Dairy chit chat II

Water John · 07-06-2017 05:34PM

Low environment impact farming, is nor organic farming. But aspects of organics, would have a role, eg clovers, mixed grass seed varieties etc.

whelan2 · 07-06-2017 07:48PM

Sillycave wrote: »

Butterfat ha been dropping steadily the last while and can't get it back up, looking for advice on how to get it up?
It's at 2.9 (nearly ashamed to say) and never had it anywhere here this low before
Was around 3.5 plus this time last year so it's in them, they are getting between 4-5kg of 18% and not going into steamy grass
Advice much appreciated

Any improvement?

Sillycave · 07-06-2017 08:04PM

whelan2 wrote: »

Any improvement?

Haven't received a result yet from creamery, gave them hay as they exit parlour, some are eating it and others not bothered

Buckmickley · 08-06-2017 06:42AM

Lashed rain all day yesterday
Lashed all night
On top of all else last few weeks
Lashing now
Muck slop mess

whelan2 · 08-06-2017 09:18AM

Buckmickley wrote: »

Lashed rain all day yesterday
Lashed all night
On top of all else last few weeks
Lashing now
Muck slop mess

Aren't ye the ones who were looking for rain a few weeks ago

Buford T. Justice XIX · 08-06-2017 10:05AM

whelan2 wrote: »

Aren't ye the ones who were looking for rain a few weeks ago

Beautiful here yesterday, light, warm, persistent rain all day. Shallow fields starting to look better and should be growing a nice piece of grass in the next two weeks.

Saying that, we seem to have escaped the heaviest of the rain. The cows were in a field that's half bog and there wasn't a mark on it bringing out the cows yesterday evening.

Timmaay · 08-06-2017 11:42AM

whelan2 wrote: »

Aren't ye the ones who were looking for rain a few weeks ago

Buck are you in the South East also? Cows all standing at the gap this morning with their arses to a hoor of a driving rain. Gave them double nuts and stood them off for a few hrs after the milking. And Yeh Whelan give me a slap the next time I'm bitching and moaning about a lack of rain ha.

Buckmickley · 08-06-2017 11:51AM

Timmaay wrote: »

Buck are you in the South East also? Cows all standing at the gap this morning with their arses to a hoor of a driving rain. Gave them double nuts and stood them off for a few hrs after the milking. And Yeh Whelan give me a slap the next time I'm bitching and moaning about a lack of rain ha.

Coolgreaney near Inch
Phenomenal amount of water mucking the place in past few weeks
I knew we'd pay for the dry but to be wading in water at the gaps this morning Ugh
Monday was a barbaric day,just a flood
Today hasn't stopped tomorrow is to be the same

kowtow · 09-06-2017 02:30PM

Since I don't have a creamery to send me texts I have to wait for the milk recorder to come every couple of months:

Then I have to wait for you lot to tell me what to do about it !

Herd at 73dim - 34.5 kg avg F 4.03% P 3.30% Lactose 5.00% 2.53kg F+P
305 day - 6980kg, 4.25% F, 3.40% P, 4.96% Lactose 533kg F + P

That's back on TAD, about 4kg of either 14% or 16% nut in the parlour. No new heifers in this year., about 50% of the herd 4+lactation. These girls are getting old on me!

SCC is a different story and not a completely happy one, will come back to that in a later post.

alps · 11-06-2017 10:53PM

Some silage ground here near the GP that was cut 20 days ago, got 3500gals slurry immediately afterwards, but no fert. Cover of 1300 on it and we could do nicely grazing this with the cows and pulling a bit extra for bales from the grazing ground.

it would be Tuesday evening by the time we hit this ground, and weather I'm sure will have picked up..anyone see a risk in grazing this heavily slurried ground?

whelan2 · 13-06-2017 06:06PM

How's your breeding seasons going? Going to scan heifers on Friday. Bull in 3weeks now with cows. Did 5weeks ai before that.

Mooooo · 13-06-2017 06:20PM

Though it was ok till fri, put a fr bull with cows and and it seemed like a switch turned on, wondering now had I a lot of silent heats. Angus with heifers. Will follow fr bull with ai and put the Angus in with cows in 3 weeks as well. Last cow calved today:(

boggerman1 · 13-06-2017 08:04PM

Scanned today.76 cows and 32 maiden heifers.41 cows in calf.let fr.bull off on april 18.no ai used this time.14 of the 32 maiden heifers in calf.bull out with them since may 1st.

whelan2 · 13-06-2017 08:09PM

Mooooo wrote: »

Though it was ok till fri, put a fr bull with cows and and it seemed like a switch turned on, wondering now had I a lot of silent heats. Angus with heifers. Will follow fr bull with ai and put the Angus in with cows in 3 weeks as well. Last cow calved today:(

I was a bit worried too, bull was very busy with cows, today was the first day he stayed in the paddock

tanko · 13-06-2017 08:13PM

Mooooo wrote: »

Though it was ok till fri, put a fr bull with cows and and it seemed like a switch turned on, wondering now had I a lot of silent heats. Angus with heifers. Will follow fr bull with ai and put the Angus in with cows in 3 weeks as well. Last cow calved today:(

The crap weather lately won't be good for cows coming bulling and going in calf i'd say.

pedigree 6 · 13-06-2017 08:38PM

whelan2 wrote: »

I was a bit worried too, bull was very busy with cows, today was the first day he stayed in the paddock

Same here. I was wondering if there was something wrong with the bull.

