Dairy Chitchat 3

Injuryprone

roofer1988 wrote: »

Thanks lads for all suggestions, was thinking there wasnt much that could be done with the slow milkers. Cheers

I use a cast gate heel. It fits nice and snuggly between the milk tube and pulse tube of the offending quarter

Keepgrowing

Sugarbowl wrote: »

If ye are training in someone new to do relief milking for a few nights away, what do ye do? Just bring them in for a milking? Leave them off??

We bring them for cows, start machine and milk first row then disappear but not too far. Return at end and do wash up. Take them back out to lock cows just to give them the lye of the land.

Do this for a few milkings adding in wash and start up procedure. We have videos done for all parts of milking from gate setup, tank operation to junctions on roads etc. We forward on this video to the person doing milking.

I found that a new milker unless very seasoned can be overwhelmed with detail if we try to go through whole process in one go.

whelan2

mahoney_j wrote: »

In for as many milkings as it takes so I can go away with piece of mind had and still have some great relief milkers here but also had one disaster of a lad

Frs sent out a lad to me who was to milk for a few weeks when I was having one of the kids. He had only helped his dad in a tie up byre and hadn't milked on his own that was my last dealings with them

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

Frs sent out a lad to me who was to milk for a few weeks when I was having one of the kids. He had only helped his dad in a tie up byre and hadn't milked on his own that was my last dealings with them

Try a polish lad who had very little English and couldn't understand what my mum meant about the red tape cows. Or another girl with so little self confidence that me as a 12/13yr old basically had to spent the 4 days while my dad was on holidays guiding her through everything. Fantastic learning curve for me them few days now that I think about it ha, but yep, never again use them.

straight

Timmaay wrote: »

Replace is a strong word. Would you not like to have a mix of both?

Of course. Life is about balance.

kevthegaff

whelan2 wrote: »

Our tm125 is very basic. We have it 20 years now. Does what we want it to do. Not much electrics etc on it

I actually think the older tractorsgive less trouble, the problem are the newer more electronic machines that were leading the way maybe 10 years ago which are basically prototypes of what we have today, all solenoid and electronics

Castlekeeper

Millionaire only not wrote: »

Don’t thing he said anything about going suckling!

jaymla627

Timmaay wrote: »

What's a large unit? 3c/l is the teagasc pm rule of thumb for contracting and machinery costs, which would be in around 800kl supplied. Personally I'll very happily give 3c of every litre to let someone else deal with that whole end of things. And most places there is competition between several different contractors.

3.5 c/l would be the run of it for a unit getting all work contracted out bar feeding which wouldnt be included and of course you would only be talking about a 90 day winter, the contractor costs for a lad getting 300 days plus at grass and another case where cows are lucky to manage 240 days and 5 months plus winter feed needs to be made would be easily 2 cent a litre our more

whelan2

Buford T. Justice XIX wrote: »

Sell her or put up with it, I think.

We have a very slow one here this year. She's milked in the last round while we wash the clusters and she's just done when the last cluster, bar hers, is washed.

The joy of realising she stood on the milk pipe and the cluster fell off:eek:

Castlekeeper

Say my name wrote: »

Fertilizer not spread on the last round so cows grazing grass with only it's own reserve of soil nitrogen.
Milk urea staying around 25.

Happy with that. Cows content.
Conditions perfect for soil life. Wet and warm.

That's all well and good, but you're now automatically out of contention for any Teagssc Grass awards :P
I'm not sure it can be called soil nitrogen though if you only stopped spreading on artificial N I'm the last few weeks, more a build up and reserve of artificial N which is normal in July with good soil temperatures and moisture.

Buford T. Justice XIX

My first time getting the FRS to do the milking was when we were getting married. He came for just short of 3 weeks and did a great job though the parlour was old and awkward.

He's still coming here though now he does all the slurry here and we were the first place he was asked to work in after he bought his first tanker.

