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Dairy Chitchat 3

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    #8402
    whelan2
    Registered Users Posts: 29,261 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    whelan2 wrote: »
    Nothing grazed here. Silage running out. 90 calved 35 left.

    Had a neighbour here now saying he has any amount of pit silage if I need it.


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    #8403
    Castlekeeper
    Registered Users Posts: 1,742 ✭✭✭Castlekeeper


    Sacrolyte wrote: »
    The darkest hour is just before the dawn.

    Phuken dark out now anyway, and a cold downpour with it. #misery


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    #8404
    blackdog1
    Registered Users Posts: 2,131 ✭✭✭blackdog1


    GrasstoMilk wrote: »
    What are you all feeding milkers?
    Were feeding 4kg 16% nut
    3kg dm maize and the rest is either grazed grass when we can or baled silage.
    Milk protein ranging from 3.3 to 3.5 depending on when they get grass or not

    Feeding 21% nut 10-12kg whole crop 5kg silage cows grazing light covers as I went out again in December and didn't have big covers luckily. They go out eat and come straight back in not locking them in the paddock.

    Cows doing 26litres at 4.34 f 3.61 pr
    When they were in without grass they were doing 3 litres less and 3.4f 3.52 protein. Winter /spring herd. This time last year they were doing close to 30 litres. The difference a year makes....


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    #8405
    Timmaay
    Registered Users Posts: 11,394 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    Panch18 wrote: »
    Ah Timmay Are you having a laugh

    How are you on your own when your milker is there at 7 in the morning

    You stated last year that you were only doing something like 5-7 milkings a week during the summer

    Ah now your missing my point, I have zero ambitions to be a fully one man show anymore, much too socially isolating for me ha. My main point was the difference in workload between having problems with say even just 20 or 30% difficult calvings and scour, when that 20/30% will suck double the time of every other job. I was lucky enough this spring and had very few issues, I could of got away with alot less labour this spring (main necessity was the 1st 3wks with loads of heifers in the parlour, 2men needed in the parlour for one milking a day then), however I had no idea what sort of issues I'd be facing so I certainly wasn't going to be caught short on labour. There are lads up and down the country with big numbers and surprisingly low amounts of labour, but they have everything down to a tee, calves gone after 10days, everything contracted out.

    Also its not as if I'm scratching my arse while I let the Milker on, I'm kept plenty busy with stuff off the farm, I've done my 8yrs as a full time dairy farmer here, I have an engineer masters and moving forward the aim is for me to back off more and more on the farm and get in a milker for say 10/12 milkings a week, and if the right full time labour or partnership showed up I'd certainly consider hiring them and letting them on with the day to day farming.


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    #8406
    Gawddawggonnit
    Registered Users Posts: 3,274 ✭✭✭Gawddawggonnit


    Timmaay wrote: »
    Ah now your missing my point, I have zero ambitions to be a fully one man show anymore, much too socially isolating for me ha. My main point was the difference in workload between having problems with say even just 20 or 30% difficult calvings and scour, when that 20/30% will suck double the time of every other job. I was lucky enough this spring and had very few issues, I could of got away with alot less labour this spring (main necessity was the 1st 3wks with loads of heifers in the parlour, 2men needed in the parlour for one milking a day then), however I had no idea what sort of issues I'd be facing so I certainly wasn't going to be caught short on labour. There are lads up and down the country with big numbers and surprisingly low amounts of labour, but they have everything down to a tee, calves gone after 10days, everything contracted out.

    Also its not as if I'm scratching my arse while I let the Milker on, I'm kept plenty busy with stuff off the farm, I've done my 8yrs as a full time dairy farmer here, I have an engineer masters and moving forward the aim is for me to back off more and more on the farm and get in a milker for say 10/12 milkings a week, and if the right full time labour or partnership showed up I'd certainly consider hiring them and letting them on with the day to day farming.

    Excellent post.


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    #8407
    Castlekeeper
    Registered Users Posts: 1,742 ✭✭✭Castlekeeper


    Well now it's an ill wind, there might be hope for us if we survive the storm.
    Milk- a glass a day keeps Corona away!


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    #8408
    mf240
    Registered Users Posts: 4,851 ✭✭✭mf240


    Youd calve any amount of cows when the things go right.

    When things start going wrong Its a different story.


