Fed bulls on 12kg of meal and straw only, a few years ago. I’d say they done just ok. It done the job as we had no silage but think you are Better off with a bit of good silage and less meal. €25 for a bale of roughage is a lot. At least there is a bit of feeding in a good bale of silage.
They’d go back on only 5kg of meal and straw I’d say.
Whats the quotes for bullocks this week or next? I’m hearing €4.65
I've a 20 month old FR bullock here that got 2 touches of pneumonia since May. No issues with any others. He had blood on his nose this morning but was eating fresh grass when I changed them. I'm considering sending him to the factory as I'm afraid I'll find him dead some morning. I heard a bleeding nose can be fatal sometimes when an animal has had run-ins with pneumonia. He has poor thrive and well back on the rest of them, about 440KG LW and he's thin. I've never sent an animal like him to the factory - any idea what Larry will give for him?
They could do anything if you sent him in without anyone seeing him beforehand. The price won’t be nice but the safest thing is get an agent to look at him and agree a price.
You could give the vet a shout. He might only get the skip in the factory sure he might only be 200 kg max dw
Still 75 down here.
Yeah I rang the vet and he's in a loose shed now on another course of antibiotics and steroids. He's comfortable now but vet said the prognosis is not good for him. He said factory probably the best option once the withdrawal period is gone in 4 weeks as he will never thrive with the weak lungs and pneumonia will keep coming back. I'll talk to an agent next week see if he's worth anything. Thanks lads.
That was the right thing to do. You can definitely trust your vet as they are concerned with animal welfare. The loose shed will help him.
I’ve his twin-sister here but she’s only 350kg. Had the vet at her 2 weeks ago. Steroids and antibiotics brought her round then but the vet reckoned her lungs are permanently damaged (she got pneumonia as a small weanling this time last year). She’ll never hit 500kg never mind say see a milking parlour. I’ve a lad coming to look at HE heifers for the butcher next week. I’m going to ask him if he’d kill her for our own freezer, whatever little meat is on her.
She seems to graze little but eats the meal away grand. So maybe ad-lib meal might help your lad too
How heavy should top quality yearling Friesian bullocks/bulls weigh? Is rearing Friesian bulls calves a loser when compared to weanling value when you account for rearing costs? Seen reasonable Friesian bull weanlings sell this week for less than €100 with the weight surely they would be worth a gamble.
No matter when you get into Friesian's you must carry to finish to make a decent margin. It's the truth about most cattle
As Bass and others have said on here before, work out a sale plan for any animal you’re thinking of buying.
When will you sell that FR bullock? How much will it sell for? How much money and work will it cost you to get the animal to that stage?
Don’t bother. I had a young animal like that who broke a leg and killed him for the freezer. No fat cover. Two years of eating muck.
I'd agree with that, especially when you factor in the cost of getting an animal slaughtered and prepared for the freezer. I think it was something like €300 the last time I heard....
It's ok to ring the vet, but you should have just got a letter to say the animal was ok. Incase he was pulled up in the factory. How many times have I treated an animal and they should have been sent away straight to the factory. Let us know how you do
Just to update on the above. He was doing very well and for the past 10 days and actually was putting on condition eating ration and silage. Noticed a cough from him this morning on way to work. Came to him this eve and he is coughing alot and see blood in his tongue, didn't eat ration today. Went downhill very fast. Still 12 days of withdrawal to go so he will be put down tomorrow if he lasts the night. First animal to die on the farm since I took over 5 years ago, and it was preventable, I mistook his first bout in June for fluke and slight chill, vet prescribed a bottle of Alamycin and told me dose him. He said give 40ml first day, then 20ml next 3 days. I gave Ivomec and the 40ml that night. He was much better the next day and b*llox here didn't follow up with the 3 days 20mls (partly because I had to go abroad for a few days to a wedding). Anyway noticed him coughing 2 weeks later and finished the course, he got better again but obviously the damage was done. If he got Draxxin the first time he'd prob be fine now. Anyway I have learned something.
Question on putting the animal down assuming he is still alive in the morning, what is the best course of action. The collection crowd Wards would do it I think but I don't want him suffering for days if they can't come tomorrow. Then the vet can come and do it but that's more money. Anyone know how responsive Wards are in this situation?
What can you do. By the sounds of it you done all you could. It's a kick in the teeth but as a neighbor said to me before as long it's not in the house. You hate to see them suffering & if you think he won't do any good you better off give the vet a shout. Cut your loss and move on.
I would ring the vet on call and ask him to put him down tonight it's a long time to leave a beast in trouble until morning.
His spiritual twin died here last week too. Just stopped eating and faded within 24 hours.
Hopefully she felt no pain. It didn’t seem like it anyway. Kinda just pined away and then laid down on the edge of a few trees.
If he had peunomia you should never dose especially not with an ivermectin.it kills worms instantly and it clogs the lung's. Oral dose much better in these cases and ideally after the infection clears.
I have often seen it an animal seems to turn a corner after first injection only to go rapidly down hill. If I suspect peunomia nowadays I get an injection with an anti-inflammatory would only use Alymicin where I had a bunch of weanling after the mart and was a bit suspicious.
Usually if you ring them any of the knackery crowds and explain they will give you priority and you can get it sorted tomorrow.
Just came back from checking him and he's not suffering. Eating a bit of silage and wasn't coughing for the 15 minutes I was there. I just know he's in the early stages of a relapse so he'll be put down tomorrow.
I understand where you are coming from, not an emergency just going down hill.
Any quotes for this week? I booked in 10 to go this week 2 weeks ago. Got a call this evening that 4.55 was the price. Debating whether to let them go now or wait for a potential upturn with the world cup coming up. All dates ok until 1st December bar 1.
In exactly the same boat. Quoted 4.55 as well. Can wait till end Nov, but they'll have to come in this weekend, which is the only thing making me wonder was I right to hold them.
Might not be worth your while if you factor in silage and feeding in shorter colder days.
How far off ready are they?
They're all fit to go now. I'll let them off i'd say and try replace them cheaper on the other end. The price of stores aren't falling in line with the price in factories so there's a bit of a squeeze on.
In a mart during the week seen 500 kg charolais bulls born March April 2022 sold €1700. They were exceptional stock. They had great weight for their age. Would be difficult stock to be buying because they must be following a high ad-lib meal feeding regime to have these achievements and would surely loose condition if this isn't continued.
They will go straight onto ad-lib to be finished within 150 days. They will have been bought by specialist feeders who have contracts with the processors I imagine
I suspect that many of these bulls were in the rushes for a while. At 500 kgs if March April born the have an ADG of 2.25 kgs/ day which is highly unusual. If they gain 2 kgs per day over the next 120 days they will be 750@ slaughter. 60% k/o 450kg carcass weight. Feeders will need a price of 6/kg to make money on them IMO.
Any quotes this week
I heard 4.50 for bullocks
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