Dairy Chit Chat- Please read Mod note in post #1

rangler1 · 23-06-2016 07:13PM

whelan2 wrote: »

zig zagging across a field getting the cows in. Takes 45 minutes with the jeep

does no one use dogs to get in cows, steady dogs would only enjoy zig zagging

jaymla627 · 23-06-2016 07:19PM

rangler1 wrote: »

does no one use dogs to get in cows, steady dogs would only enjoy zig zagging

Hate to see dogs around cows, no quicker way to put a nice % of a herd lame then having a dog nipping and driving them down roadways

greysides · 23-06-2016 07:20PM

Just a personal opinion.... dogs and cattle don't mix, cows with calves, dairy cows, dry stock..... all much quieter and more easily handled without badly trained, disobedient, excuses for working dogs. Only exception I saw was wild suckler cows and calves kept under near-range conditions. The father and son combo had a pack of big collie type dogs that could bring them in to the crush and then they would stay out of the way. It was the only way to get those cattle in and worked because the dogs were under control once they had the cattle in.

Water John · 23-06-2016 07:32PM

Used dog only to pick up dairy cows in the field, get them moving. Dogs drive sucklers bat**** crazy.

rangler1 · 23-06-2016 07:35PM

jaymla627 wrote: »

Hate to see dogs around cows, no quicker way to put a nice % of a herd lame then having a dog nipping and driving them down roadways

You'd imagine that a dog getting in cows twice a day could be trained, never see a dog nipping in a sheep trial.
Dogs always brought in the cows when i was young but my father was brilliant with dogs.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 23-06-2016 07:37PM

jaymla627 wrote: »

Hate to see dogs around cows, no quicker way to put a nice % of a herd lame then having a dog nipping and driving them down roadways

Aye, a dog under control is rare enough.

I used carry the dog to the field and walk with her around the cows with a lead first and then off and then on her own and then back into the tractor.

After a few years I used send her off for the cows on her own because she was calm with them and could catch her breath on the way up with them.

Most lads with dogs don't work them enough, they need a good hours work every day to keep them easy to handle.

Water John · 23-06-2016 07:46PM

Buford, great in the fall of the year when cows get lazy. You'd nearly have to go around to each one with a personal request to get up.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 23-06-2016 07:54PM

Water John wrote: »

Buford, great in the fall of the year when cows get lazy. You'd nearly have to go around to each one with a personal request to get up.

I let the dog hand out the invitations:pac:

I have a young pup here atm and am hoping to have a lot of training done by next spring, all going well.

It's a PITA having to bring in sheep on my own so I'm hoping she will do alright for me.

rangler1 · 23-06-2016 08:11PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I let the dog hand out the invitations:pac:

I have a young pup here atm and am hoping to have a lot of training done by next spring, all going well.

It's a PITA having to bring in sheep on my own so I'm hoping she will do alright for me.

Mine is twelve months old now and doing really well, very headstrong. OH is bringing her to Eamon Egan for classes and she has a small paddock set up for the homework. homework wasn't going well yesterday so i got the dog to get our biggest batch (600 sheep) we have into the pen, which was a huge battle..much easier handled when she went back to the small paddock for the ''come bye'' and ''away'' training then

visatorro · 23-06-2016 08:15PM

whelan2 wrote: »

how long were they in for? Will leave my bull in for another couple of weeks, he's not busy. Brakes stuck on in jeep this morning, cows in furthest paddock, an hours walk for me

Two bulls for eight weeks with the cows. Et one lad had all the glory with heifers for six weeks

charolais0153 · 23-06-2016 10:37PM

rangler1 wrote: »

Mine is twelve months old now and doing really well, very headstrong. OH is bringing her to Eamon Egan for classes and she has a small paddock set up for the homework. homework wasn't going well yesterday so i got the dog to get our biggest batch (600 sheep) we have into the pen, which was a huge battle..much easier handled when she went back to the small paddock for the ''come bye'' and ''away'' training then

Didn't find that he done the greatest job on our dog. She isn't a great dog by any stretch of the imagination but does her job. She is headless at times . when we had her at classes ,she couldnt concentrate in the strange environment and she was nervous because the only other times she had been in the van was when she was going to this vet because she broke her leg. She does her job tho and is great when kids come cos she's so friendly.

freedominacup · 23-06-2016 10:41PM

greysides wrote: »

Just a personal opinion.... dogs and cattle don't mix, cows with calves, dairy cows, dry stock..... all much quieter and more easily handled without badly trained, disobedient, excuses for working dogs. Only exception I saw was wild suckler cows and calves kept under near-range conditions. The father and son combo had a pack of big collie type dogs that could bring them in to the crush and then they would stay out of the way. It was the only way to get those cattle in and worked because the dogs were under control once they had the cattle in.