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    #8409
    Dakota Dan
    Registered Users Posts: 3,764 ✭✭✭Dakota Dan


    Had a cow calved out in the field as she went down in the cubicles a few days ago, she had twins hopefully she won’t decide to kill one before the morning as I’ve seen this happen before.


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    #8410
    Panch18
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,471 ✭✭✭Panch18


    mf240 wrote: »
    Youd calve any amount of cows when the things go right.

    When things start going wrong Its a different story.

    Exactly. This is the whole point


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    #8411
    GrasstoMilk
    Registered Users Posts: 3,877 ✭✭✭GrasstoMilk


    Panch18 wrote: »
    Exactly. This is the whole point

    Fed some meal pre calving this year aswell as extra cal mag. It's really stood to the cows I think. Still had a few sick cows etc but they spat out the calves aswell as cleanings and the calves were hoping in no time.
    Itll be 5t of meal in all. Worth it imo


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    #8412
    straight
    Registered Users Posts: 4,624 ✭✭✭straight


    mf240 wrote: »
    Youd calve any amount of cows when the things go right.

    When things start going wrong Its a different story.

    Would you get 4 litres of good quality colostrum into all of them within 2 hours of birth...


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    #8413
    Say my name
    Registered Users Posts: 11,254 ✭✭✭✭Say my name


    Panch18 wrote: »
    Exactly. This is the whole point

    There's another point in that you are learning every year and should not be making mistakes you made in previous years. Every year that goes by you've improved the feeding, the mineral content of silage, the management of cows coming down to calving, the feeding of the calves,
    This all comes from learning and changing. I bet every single one of us has it easier now than from the previous years. There's always something that comes from left field to trip you up but if you're easy about changing things up to now you adapt.


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    #8414
    Timmaay
    Registered Users Posts: 11,394 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    Say my name wrote: »
    What do you attribute the change to in this year over other years?
    If you say "luck" I'll murder ya!! :p
    Because it's always always management..

    Ha saying just luck means I'm too lazy to bother thinking about it, which I certainly have. In terms of reduced scour, I haven't changed alot, however the one thing that I defo think is making a difference is I'm cleaning the calving box out fully a hell of alot more regularly, in previous years calves must of been picking up stuff within the 1st 24hrs while still in the pen. Less calving difficulties I'm going to put down to alot less effort to hold back the drycows, the last 2yrs I've fed some bit maize to the drys, especially in the last month of gestation, and they go to a near full Milker diet 10days out.


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    #8415
    whelan2
    Registered Users Posts: 29,261 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Milk tank trouble again today. One of the fans gone on one of the compressors. Service man was out quick enough. Better to get it sorted before a full lockdown


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    #8416
    Buford T. Justice XIX
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,633 ✭✭✭✭Buford T. Justice XIX


    I must admit I'm kinda enjoying the schools being off and kids at home.

    I have the youngest 2 out feeding the calves with me morning and evening. They usually have matches or training or gone to friends houses so they miss out on that side of farming but they're enjoying the craic of feeding and bedding.

    I had the oldest 2 out collecting damaged gates with me this morning. I found a man with the time to do the job and we went off collecting the gates and bars broken off over the last few years. We had them all standing against a wall when the eldest lad turns to me and said, 'I know it's Easter and all, but I wouldn't be holding my breath for any signs of resurrection here, if I was you' and walks off:D


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    #8417
    Reggie.
    Registered Users Posts: 24,389 ✭✭✭✭Reggie.


    Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »
    I must admit I'm kinda enjoying the schools being off and kids at home.

    I have the youngest 2 out feeding the calves with me morning and evening. They usually have matches or training or gone to friends houses so they miss out on that side of farming but they're enjoying the craic of feeding and bedding.

    I had the oldest 2 out collecting damaged gates with me this morning. I found a man with the time to do the job and we went off collecting the gates and bars broken off over the last few years. We had them all standing against a wall when the eldest lad turns to me and said, 'I know it's Easter and all, but I wouldn't be holding my breath for any signs of resurrection here, if I was you' and walks off:D

    Very same here. No pressure in the mornings or rushing to schools for pick ups


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    #8418
    whelan2
    Registered Users Posts: 29,261 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Reggie. wrote: »
    Very same here. No pressure in the mornings or rushing to schools for pick ups
    Or to get finished up on time for football etc


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    #8419
    Sacrolyte
    Registered Users Posts: 852 ✭✭✭Sacrolyte


    Getting fu(k all done here with kids off.
    (:


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    #8420
    visatorro
    Registered Users Posts: 3,153 ✭✭✭visatorro


    Sacrolyte wrote:
    Getting fu(k all done here with kids off. (:

    The chief is off work aswell. She's about to flip the lid soon. I'm off up the yard to 'feed' now. Get outta dodge!


