Dairy Farming General

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 01:54PM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Anyone going to do cows with eprinex /eprizero this yr?
Wasnt going to do ours for another week or 2 but dad got it yesterday so did them last night.
be interesting to see if I get any milk back

Did u test dung sames,took a pool here last week and all clear.expensive stuff if no worms present

Timmaay · 29-05-2015 02:00PM

Still high in the bulk tank screening test, which is why I went with it.

sandydan · 29-05-2015 02:03PM

Milked out wrote: »

Was covering g the pit this evening and glanced down towards the cows to see was there any bulling going on and I spotted a car parked on the road by the field. Some lad was after hopping the wire and walking in to the field to take pics of the cows. now I don't really care so much but there is a 32 month old vasectomised bull in with the cows and if the mood took him and he went for yer man twud have been all over. Dunno who this guy was prob a tourist but you'd think most would have the cop on not to hop a fence In to field of animals or even the decency to stay on the road if they wanted to get pics.

flipping typical and they might be 1st to sue if injured, fella near me uses cord to prevent cows from straying when crossing road, one day a fella walking road took photograph of same complaining that it could be trip hazard or something of that nature,former class mate living in up country since leaving school :mad:

whelan2 · 29-05-2015 02:03PM

Timmaay wrote: »

Still high in the bulk tank screening test, which is why I went with it.

do you dose at drying off?

Greengrass1 · 29-05-2015 03:19PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Did u test dung sames,took a pool here last week and all clear.expensive stuff if no worms present

nope. I've taken dung samples before that came back empty but still did eprinex and did see and improvement. Lads in discussion group say the same to.

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 03:26PM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

nope. I've taken dung samples before that came back empty but still did eprinex and did see and improvement. Lads in discussion group say the same to.

But if no worms why dose,eprinex/eprizero ain't cheap.no point dosing for something that ain't there .

Brown Podzol · 29-05-2015 03:27PM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Anyone going to do cows with eprinex /eprizero this yr?
Wasnt going to do ours for another week or 2 but dad got it yesterday so did them last night.
be interesting to see if I get any milk back

I do them every year. Don't know if I get a kick in the milk or not, but you get 5 week residual effect. Puts a beautiful shine on the cows for the summer though.Checked dung at housing and no infection so no housing dose. Getting the value that way.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 29-05-2015 03:28PM

One for the Kerry lads and lurkers too;)

Kerry are after taking on an accountant/ex-agri advisor to cater for lads not in Teagasc or outside the 'golden circle' in Teagasc who want some agri advice on whatever be it grassland management, breeding, finance, expansion etc.

I think he is started already but not sure. Contact your local manager for details.

frazzledhome · 29-05-2015 03:49PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

One for the Kerry lads and lurkers too;)

Kerry are after taking on an accountant/ex-agri advisor to cater for lads not in Teagasc or outside the 'golden circle' in Teagasc who want some agri advice on whatever be it grassland management, breeding, finance, expansion etc.

I think he is started already but not sure. Contact your local manager for details.

"Golden circle"?

Greengrass1 · 29-05-2015 03:52PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

But if no worms why dose,eprinex/eprizero ain't cheap.no point dosing for something that ain't there .

how did milk go up then if dosed for worms bit no worms in dung sample?

mahoney_j · 29-05-2015 04:04PM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

how did milk go up then if dosed for worms bit no worms in dung sample?

Better grass more meal better weather,if u took pool from x section of herd and no worms no need to dose .400 odd euro spent in dose could of been spent elsewhere

Buford T. Justice XIX · 29-05-2015 05:39PM

frazzledhome wrote: »

"Golden circle"?

There is a school of thought round here that the average dairy farmer isn't being adequately catered for. The top lads are fighting for the last 5% but in truth many of the older and farmers with other limitations are still at 80% and aren't being catered for.

Me, I'm on the fence on this one but I can see some merit in the argument.

just do it · 29-05-2015 05:52PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

There is a school of thought round here that the average dairy farmer isn't being adequately catered for. The top lads are fighting for the last 5% but in truth many of the older and farmers with other limitations are still at 80% and aren't being catered for.

Me, I'm on the fence on this one but I can see some merit in the argument.

I don't know Buford. Looking at it from the other side of the fence often it is only the top lads that really listen to advisors and know how to use them to best advantage. Naturally the advisor puts more effort into these guys. I've often gone to open days and picked up a few things only to be told by others on the way out it was useless. Listening to the average farmer for a few decades now he seems unable to take advice and he has a multitude of reasons as to why he's only at 50-80%.

That's one of the nice things about boards, lads come on here because they've an open mind and are receptive to new ideas.

sandydan · 29-05-2015 06:36PM

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

1st calver hanging around water tank after milking last night. Very listless and very cold. She had come in and Milked fine in Parlour. Relief guy left her in paddock beside Parlour, by the time he had come back from locking in the cows she had dropped dead. Any ideas what this could be? Sickner

had one like that a few weeks ago (suckler) turned out to be milk fever, but in your case id think of grass tetany, unlikely to be acetonanemia, they would be turning around to right only, if it was meningitis

Greengrass1 · 29-05-2015 07:26PM

Ifj dud a piece a while back on what farmers thought needed changing in teagasc.
One man noel o tool I think it was was of the opinion that the advisors were doing more paper work than advising. Likes of area aid and sfp and grants etc.
tbh I think he was spot on. Teagasc have a mountain of info there you just need to get hold if your advisor. Our advisor hete hasn't been out to visit us in 2 yrs.

that man reckoned farmers should employ a private advisor and get him to do paper work and use teagasc for the advise

Buford T. Justice XIX · 29-05-2015 08:12PM

just do it wrote: »

I don't know Buford. Looking at it from the other side of the fence often it is only the top lads that really listen to advisors and know how to use them to best advantage. Naturally the advisor puts more effort into these guys. I've often gone to open days and picked up a few things only to be told by others on the way out it was useless. Listening to the average farmer for a few decades now he seems unable to take advice and he has a multitude of reasons as to why he's only at 50-80%.