Most of the milkers we have had have been good to excellent bar one lad who didn't milk out a slow cow for a few days and she ended up with mastitis after it and nearly died.

One big advantage is the milkers are fully insured so if inhibitors go into the tank, it's the FRS insurance that pays out. And the fees are tax deductible as well where cash going out the gate still has to be taxed probably at the higher rate.

Base price

Base price wrote: »

AI man inserted prid's into 2 cows and a cidr into a heifer last Monday. I injected them with 2ml of estrumate today. I have to take the prid's/cidr out tomorrow. Is there anything I should know about taking them out or is it just a case of pulling gently on the string.

When I put them into the crush last Thursday to take out the prids/cidr I couldn't find the strings on one of the prids. I checked into her vulva with a clean glove dowsed in liquid paraffin as far as my fore/middle finger could reach but no sign of a string.
Our AI man was here yesterday as the other two were bulling and I asked him to check her out to see if the prid was still in place. We ran her into the crush and low and behold the feckin strings were hanging outta her.

I've checked her this morning and evening and she isn't showing any signs of bulling?
Any suggestions?

Mooooo

Base price wrote: »

When I put them into the crush last Thursday to take out the prids/cidr I couldn't find the strings on one of the prids. I checked into her vulva with a clean glove dowsed in liquid paraffin as far as my fore/middle finger could reach but no sign of a string.
Our AI man was here yesterday as the other two were bulling and I asked him to check her out to see if the prid was still in place. We ran her into the crush and low and behold the feckin strings were hanging outta her.

I've checked her this morning and evening and she isn't showing any signs of bulling?
Any suggestions?

TIs normally 48 hours after removal so she may come in tomorrow. Dunno if leaving it in longer makes any difference bar delaying the onset of oestrous till after removal

Base price

Mooooo wrote: »

TIs normally 48 hours after removal so she may come in tomorrow. Dunno if leaving it in longer makes any difference bar delaying the onset of oestrous till after removal

AI man reckons same and fingers crossed she be on sometime tomorrow. She is a pbr SH.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Base price wrote: »

When I put them into the crush last Thursday to take out the prids/cidr I couldn't find the strings on one of the prids. I checked into her vulva with a clean glove dowsed in liquid paraffin as far as my fore/middle finger could reach but no sign of a string.
Our AI man was here yesterday as the other two were bulling and I asked him to check her out to see if the prid was still in place. We ran her into the crush and low and behold the feckin strings were hanging outta her.

I've checked her this morning and evening and she isn't showing any signs of bulling?
Any suggestions?

Did you give her a shot of estrumate when you removed the PRID the same as the others? That's what releases the egg for fertilisation.

alps

Hope I dont upset top many, but one of the hardest things I find coping with in farming is how short the Summer is.
From today, we are just 2 rotations away from lengthening rotation, building covers, and setting up for winter..

We're just hitting the start of the summer holiday period in any other profession..

awaywithyou

alps wrote: »

Hope I dont upset top many, but one of the hardest things I find coping with in farming is how short the Summer is.
From today, we are just 2 rotations away from lengthening rotation, building covers, and setting up for winter..

We're just hitting the start of the summer holiday period in any other profession..

very true... i think that the fact we had very very good weather right from when the clocks went forward at the end of the March upto the longest day meant that the time went that little bit quicker for us farmers as we were able to get out doing things everyday without interruption....?