There's always the exception that proves the rule. A guy that used to farm near me got a gem of a dog a long time ago. As gentle with the cows as you could hope any human would be. She'd literally go around as Buford described and ask individuals to get up. I dont know where he sourced the replacements after but he used to train them by tying the young dog to the veteran. Extraordinary thing to see his dogs working. His nephew is farming the place now and I haven't been in the yard for years so I don't know if he still uses the dogs. Cows were very quiet, no sticks in that parlour.

kowtow · 23-06-2016 10:54PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote:

I have a young pup here atm and am hoping to have a lot of training done by next spring, all going well.

I used to have one of those, but eventually they start eating you out of house and home and the junior cert gets in the way.

Dawggone · 23-06-2016 11:09PM

freedominacup wrote: »

There's always the exception that proves the rule. A guy that used to farm near me got a gem of a dog a long time ago. As gentle with the cows as you could hope any human would be. She'd literally go around as Buford described and ask individuals to get up. I dont know where he sourced the replacements after but he used to train them by tying the young dog to the veteran. Extraordinary thing to see his dogs working. His nephew is farming the place now and I haven't been in the yard for years so I don't know if he still uses the dogs. Cows were very quiet, no sticks in that parlour.

I've a relative that used to compete successfully at the highest level with collies. Amazing what he could do with them...

I remember being at a wake with him many moons ago, and we were talking dogs. A guy we both knew came up to us asking for advice about his 'friends' dog that couldn't be stopped from chasing cars.
After a long pause he turned to the man and said "catch the owner and kick the shyte out of him".
Possibly some of the best advice I've ever heard.

stanflt · 23-06-2016 11:15PM

visatorro wrote: »

Bulls away last night. Anything not in calf getting the bullet. There'll always be a few but hopefully won't be many. Must book scanning. Did it through milk recording last year. Found a good few came back 'needs to be re checked ' so you were doing them twice. Don't plan recording this year anyway but it pregnancy diagnosis is a good service if it was a little bit more reliable.

Best of luck- hope you get good results

einn32 · 24-06-2016 01:48AM

Lot of Kelpies out here. My first dairy job had one but she only worked when she was in the mood! She was good to get the smaller herds moving out of the shade and especially the herd not getting meal. Also useful to get cows moving out of exit shoots. Had a bad habit of nipping cows at times so I'd just run her when she started that. She would drive fresh cows crazy though so had to stop bringing her for them.

The dog was fierce handy in the sheep yards pushing them up but was useless in a paddock. She used drive the sheep against you! I was talking to bachelor farmer who worked with a few 1000 sheep, just himself drafting or whatever and two dogs pushing them up. He said they were very good dogs though.

greysides · 24-06-2016 09:24AM

24/6/16

Recently we saw three posters close their accounts over disagreements in the dairy threads. While there is a lot of frustration and discontent with current milk prices and the processing industry, the recent tendency for dairy threads to become tit-for-tat arguments isn’t tolerable for those not involved.

All farming sectors go through difficult periods and during such times there may need to be changes in how threads are moderated.

Dairy threads are going to be more closely monitored and subject to stricter moderation for a while.

To that end we won’t tolerate baiting of posters, constantly reviving old arguments, posters with agendas or crusading for a cause.

Whether it’s discussion of the business or politics of the dairy or other sectors, we expect civility and tolerance toward each other and other opinions as diversity of opinion is needed as a source of different ways of looking at a situation.

"The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress." - Joseph Joubert

Also please be aware that what you may post as light-hearted banter can be read totally differently by someone adversely affected by the subject matter and evoke a reaction you hadn’t intended.

The ‘Off-Season’ forum, and its anonymous posting, is available for anyone to chat about their situation.

