shop the pricks

Coolfresian

Milking done, not getting it too bad here thankfully. Have a low roof on parlour and bought a diesal heater for it back in the winter of 2010. Put it in it the past few nights on a timer and had it running this evening. Has the parlour fully thawed and working. Would highly recommend. As important as having a generator I find.

mf240

Was just thinking if we still had quotas , that a few heros would be wondering how much milk this storm would save.

whelan2

Mooooo wrote: »

Feck8ng birds have taken up residence in the feeding passage and sheds. ****ting all over the shop the pricks

Was a mouse in our parlour this morning, felt sorry for him

Gawddawggonnit

Coolfresian wrote: »

Milking done, not getting it too bad here thankfully. Have a low roof on parlour and bought a diesal heater for it back in the winter of 2010. Put it in it the past few nights on a timer and had it running this evening. Has the parlour fully thawed and working. Would highly recommend. As important as having a generator I find.

+1.
Couple of space heaters will keep the parlor thawed unless it’s roofless.
The last 6/12 units were still freezing over with us during milking because we can’t use the space heaters during milking. Much lower temps though.

Remember to clear air lines and air compressor of water if using pneumatics.

Gawddawggonnit

whelan2 wrote: »

Was a mouse in our parlour this morning, felt sorry for him

...just for that instant before you stomped on him!

Reggie.

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

...just for that instant before you stomped on him!

Ya heartless bastard

MF290

Mooooo wrote: »

Feck8ng birds have taken up residence in the feeding passage and sheds. ****ting all over the shop the pricks

Starlings?

Timmaay

Hell of alot milder this evening, despite the storm, hopefully won't have the same carnage with frozen pipes tomorrow morning as today, took 40mins to start milking, parlour wash line and wash down pumps were too frozen to bother without after the milking, bulk tank wouldnt wash either.

visatorro

Timmaay wrote: »

Hell of alot milder this evening, despite the storm, hopefully won't have the same carnage with frozen pipes tomorrow morning as today, took 40mins to start milking, parlour wash line and wash down pumps were too frozen to bother without after the milking, bulk tank wouldnt wash either.

I'll get the machine circulating handy enough but I've no water going to parlour Last night anyway.
Couldn't get over the amount of birds in the cow shed either.

K.G.

tough going around here,plenty snow and we have had it since wednesday.milk was collected monday and was supposed to be collected wednesday but couldnt travel around here.drawing water with ibcs as it is faster than messing getting pipes going- outside of the milking cows animals arent that thirsty.will run out of dairy nuts tomorrow but will switch on to beef nuts which will give me 4 or 5 days.and calving is continueing,on account of building work i delayed bulling for a week so all the ones that were held back are coming in now.didnt get finished milking until 130 yesterday farting around.first there was a brake stuck in a tractor-parked near parlour exit for shelter and then had to get a blow torch to free out parlour and heat water.we would be flat out anyway but this weather is making things alot worse.funnily enough wednesday night was a lot worse in our place than last night-our cubicle house feeding barrier opens to the east and the snow was going right into it and cows were shook looking yesterday morning.you dont have to be tough to be at it but it sure helps:D

alps

Never, ever , buy hydraulic ratchet scrapers...

Gawddawggonnit

Mooooo wrote: »

Feck8ng birds have taken up residence in the feeding passage and sheds. ****ting all over the shop the pricks

I put a couple of ton of wheat into the fert spreader and fed the birds...mostly feckin crows that are eating it. But still...

Doctors room ghost

Mooooo wrote: »

Feck8ng birds have taken up residence in the feeding passage and sheds. ****ting all over the shop the pricks

If you were a bird yourself moo youd be in looking for shelter in fairness.you can run them off when the weather clears.every lad just trying to survive

Gawddawggonnit

Asked daughter there now would she prefer to work in -25 wind chill or 40+ degrees.
Interestingly she said the cold is better because it’s easier to warm up than cool down...

Doctors room ghost

alps wrote: »

Never, ever , buy hydraulic ratchet scrapers...

A big lump of an external metal filter to help with the freezing process. The joys

visatorro

Finished milking at twelve. Jeep got stuck a mile from yard, had to walk to get tractor, clear road best I could and tow her out. Its saying 3.3degrees now but roads impassable still. You'd be surprised it wouldn't take long to thaw but not sure what tonight or tomorrow holds.

Buford T. Justice XIX

alps wrote: »

Never, ever , buy hydraulic ratchet scrapers...

I left one running all night so the cubicle passages are ok. The feed passage though, thought I had left it on as well but never did:(

Buford T. Justice XIX

I left the cows out for water from the troughs in the paddocks after breaking the ice with the loader.

They ran down and drank their fill.

And then ran straight back up again:D

Mooooo

Still snowing here, thought temps were rising but I'd say getting colder again. Few burst pipes already.

einn32

I think we missed the storm here last night but snowed all night and day and still going. Belarus lad drove as far as he could to work in a car. Some man for driving on snow! Parlour freed up easily on one side. Water starting to come back. Hopefully be somewhat normal tomorrow. I think I won't be able to get Mondays milk in. OAD is helping. Cows seemed less shook today and happier with some ration. Loader working again but tractor won't start. Scrapers are painful at the minute. Left a trough filling with a hose trickling away. Mobile tank filled with water for heifers. I'm wrecked from walking through snow!!

Buford T. Justice XIX

The pump came back on this evening when I was bringing in the cows so the cattle should have water everywhere by morning.

Might be tomorrow before the sheep get some so I stopped the ration to them this evening. They were less than happy and are still complaining. I should be able to get some into them tomorrow if the thaw stops.

yewtree

Escaped the worst of it here got a bit of a thaw and no real snow last night
Looking at social media it's beyond brutal on some farms. Hopefully weather will pass soon, it's exhausting trying to keep everything going.

Gawddawggonnit

How did cows on outdoor cubicles fare out in the blizzard conditions?

whelan2

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

How did cows on outdoor cubicles fare out in the blizzard conditions?

Think there was a photo from the farmers journal on here yesterday , can't find it now