Putting empty cows back incalf

Dakota Dan

Is it a waste of time trying putting these back incalf?

Mooooo

Depends on where you are. If trying to build up numbers they can serve a purpose. If in winter milk and they are only rolling over 6 months they should milk fine till dry off. Keep8ng condition off them would be a problem and if rolling from spring to spring they may well dry themselves off.
Compare to alternative, every 2 empty cows sold may buy an incalf animal for the coming spring and you'll have more milk going out the gate

Hard Knocks

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Is it a waste of time trying putting these back incalf?

Dry suckler cows?
If so I’d normally say sell & buy back incalf, but sadly they’re worth very little at the moment

Dose, bolus, coil, AI

Brown Podzol

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Is it a waste of time trying putting these back incalf?

I did this two years ago. Put cows in calf late Dec. Calved in Sept. These were 8 to 10k litre cows and we're still yieldi1.5 kg/ms at drying off in late July. I sold them in November for €1500 and the whitehead calves averaged €250. So well worth it if you have the accommodation and forage.

john mayo 10

It depends on your system really. I run sucklers so i sent 6 to the factory a month ago and bought in replacement incalf cows and heifers. Price has dropped in factories since then so it's hard to know. By keeping them and putting them in calf means you wont have a calf to sell off them next back end.

Albert Johnson

As above I would say it depends on your system. I have limited knowledge of dairying but based off being able to milk the cow on for at least some of the extended dry period it may be worthwhile. The extra milk sales would cover some of the cost of keeping her until she calves again.
If suckling then I struggle to see how it stacks up economically, a suckler cow is already limited to only the financial return from her 1 weanling for the year. If she fails to rear a calf for the year then she has nothing to cover the hefty maintenance cost she has incurred.
Passengers in a suckler herd only erode already meagre profits and often times cows I have given second chances to have not lasted long-term for various reasons. I try to abide by the mantra of a calf per cow every 12 months.
Culls are a poor enough trade at the minute but I do believe that carrying empty cows is almost always false economy and will be something you will later regret.

Dakota Dan

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Dry suckler cows?
If so I’d normally say sell & buy back incalf, but sadly they’re worth very little at the moment

Dose, bolus, coil, AI

Dairy cows, I did it this year with 3 cows that calved in 2017 and still milking, ai’d them in may some ai’d twice but only one held.

greysides

Another consideration is the disease risk in buying in. Nearly all disease guidance you hear these days incorporates having a closed herd. While it's easy to decide that's impractical advice and bull on regardless, when it goes wrong it can go badly wrong. TB, BVD, Johne's, Salmonellosis, Leptospirosis, Neosporosis, Mortellaro, Mycoplasma, Haemophilus, Anthelmintic Resistant Fluke or worms.
Those named have serious implications as regards economic effects or lack of susceptibility to control.
Obviously all buying in can't be stopped but some thought needs to go into whether potential downsides can be ameliorated, avoided or lived with.