I had a younger fr bull with a higher ebi with the cows first but he was a bit too familiar with people and I couldn't really trust him. So I let out an older fr bull I kept (just in case) from last year and I was starting to wonder was he getting them in calf. Gone quiet thankfully in the last week.

GrasstoMilk · 13-06-2017 08:41PM

boggerman1 wrote: »

Scanned today.76 cows and 32 maiden heifers.41 cows in calf.let fr.bull off on april 18.no ai used this time.14 of the 32 maiden heifers in calf.bull out with them since may 1st.

What's the plan fir them now? Is that on par with other years?

Mooooo · 13-06-2017 09:13PM

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

What's the plan fir them now? Is that on par with other years?

The majority may well be incalf as bull is still with them scanning only shows 30 days plus I assume scanning at this stage is more to get accurate dates with the bull?

boggerman1 · 14-06-2017 01:47PM

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

What's the plan fir them now? Is that on par with other years?

A lot better than other yrs,have fed the cows a lot better this yr.they were on 6kg per day till mid april.5 till mid may and now on 4kgs.might not be popular with the dairy experts but i helieve its helping them.have to cidr 7 cows that are doing nothing.bulls will be left with them till around 15-20th of july.will scan again by end september to see how things finished up.hope to have heifers for sale before yr is out.

kowtow · 14-06-2017 04:29PM

whelan2 wrote: »

How's your breeding seasons going? Going to scan heifers on Friday. Bull in 3weeks now with cows. Did 5weeks ai before that.

Very very patchy, mainly as in falling off badly stuck on patchy.

Started at the beginning of May, got about half the milkers done fairly quickly then all went quiet with no heats showing at all, another bunch came in at the beginning of last week so we only have a couple more milkers both of which I'll scan & PG I think as they were hard calved... have had no repeats at all (which is way too suspicious) although a couple of disturbed Kamars last Friday and Saturday which I now wish I had served again just for good measure.

Meanwhile I am only starting today on the heifers - I have two bunches, one spring(ish) and one Autumn to do. Put scratchcards on them yesterday half of which have fallen off already. Going to put Kamars on them now and give them a few days then a shot of PG next week.

Keep telling myself that it doesn't matter as we'll be Autumn calving as well from next year anyway! - but at this rate I'll be struggling to fill the parlour until April.....

What's the story with giving a second straw if you get a "might be" repeat... ie. you don't see her mounted or standing? Is it recommended?

Mooooo · 14-06-2017 04:46PM

Get some glue for the stick on yokes a lot of the self sticking ones can be hit and miss, have some still on heifers bulling 2 months ago and others fell off the following day. If you think they may be in heat ai away, the ai man may tell if she thinks she's going or not. Regret not doing this myself this year but keep a bull calf and vasectomise him for next year will help with heats, get rid and repeat the following year so you won't have an older crankier bull knocking around

kowtow · 15-06-2017 12:25PM

Mooooo wrote: »

Get some glue for the stick on yokes a lot of the self sticking ones can be hit and miss, have some still on heifers bulling 2 months ago and others fell off the following day. If you think they may be in heat ai away, the ai man may tell if she thinks she's going or not. Regret not doing this myself this year but keep a bull calf and vasectomise him for next year will help with heats, get rid and repeat the following year so you won't have an older crankier bull knocking around

Changed the patches for kamars yesterday, hopefully they should be a better job.

Am beginning to lean your way on the teaser bull, especially in a small herd it is difficult to rely on enough hormonal animals to be bulling each other.

I have a couple of bull calves left this year, as it goes, am thinking whether to keep one on for next year. Would you just keep him living with the heifer calves through the winter and then let him work? Presumably he could work away with the cows as well once the heifers are served?... might pick the taller of the bull calves in that case.

Mooooo · 15-06-2017 01:01PM

kowtow wrote: »

Changed the patches for kamars yesterday, hopefully they should be a better job.

Am beginning to lean your way on the teaser bull, especially in a small herd it is difficult to rely on enough hormonal animals to be bulling each other.

I have a couple of bull calves left this year, as it goes, am thinking whether to keep one on for next year. Would you just keep him living with the heifer calves through the winter and then let him work? Presumably he could work away with the cows as well once the heifers are served?... might pick the taller of the bull calves in that case.

