Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

Borrowed a gator to see how it goes on the hills, couldn't believe how good it was and felt safe also

It’s on 3 year average not just this year ….wouldn’t be loosing too much sleep about going over it …if that close now you’ll be over next year

I suppose the animal was done for lungworm. I had a weanling with pneumonia a few weeks ago. The first thing the vet gave her was albex, then antibiotics and steroids. Very wet November. Fine after a few days

Dexamethasone for pneumonia is a must at that age. Keep in straw bed and treat for colic too I reckon. Haylage or hay and give them a dose of bread soda. Sometimes stomach issues can be overlooked. Did you check if their passing dung?

Must give a shot of dex, animal is passing dung fine. Not chewing the cud though.

anyone any experience with cow brushes, are they worth the money, so far i priced condon, o donnell and delaval

Have a delaval one a good few years and never had any trouble with it. It is a motor that it is running nearly constantly over the winter so I presume given the present cost of electricity it adds up on to nice increase on our bill. But as said above it is nice to see them using it, you feel like you're giving something back to the cow for her produce

You’ll get nothing around here less than 400/acre…pure total and utter madness …all been driven by extraordinary high milk price this year and lads panicking /not knowing full story regards nitrates /banding .

I’ve been looking for land …too dear and too far away so I’ve recently secured a very good guy to contract rear my calves and replacement heifers

Banding is there now with all its flaws but we have to work with it ….if anywhere near the threshold beteween middle and top you may just drive on into the high band ,forgot about chasing cow nos and cull the goats etc ….pure ball ache re going back to when quotas were here and watching supply ,having to dry early etc

I'd say long term effects of such a diet have yet to be found out

It would be interesting to see how the figures add up on that one. To my reckoning, if each M³ of slurry contains 2.4kg of N, then a farmer will need to export 9691 gallons for each cow over limit if in the 106 band.

In our part of the world where a 2600 gallon tank would cost 100/hr, this could cost up to 300€...

If we go to 220 on derogation, the farmer would have to rentban extra 1.2 acres to carry the cow...probably costing mkre than the €300...(but would have the extra DM if needed)..

If you were beside me and was over the limit...I'd talk to ya..

Wasn’t planning on getting this ground (or at any rate getting it so soon) so nothing set up to expand for time being on home block, no danger of derogation at home either so would be in a position to put out a fairly sizeable amount of slurry on it and try build indexes for a few years. Soil samples gone off but I know they will be brutal based on how it was farmed the last 20 odd years.

would be ideal to get slurry but with the paperwork and playing with weather and contractors I don’t think it would be worth €100 an acre. At least from a bag you know what you have and can go any day you want to with it. I see Grassland Agro have a special K product (Solelith K) which I must try find out about

I had figures done a couple of years ago for my shed, did the final figures on what it actually cost a fortnight ago, I like you went back to the fridge for another can but at least you haven't the damage done..it's scary expensive to winter a dairy cow now...on a plus not a frozen pipe or trough in sight this week and cows were cozy out in there..