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Milking intervals

  • 21-09-2022 4:51pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 9


    Many doing 16/8 hour milking intervals pros cons



«1

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 28,003 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    I am. Great as I can be away out of the yard early in the evening.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,903 ✭✭✭davidk1394


    What time of the year do you start doing that ? I'm going to 13 milkings a week from the beginning of October



  • Registered Users Posts: 28,003 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    I do it all year. Milk at half 6 am and between half 2 and 3 in the evening. Have to be away 6 evenings out of 7 for football for kids.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 Farmhand285


    It's a mighty job I think farm I'm on at the minute we have the batt latch cows are in the yard waiting super job farm I was on before was a pain 7 am and 7 pm adamant cows needed 12/12



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,701 ✭✭✭dar31


    do it all year as well, cups on at 6.30 am and 3 pm

    gone from yard between 5-5.30pm.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,165 ✭✭✭older by the day


    Jays what do ye be doing for the rest of the day. It's all habit. I'm afraid I got all the bad ones, about nine at night I start



  • Registered Users Posts: 28,003 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    What time do you finish at? And what time do you get up in the morning?



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 Farmhand285


    Farm I'm on is one out of four so lads I'm working for have 4 farms 2 owned 2 leased I'm milking full time on one and have relief milkers that I organise myself for weekends and what not but always plenty to do grass measuring power washing fertilizer fencing plenty To Be at between the four farms



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 Farmhand285


    We milk at half 6 am and 3 in the afternoon



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,535 ✭✭✭trixi2011


    Milk @ 5 and 2 here need to pick children up 3 days a week so works grand not so easy to get relief for the early milking is the only downside



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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,874 ✭✭✭Grueller


    5 and 5 here. Work a bit off farm too so that dictates a lot of it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,609 ✭✭✭kevthegaff


    6:30 and 4. Always try to be finished before 6



  • Registered Users Posts: 656 ✭✭✭Pinsnbushings


    24 hrs, 7 - 7..not for everybody



  • Registered Users Posts: 11,055 ✭✭✭✭Green&Red


    7 & 3 here, can be out the gap at 4.30 any evening it's needed. Gives great flexibility. Cows will get used to anything so long as you keep it constant



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,903 ✭✭✭davidk1394


    Clusters on here for around 7.10 and 4.30/5 in the evening. All done by 6/6.30



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭Wildsurfer


    This wouldn't be good for ones mental wellbeing longterm I would imagine. You have to allow time to switch off from the job. Even if you do a bit of work again after milking at least you can stop when you want to. And from now on you're out rounding up cows in the pitch dark which there is no need for. Its never too late to change Older!



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,931 ✭✭✭DBK1


    One local man here has his split the other way around! He’d be milking at around 6.30 am and it could be anything from 9pm to 12 midnight before he does the “evening” milking!



  • Registered Users Posts: 17,168 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    I reckon that lads with better set ups are more likely to have better schedules. That might be a bit of chicken-and-egg in that they build better set ups because they want their time.....but if you've a small parlour and it's taking you the guts of 3-4 hours from leaving the house to finishing up, then there might not seem to be much point with starting an hour earlier



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,112 ✭✭✭Siamsa Sessions


    I don't want to open a can of worms but does 16/8 have any impact on overall yield? Compared to say 12/12?

    Trading as Sullivan’s Farm on YouTube



  • Registered Users Posts: 17,168 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    Some lads used to milk three times a day! Does anyone do that now?



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  • Registered Users Posts: 656 ✭✭✭Pinsnbushings


    Those with robots would probably be averaging over 2 milkings a day anyway



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 Farmhand285


    It's mostly a crossbred herd thing from my experience on the 16/8 I'd say there would be some impact on you're more Holstein type cow correct me if I'm wrong



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,112 ✭✭✭Siamsa Sessions


    There’s be much less trouble in the world if more of us followed your approach 👍

    Trading as Sullivan’s Farm on YouTube



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 2,686 Mod ✭✭✭✭K.G.


    One thing about longer milking intervals is the next milking is slower in the spring early summer anyway. We have milk lorry at 815 and and if we milk early the evening before it slows morning milk



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,203 ✭✭✭Finty Lemon


    Not milking myself but this question that interests me!

    Based on what I see locally, the more technical farmers tend to milk earlier and be wrapped up by around 6 at the latest while the men still milking at 8pm are more likely to be more traditional. We happen to have have two dairy farmers helping out with the underage football team, one always arrives in the field before 6 ready to go with all done, the other man tends to arrive in a rush and then heads away around 7:15 to go milking. Fair play to both for the time they put in though.

    I guess its down to overall organisation and maybe a tradition of having staff in the yard? A lad on his own is more likely to drift into the later milking habit. I doubt the lads milking very late are gaining a whole lot of extra milk?



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 Farmhand285


    I suppose it's from a labour point of view too when you're competing with the building industry too with similar enough working hours bar weekends but we only just milk Saturday and Sunday middle of the day is yours obviously spring is different our shoulder if you have silage to feed out it works well everyone is happy



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,112 ✭✭✭Siamsa Sessions


    Reminds me of being in the pub after a match years ago. Could be late 90s it’s that far back.

    Two brothers, both around the 50 mark, were in the company. The chat was going on anyway, and it must have been after 10 when the elder of the two said to the other, “Come on Michael, we better drink up, we have to milk them cows yet.”

    There was a silence. People were kinda shocked that anyone would milk cows so late.

    The younger brother didn’t bat an eyelid and just said, “We’ll have one more and we’ll go then.” And that’s exactly what they did.

    In fairness, they were well-known characters around the place and I’ve heard people tell that story several times over the years.

    Trading as Sullivan’s Farm on YouTube



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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,114 ✭✭✭straight


    There is no right or wrong. Whatever works for you and your family is the main thing. The fact that all you're children are interested in farming seems like a good litmus test to me.

    I know what you mean about all these lads running all day to be finished early, too much panic and pressure.



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