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    #8421
    straight
    Registered Users Posts: 4,624 ✭✭✭straight


    Enjoying the kids around too. My wife is off too and starting to get cabin fever. It'll take a few more days before she ventures out the yard to me I'd say.


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    #8422
    older by the day
    Registered Users Posts: 1,645 ✭✭✭older by the day


    Protein is down to 3.09, fat 4.2 this morn. On 6kg of high maize 17% nut. Grass yesterday. Not today. Anyone else had a big drop in protein this week. It was 3.34 two collections ago.


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    #8423
    Mooooo
    Registered Users Posts: 8,611 ✭✭✭Mooooo


    M9ne is down with a bit as well. Silage quality not up to scratch


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    #8424
    Buford T. Justice XIX
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,633 ✭✭✭✭Buford T. Justice XIX


    older by the day wrote: »
    Protein is down to 3.09, fat 4.2 this morn. On 6kg of high maize 17% nut. Grass yesterday. Not today. Anyone else had a big drop in protein this week. It was 3.34 two collections ago.
    Been lucky enough to bite the bullet and get the cows out by day for the last 10 days or so. When I had to keep them in, the protein dropped to 3.2% but back up to 3.35% this week but still in by night so silage still in their diet.
    Mooooo wrote: »
    M9ne is down with a bit as well. Silage quality not up to scratch

    +1 on silage quality. The last couple of years I was struggling to have enough silage for the winter but I have close to 50% of the pit left and 200 dry cow bales left so I have a reserve of dry cow silage anyway. Going to change focus this year and cut the silage earlier by a week or 10 days and drag the DMD up into the low 70s at least.

    Milkers will still be mostly on baled surplus and hoping to improve that as well this year.


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    #8425
    Gillespy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,224 ✭✭✭Gillespy


    Are you doing much damage? We were out in worse weather last spring but ground was drier. No silage forced that and I'm wondering if I should have been less lazy and been grazing like you. It's like in the summer when you see freshly made hay on donedeal and can't remember getting hay weather.


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    #8426
    tanko
    Registered Users Posts: 9,233 ✭✭✭tanko


    Does cubicle lime have any effect against Crypto?


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    #8427
    visatorro
    Registered Users Posts: 3,153 ✭✭✭visatorro


    tanko wrote:
    Does cubicle lime have any effect against Crypto?

    Fairly sure it doesn't, are you in bother with it?


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    #8428
    tanko
    Registered Users Posts: 9,233 ✭✭✭tanko


    visatorro wrote: »
    Fairly sure it doesn't, are you in bother with it?

    No, only one cow calved so far, they'll be coming thick and fast from today on.
    Had a bit of bother with it last year, nothing major tho.
    Have sprayed pens with Kilcox extra and will do this every time i clean out pens, was just wondering if lime would be worth applying also?


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    #8429
    Buford T. Justice XIX
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,633 ✭✭✭✭Buford T. Justice XIX


    tanko wrote: »
    Does cubicle lime have any effect against Crypto?

    No, soap breaks up the fatty layer and allows the genes to break up.


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    #8430
    Water John
    Registered Users Posts: 21,220 ✭✭✭✭Water John


    I think Covid 19 is affecting you brain, judge. The fatty issue relates to the links in the Covid virus, Crypto is an occyst with a hard shell.


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    #8431
    Mooooo
    Registered Users Posts: 8,611 ✭✭✭Mooooo


    tanko wrote: »
    No, only one cow calved so far, they'll be coming thick and fast from today on.
    Had a bit of bother with it last year, nothing major tho.
    Have sprayed pens with Kilcox extra and will do this every time i clean out pens, was just wondering if lime would be worth applying also?

    Get some with a % hydrated thru it like mastercal or similar. There is also a disinfectant powder call stalosan F that is good.
    Edit Plenty straw, if the cow's can be kept as clean as possible as sometimes crypto can come from the cow's environment and that's where the calves pick it up then, off the cow


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