The Mod Team.

orm0nd · 24-06-2016 09:47AM

rangler1 wrote: »

does no one use dogs to get in cows, steady dogs would only enjoy zig zagging

jaymla627 wrote: »

Hate to see dogs around cows, no quicker way to put a nice % of a herd lame then having a dog nipping and driving them down roadways

greysides wrote: »

Just a personal opinion.... dogs and cattle don't mix, cows with calves, dairy cows, dry stock..... all much quieter and more easily handled without badly trained, disobedient, excuses for working dogs. Only exception I saw was wild suckler cows and calves kept under near-range conditions. The father and son combo had a pack of big collie type dogs that could bring them in to the crush and then they would stay out of the way. It was the only way to get those cattle in and worked because the dogs were under control once they had the cattle in.

if o/h left me in the morning I probarbly still carry on here somehow, but if I had to carry on without a working collie I'd think I'd sell out

presently have 4, all at different ages, (1 fully retired due to sight loss) present cow dog is 5 years old & although she was a slow learner she is now rock steady,

Water John · 24-06-2016 01:09PM

Ha! don't let the OH see that post, Ormond.

whelan2 · 24-06-2016 03:47PM

Drying off 6 autumn calvers in the morning, they will be calving in August. Start of the fun again

OverRide · 24-06-2016 03:55PM

I use a dog to get in the cows,I enjoy the walk,they're currently a half hour from the yard
The farm to the left uses a quad,whilst the one to the right use a jeep
I feel a lot healthier for it
The dog is self trained and both rounds them up and keeps them moving

Timmaay · 24-06-2016 11:20PM

whelan2 wrote: »

Drying off 6 autumn calvers in the morning, they will be calving in August. Start of the fun again

1st year ever here we will have no autumn calvers ðŸ˜. Cant say I'll miss it one bit. Athlo one bloody heifer still a month away from calving!

Buford T. Justice XIX · 24-06-2016 11:26PM

Timmaay wrote: »

1st year ever here we will have no autumn calvers ðŸ˜. Cant say I'll miss it one bit. Athlo one bloody heifer still a month away from calving!

Is she a late 2016 or an early 2017 calver:-)

Timmaay · 24-06-2016 11:39PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Is she a late 2016 or an early 2017 calver:-)

Ha both have happened here often, but late 2016 for this one, bull was well out when my dad spotted her bulling last autumn and she had to be brought up and Ai'd.

whelan2 · 25-06-2016 09:15AM

Timmaay wrote: »

1st year ever here we will have no autumn calvers ðŸ˜. Cant say I'll miss it one bit. Athlo one bloody heifer still a month away from calving!

How are your last years autumn calvers milking?

OverRide · 25-06-2016 09:40AM

Timmaay wrote: »

1st year ever here we will have no autumn calvers ðŸ˜. Cant say I'll miss it one bit. Athlo one bloody heifer still a month away from calving!

What did you do with your liquid contract?
I'm counting down the days to giving notice,and moving to Strathroy myself,they are currently looking for Spring suppliers by the way
There wouldn't be a bob in winter milk,if you want to have any sort of life or pay yourself

whelan2 · 25-06-2016 09:49AM

OverRide wrote: »

What did you do with your liquid contract?
I'm counting down the days to giving notice,and moving to Strathroy myself,they are currently looking for Spring suppliers by the way
There wouldn't be a bob in winter milk,if you want to have any sort of life or pay yourself

Will they still be looking for suppliers by the time the msa is up?

OverRide · 25-06-2016 11:19AM

whelan2 wrote: »

Will they still be looking for suppliers by the time the msa is up?

Yes

Timmaay · 25-06-2016 11:39AM

whelan2 wrote: »

How are your last years autumn calvers milking?

Surprisingly well, well most were big HOs, but most 20l+. I'd 2 that I was close to drying off and culling last week but when I checked their volume they were still doing 17l/day, they can stay there until they drop back to 12l

Timmaay · 25-06-2016 11:44AM

OverRide wrote: »

What did you do with your liquid contract?
I'm counting down the days to giving notice,and moving to Strathroy myself,they are currently looking for Spring suppliers by the way
There wouldn't be a bob in winter milk,if you want to have any sort of life or pay yourself

Liquid contract is only 375l/day, and our surplus bonus runs out in Nov most years, so I'm putting zero effort into liquid moving forward. 25 cows doing 15l/day will cover that liquid quota, it will be hit and miss if I can supply that in late Jan/early Feb but what's the worst that can happen if I end up under it for a week or so ha?

I may look into Strathroy, the lorry drives down the M11 every day which is only about 3miles from us here.

Dairy Chit Chat- Please read Mod note in post #1

Comments