GrasstoMilk wrote: » How's breeding going for everyone? Week 10 finished here tomorrow and getting 4/5 a week returning. Haven't got as good s conception rate to first serve this year as last year but they look to have settled down in the last 3 weeks. 2 more weeks of breeding and that's us finished.
mahoney_j wrote: » After a busy early to mid June for bull things totally quitened down now bull out next Monday .heifers scanned last week and all in calf bar 1 suspect that was there or thereabouts 28 days .like u gg concp to first serve not as good as I'd like for cows anyway but looking at things now I should hit 90% or very close calved in 6!weeks
blackdog1 wrote: » I'd be of the same opinion on feeding as much grass as possible and getting the cows out as soon as possible but unlike Teagasc I think cows should be buffer fed on maize or wholecrop at the front end and back end of grazing can't see the logic of giving cows no or little feed during those periods. It also annoys me that irish fertility figures don't take into account stock bulls. Most European farmers never use them. This makes a huge difference to fertility figures. How much would our calving interval changed if we never used a stock bull? 10 days a year...maybe more.
visatorro wrote: » Where are you losing the cent per litre compared to top 10% of glanbia? Don't take question the wrong way just curious because there should be nothing wrong with your figures.
Buford T. Justice V wrote: I'm curious as to what you mean by that ?
blackdog1 wrote: » It's simple fertility figures are based on conception rates and ease of calving and calving interval etc. If you have an in calf rate of 95% with ai for 6 weeks and bull for 6 weeks. If you take out the bull and aI'd for 12 weeks your in calf rate would probably drop by 10-20%. Therefore when your comparing ireland fertility figures to say like Germany or France where they use little or no bull the figure we get is in ireland favour. Take out the bull and I imagine they would be very similar.
yewtree wrote: Is there any evidence of that happenig? Using all ai this year on herd i think i would pack in farming if my in calf rate dropped by 20%. A few guys in my DG moving away from bulls, to much hassle/ unreliable. AI done right gives same conception rates as stock bull.
GrasstoMilk wrote: » I fed maize for the first time ever for some of last winter and the spring just gone. Haven't a clue why ppl sow it tbh. I saw nothing extra out of my cows for it just that they were full looking but my protein was v poor on it which shouldn't be the case seeing as maize is full of energy and protein is a good indicator of how much energy cows are getting. I'm only using it as a safety net but it won't be used here in 2 years time I hope And the end of the day we didn't even need it but I opened it up one wet week in February and fed it and had to keep feeding it because there wasn't enough in the clamp to close it again
mahoney_j wrote: » Maize ain't full of energy chief ,energy yes if balanced correctly for protein and in conjunction with grass you should of seen production and solids increases ,that is unless maize was of very poor quality
GrasstoMilk wrote: » Maize was really good stuff. 28dm and 33 starch I think or other way around I can't remember which. Yield never went passed 24 until they hit second round grass and I had a lot of the herd calved by end of Feb
GrasstoMilk wrote: » blackdog1 wrote: » I'd be of the same opinion on feeding as much grass as possible and getting the cows out as soon as possible but unlike Teagasc I think cows should be buffer fed on maize or wholecrop at the front end and back end of grazing can't see the logic of giving cows no or little feed during those periods. It also annoys me that irish fertility figures don't take into account stock bulls. Most European farmers never use them. This makes a huge difference to fertility figures. How much would our calving interval changed if we never used a stock bull? 10 days a year...maybe more. I fed maize for the first time ever for some of last winter and the spring just gone. Haven't a clue why ppl sow it tbh. I saw nothing extra out of my cows for it just that they were full looking but my protein was v poor on it which shouldn't be the case seeing as maize is full of energy and protein is a good indicator of how much energy cows are getting. I'm only using it as a safety net but it won't be used here in 2 years time I hope And the end of the day we didn't even need it but I opened it up one wet week in February and fed it and had to keep feeding it because there wasn't enough in the clamp to close it again
mahoney_j wrote: » Should of said protein ,33 starch would be exceptional even for maize on a year like last ,even more so again as yours wasn't down under plastic
GrasstoMilk wrote: » It was under plastic
yosemitesam1 wrote: » Would your cows have the genetics to give much of an increase in yield?
alps wrote: » On course here for 11 rotations on some paddocks....probably 1/3 of them.. Some year for grass production..
GrasstoMilk wrote: » Have cows doing 8000. Herd average is around 6000. They peaked at 28. Lots of young cows in it
stanflt wrote: » That couldn't be right if they only peaked at 28 My herd still doing over 28 here with no autumn cows dried off yet- some doing less than 15 admit idly But sure I'm prob over feeding them anyway - still getting 5kg average
mf240 wrote: » I'd say you were short protein in the diet to make use of the maize starch.
Keepgrowing wrote: » Started another bit of this today. Have to cross a river in 2 places PIA. I recon it's the quickest ROI along with reseeding and lime
tanko wrote: » What length are those slabs, i assume there's steel reinforcing in them?
Keepgrowing wrote: » I recon we may have even been underestimating covers when I saw covers in Moorepark on Tuesday
