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

Timmaay wrote: »

Took afew samples this morning of the maize, 1st cut and afew bales. Not expecting much either, however given we'll only produce about 5% of our yearly milk supply off silage I don't hugely care. Have I mentioned before ditching the autumn calvers is the best thing we ever did ha?

you did once or twice

Just saw the map in last weeks IFJ. I wasn't looking for a conspiracy but it was very skewed. There seemed very few Glanbia suppliers in comparison to the counties of Kerry, Cork and Limerick. Which would mean largely, Kerry and Dairygold, maybe West Cork also.
Actually IFJ of last Sat week.

Mooooo wrote: »

Tight on space here but I dried off some of the cows in better nick for just 6 weeks the last few years and yields were back 500 to 1k litres the following lactation. Now they went back in calf and held condition but yield was hit. As a have a fair few empties I'll dry off all the spring herd by mid Dec this year

Would the lost litres have been due to diet when dry? Might be too much to ask for them to repair udder in that time if only on silage...

Most cows are back 500 litres due to the terrible spring we had. People who were lucky enough to have maize or whole crop to feed until may had no problems.

Dried off 8 this morning and 3 going to factory from parlour this evening, nearly a row less

blackdog1 wrote: »

Maybe if you have them on an indoor diet and in good condition but Definitely not on grass only

I was speaking to a nutritionist during the week about this. What would you consider a proper dry cow diet? Roughly what sort of energy levels? Would you add protein of the type that will be in milking diet? How important is straw?

farmertipp wrote: »

And what advice did he give?

I'm trying to pick other people's brains without colouring the debate with this lads advice. A few people have mentioned the need for specific dry cow diets and how getting it wrong can effect the following lactation. I'm just trying to get an outline of what people think is the correct approach. I'll post what the nutritionist had to say later if there's still an interest. He was working for a feed company so there's always a question if you're being steered in a certain direction.

Mooooo wrote: »

I'll look up the diet later but dries here would be on about 1 to 2kg straw, 6 to 7kg grass silage 2 to 3 kg maize minerals as maybe a kg of maize balancer or less of soya depending on silage/maize results and amount of each that's there. Around the 12/13 kg dm total, 14% p in or around

What sort of me/ufl?

Mooooo wrote:

I'll look up the diet later but dries here would be on about 1 to 2kg straw, 6 to 7kg grass silage 2 to 3 kg maize minerals as maybe a kg of maize balancer or less of soya depending on silage/maize results and amount of each that's there. Around the 12/13 kg dm total, 14% p in or around

I wouldn't feed maize myself. Straw is a must. 1-2 kg of barley oats mix and I add soya hulls if protein is low in silage. I put cal mag and lime in mix to cover for milk fever. Cows get mineral bolus at dry off and I put iodine tablets in the water too.

blackdog1 wrote: »

Mooooo wrote:

I'll look up the diet later but dries here would be on about 1 to 2kg straw, 6 to 7kg grass silage 2 to 3 kg maize minerals as maybe a kg of maize balancer or less of soya depending on silage/maize results and amount of each that's there. Around the 12/13 kg dm total, 14% p in or around

I wouldn't feed maize myself. Straw is a must. 1-2 kg of barley oats mix and I add soya hulls if protein is low in silage. I put cal mag and lime in mix to cover for milk fever. Cows get mineral bolus at dry off and I put iodine tablets in the water too.

Feed it most years, it could be 60/40 grass maize silage in milkers diet so helps them transition in. Lack the space for a proper transition group at the min so keep the ones closest in calving date near the milkers and if a good number are near may put a bit of the milkers mix out there

freedominacup wrote: »

I'm trying to pick other people's brains without colouring the debate with this lads advice. A few people have mentioned the need for specific dry cow diets and how getting it wrong can effect the following lactation. I'm just trying to get an outline of what people think is the correct approach. I'll post what the nutritionist had to say later if there's still an interest. He was working for a feed company so there's always a question if you're being steered in a certain direction.

My dry cow diet is nothing fancy .it starts with drying off the cow in near the same condition I want her calving down .i take a few dungs in early November to test for fluke worms and will dose or not dose based on results .all cows done for lice .straight after calving cows are left out on some scrub for a few days with ad lib access to straw and water and 2/3 kg wirey silage .after that cows onto cubicles and ad lib silage which is >73 Dmd this year and straw 2 kg .pre calver minerals offered at 120 gramms per head per day from Xmas week .week before calving onto straw beds same silage /straw and add 1 cc lugiols iodine to water .feed no meal till they hit parlour .no issues ,biggest problem is stopping cows getting over fat on later calvers ,then I decrease silage and feed 3/4 kg straw .2 big things ,cows in correct bcs at drying off and maintaining it ,straw in diet and dry cow minerals

Mooooo wrote: »

It's the advisor puts these diets together for me now so still taking what I can from them, I still have a lot to learn
There are three figures measured in Mcal/kg, NEL, MEM, and NEG. For one diet he made up which doesn't have maize in it as it's the only one I have on the phone, grass silage, straw and kg of meal, the NEL was 1.4, the MEM was 1.42 and the NEG was 0.78. Not sure which one correlates to me/ufl. Something I must go thru with him. Now there have been times were cows were in the hay shed and all they'd get is a bale of silage as diet feeder wouldn't go there but they would tend to be long term dries, and did fine

There's 1.7 mcals of nel in a ufl. Neg/m just get different conversion efficiencies applied to me.

Haven't put straw into dry cows diet here in years, no issues with milk fever, twisted stomachs retained cleanings. Cows are just on ab lib silage 68-70 DMD and a basic pre calver mineral. i think BCS is the most important thing to get right. No meal to dry cows bar a small batch of thin cows that get a couple of kgs of barley to improve condition.
not convinced about how important straw is, I think most cows would get on grand without it, probably has a role to reduce overall k content in diet where grass silage is high in k.

Only 2 non negotiable targets here, closing cover and Bcs at drying. Cows see dried for 6 weeks with any cows under conditioned dried earlier. Cows carrying twins are tagged at the scan, dried for 12 weeks with the best quality milking cow silage fed to them for the first 6 weeks dry.

All our dry cow silage is bought in bales or on the shank so quality isn't reliable. We just keep it piled into them. Have hay this year and will fire that in early to free up shed for calves, unless someone wants to buy it.

No minerals of any kind fed to cows. No calving problems beside the usual feet or head down. Nobody sees cows from midnight till 5.30 am during calving and we only lost 2 calves at night this spring.

Down to 6 autumn ladies in waiting and haven't seen 1 calve yet. They're on straw bed and we just check them morning and evening.