Pick the strongest calf as a smaller one may be turned upside down and hurt the back on cows. What I did with young bulls is I actually left them in with dry cows or bigger animals , they weren't used to being the boss at the feed passage and that then and so far touch wood I have had no temperament issues with home bred ones. If you have no space you could leave with the heifers but there would be more activity inside so more risk of injury by slat or slipping to the heifers. Make sure you keep him away from anything that can go incalf for 6 weeks after being vasectomised as I think there is still a chance viable semen could be present. Vet would know exactly. Once they go over 2.5/3 years they tend to not be as active follow My cows, the one jump seems to do them, so younger ones tend to be better for marking the cows as they would be overly eager

Buford T. Justice XIX · 15-06-2017 01:06PM

Mooooo wrote: »

Pick the strongest calf as a smaller one may be turned upside down and hurt the back on cows. What I did with young bulls is I actually left them in with dry cows or bigger animals , they weren't used to being the boss at the feed passage and that then and so far touch wood I have had no temperament issues with home bred ones. If you have no space you could leave with the heifers but there would be more activity inside so more risk of injury by slat or slipping to the heifers. Make sure you keep him away from anything that can go incalf for 6 weeks after being vasectomised as I think there is still a chance viable semen could be present. Vet would know exactly. Once they go over 2.5/3 years they tend to not be as active follow My cows, the one jump seems to do them, so younger ones tend to be better for marking the cows as they would be overly eager

...like 16yo boys at an over 18s disco:D

kowtow · 15-06-2017 01:10PM

Mooooo wrote: »

Pick the strongest calf as a smaller one may be turned upside down and hurt the back on cows. What I did with young bulls is I actually left them in with dry cows or bigger animals , they weren't used to being the boss at the feed passage and that then and so far touch wood I have had no temperament issues with home bred ones. If you have no space you could leave with the heifers but there would be more activity inside so more risk of injury by slat or slipping to the heifers. Make sure you keep him away from anything that can go incalf for 6 weeks after being vasectomised as I think there is still a chance viable semen could be present. Vet would know exactly. Once they go over 2.5/3 years they tend to not be as active follow My cows, the one jump seems to do them, so younger ones tend to be better for marking the cows as they would be overly eager

Could put him up in cubicles with the dry heifers I suppose, or he could go in a box next to the calving pens but would he turn miserable stuck in on his own?

Haven't quite decided where the youngsters are going to go over the winter yet anyway - thinking of a strawed tunnel as only have a handful of them to worry about.... so we could figure out something.

Would you always pick a chinball over a scratch pad or tail paint or does it matter too much..

freedominacup · 15-06-2017 01:25PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

...like 16yo boys at an over 18s disco:D

More like a 16yo getting caught up in a second go round hen night.

alps · 15-06-2017 01:39PM

freedominacup wrote: »

More like a 16yo getting caught up in a second go round hen night.

You reckon "stronger and longer heats"?

Mooooo · 15-06-2017 02:57PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

...like 16yo boys at an over 18s disco:D

Any young lad in reardons

Mooooo · 15-06-2017 05:27PM

kowtow wrote: »

Could put him up in cubicles with the dry heifers I suppose, or he could go in a box next to the calving pens but would he turn miserable stuck in on his own?

Haven't quite decided where the youngsters are going to go over the winter yet anyway - thinking of a strawed tunnel as only have a handful of them to worry about.... so we could figure out something.

Would you always pick a chinball over a scratch pad or tail paint or does it matter too much..

Paint on cows heat seekers on heifers and chinball on bull, used a harness that had a kind of chalk thing in it once for a bull as was cheaper but as they were getting the ration in the feed passage at the time it didn't last two weeks. Would put something on the bull anyway but with till a week or so after introducing the bull to the heifers/ cows. I dunno would it be possible but say if you synced the heifers and ai,d as normal and once that is done put the ones that didn't come bulling with the cows to help catch them if it suits, if you have space in parlour and enough grass that the heifers wouldn't be struggling to get in the grass?

kowtow · 15-06-2017 06:12PM

Mooooo wrote: »

Paint on cows heat seekers on heifers and chinball on bull, used a harness that had a kind of chalk thing in it once for a bull as was cheaper but as they were getting the ration in the feed passage at the time it didn't last two weeks. Would put something on the bull anyway but with till a week or so after introducing the bull to the heifers/ cows. I dunno would it be possible but say if you synced the heifers and ai,d as normal and once that is done put the ones that didn't come bulling with the cows to help catch them if it suits, if you have space in parlour and enough grass that the heifers wouldn't be struggling to get in the grass?

That could well be the best way, until this year we ran any heifers with the cows anyway once they were well weaned - made them much easier to bring up to the parlour as they were used to the routine. The odd one would come through but for the most part they'd stay back in the collecting yard and get a bucket of nuts if it was particularly cold or they looked miserable. Hunting in the heifers separately this year is proving a real PITA, not to mention the hassle of different mobs. In a tiny herd these are the things that take an insane amount of time.... i sometimes feel like I should have the words "fixed costs" tattooed across my knuckles.

Dairy chit chat II

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