Mooooo

Anyone else with dairymaster tanks, do ye find the clips for the wash cap pop open during the wash? No matrwr what way I adjust them they open most of the time. I put it on now so the valve handle opens over one and have a small drum put underneath it to stop the other clip from opening but one lorry driver doesn't do it and I have to put the tank washing again. Pia at times

degetme

Lads I have a paddock I want to reseed but there is a crop of old mature meadow grass gone to seed on it. Planning on baleing it for dry cow feed. Would Gallup at 6l per hectare kill the old grass and bale 5 days after spraying or should I just spray the regrowth after baleing
I've another 5 paddocks recently grazed ready for spraying but the above paddock is out of place as regards timing

Say my name

degetme wrote: »

Lads I have a paddock I want to reseed but there is a crop of old mature meadow grass gone to seed on it. Planning on baleing it for dry cow feed. Would Gallup at 6l per hectare kill the old grass and bale 5 days after spraying or should I just spray the regrowth after baleing
I've another 5 paddocks recently grazed ready for spraying but the above paddock is out of place as regards timing

Why spray at all?
You could just plough the sod and reseed.

Tbh myself I wouldn't be in favour of spraying off grass that would be grazed or made into hay/silage and end up in a cow's stomach.
It's looking for trouble and disrupting the gut microbiome. You're at risk of harming the immune system and maybe even passing it on to the developing in utero progeny.
If the choice is there to leave off the spray. I'd leave it off. It's a free world though..

alps

Say my name wrote: »

Why spray at all?
You could just plough the sod and reseed.

Tbh myself I wouldn't be in favour of spraying off grass that would be grazed or made into hay/silage and end up in a cow's stomach.
It's looking for trouble and disrupting the gut microbiome. You're at risk of harming the immune system and maybe even passing it on to the developing in utero progeny.
If the choice is there to leave off the spray. I'd leave it off. It's a free world though..

Glyphosate is completely safe. There is absolutely no risk in feeding this other than from poisonous weeds.

I wouldn't do it myself though🤔

Say my name

alps wrote: »

Glyphosate is completely safe. There is absolutely no risk in feeding this other than from poisonous weeds.

I wouldn't do it myself though🀔

Well they're out paying human claimants now willy nilly atm.

But personal responsibility comes into it as always. Well it should.
You should always ask yourself if there's another lesser risk of doing of job.
We are eating all this stuff after all.

yosemitesam1

degetme wrote: »

Lads I have a paddock I want to reseed but there is a crop of old mature meadow grass gone to seed on it. Planning on baleing it for dry cow feed. Would Gallup at 6l per hectare kill the old grass and bale 5 days after spraying or should I just spray the regrowth after baleing
I've another 5 paddocks recently grazed ready for spraying but the above paddock is out of place as regards timing

Spray before baling. Cutting can cause weeds to go into shock and regrow over a longer timeframe missing the spray

Base price

Buford T. Justice XIX wrote: »

Did you give her a shot of estrumate when you removed the PRID the same as the others? That's what releases the egg for fertilisation.

I gave them each a shot of estrumate on Wednesday and took the prids out on Thursday.

Neddyusa

alps wrote: »

Glyphosate is completely safe. There is absolutely no risk in feeding this other than from poisonous weeds.

I wouldn't do it myself though🤔

Why not?

whelan2

Base price wrote: »

I gave them each a shot of estrumate on Wednesday and took the prids out on Thursday.

I would go another shot of estrumate 11 days after the last one

Mooooo

Neddyusa wrote: »

Why not?

Getting caught with rain would be an issue, could go to ****e

alps

Neddyusa wrote: »

Why not?

Concerned for rumen microbial function in the cows even though I've never seen proof of it as causing a problem to the animals. We just try to limit damage to soil and rumen microbes where we can make that decision to do so..

Neddyusa

alps wrote: »

Concerned for rumen microbial function in the cows even though I've never seen proof of it as causing a problem to the animals. We just try to limit damage to soil and rumen microbes where we can make that decision to do so..

Yep - Id share the same concern and even though I have sprayed off 4 days before mowing in the past - I wouldn't do it now.

I would be much more concerned about using glyphosate for desiccation of crops that go straight into the human food chain though. :cool:

GrasstoMilk

Base price wrote: »

I gave them each a shot of estrumate on Wednesday and took the prids out on Thursday.

You serve 48 hours after prid out regardless if they are bulling or not.