That's one of the nice things about boards, lads come on here because they've an open mind and are receptive to new ideas.

I agree but just thinking on one farmer i had dealings with years ago keeps me on the fence. He was doing well, very good manager but the cows just weren't producing the milk they should. I had gone with him to an open day and we were discussing the farm we were on and how a similar operation by this guy wasn't leaving near the same profit. An elderly man near us joined in the conversation and asked if the man had a plate cooler. He had. The elderly man said to buy a water trough and run the plate cooler water into it and see how it went. Next day, went to the coop and bought a water trough and placed it outside the exit. Within a week, the mans cows were up by a gallon of milk a day.

The moral of the story is that this man was doing most things well but he, like the majority of farmers in the country, had no direct contact with an advisor who could see the small detail that the man had overlooked. And it was a small but vital detail he had overlooked.

To my way of thinking, there are many farmers missing some small or large detail which could be rectified through contact with someone outside the farm pointing out that x or y, done slightly differently, would be more suitable for this farm.

The Teagasc advisory model is a good one but it simply doesn't suit 100% of farmers. Many will pick up things at farm walks and modify them to suit their own situation. But less than 25% of farmers actually go to these open days and farm walks.

How do you get the relevant advise to the majority of farmers who don't? There are many ways and this is just one that will suit a number of those farmers to have a guy on the farm and, in confidence, discuss where he wants to go and get advise on how to do that. Not all farmers would be comfortable discussing issues with a crowd of people where they could benefit hugely by one-on-one discussions with a suitable advisor.

The benefit to the co-op is increased output which improves their bottom line for a relatively small investment.

Anyway, gone far off topic but the option is there for those that wish to use it.

awaywithyou · 29-05-2015 10:34PM

had 2 cows here that had dose of chronic scour.. 3 nearly 4 wks ago.... one in particular lost ALOT of condition in 2 days.... dung was pure water.... vet treated both for lots of things including rumen fluke.... the other cow was grand within a day or two and is flying it.... however the lady described above has not improved much... eating away mad... dung has improved a bit.... but she is still in terrible condition....

called vet to take bloods and no results back yet.... (i think they've lost the sample)

but could she be lacking something?? a mineral deficiency? disease? at full tilt this lady is one of the finest cows we have.. very disheartening to see her the way she is...

Buford T. Justice XIX · 29-05-2015 11:15PM

awaywithyou wrote: »

had 2 cows here that had dose of chronic scour.. 3 nearly 4 wks ago.... one in particular lost ALOT of condition in 2 days.... dung was pure water.... vet treated both for lots of things including rumen fluke.... the other cow was grand within a day or two and is flying it.... however the lady described above has not improved much... eating away mad... dung has improved a bit.... but she is still in terrible condition....

called vet to take bloods and no results back yet.... (i think they've lost the sample)

but could she be lacking something?? a mineral deficiency? disease? at full tilt this lady is one of the finest cows we have.. very disheartening to see her the way she is...

I lost a young cow last week, dosed for everything, calved and hoped it was the big calf she had that was drawing off her but no good. Nothing back so far on results so no use to you yet but if something shows up I will post it

whelan2 · 30-05-2015 05:47AM

awaywithyou wrote: »

had 2 cows here that had dose of chronic scour.. 3 nearly 4 wks ago.... one in particular lost ALOT of condition in 2 days.... dung was pure water.... vet treated both for lots of things including rumen fluke.... the other cow was grand within a day or two and is flying it.... however the lady described above has not improved much... eating away mad... dung has improved a bit.... but she is still in terrible condition....

called vet to take bloods and no results back yet.... (i think they've lost the sample)

but could she be lacking something?? a mineral deficiency? disease? at full tilt this lady is one of the finest cows we have.. very disheartening to see her the way she is...

johnes? would get sample taken again

Milked out · 30-05-2015 08:02AM

awaywithyou wrote: »

had 2 cows here that had dose of chronic scour.. 3 nearly 4 wks ago.... one in particular lost ALOT of condition in 2 days.... dung was pure water.... vet treated both for lots of things including rumen fluke.... the other cow was grand within a day or two and is flying it.... however the lady described above has not improved much... eating away mad... dung has improved a bit.... but she is still in terrible condition....

called vet to take bloods and no results back yet.... (i think they've lost the sample)

but could she be lacking something?? a mineral deficiency? disease? at full tilt this lady is one of the finest cows we have.. very disheartening to see her the way she is...

I've a similar case here, 40L 7th lactation cow. Vet did dung sample nothing came up, has no temp. Tested negative for johnes as part of scheme last year and given hr age and relatively sudden onset I doubt it is that anyway. I was planning on culling her this year as her udder is gone too low for another lactation but was hoping to milk her out for the season. Going to try another round of sulpha powders and if no improvement I'll dry her off. Right annoying so it is

awaywithyou · 31-05-2015 12:28AM

Milked out wrote: »

I've a similar case here, 40L 7th lactation cow. Vet did dung sample nothing came up, has no temp. Tested negative for johnes as part of scheme last year and given hr age and relatively sudden onset I doubt it is that anyway. I was planning on culling her this year as her udder is gone too low for another lactation but was hoping to milk her out for the season. Going to try another round of sulpha powders and if no improvement I'll dry her off. Right annoying so it is

she is an RUU.. is in her 7th lactation... an average of 800kgs of solids delivered each yr along with over 10000 litres of milk/yr...

blood sample was for johnes... will do retest tues...

i mustr have what sulpha powders in country given to her!

however just this evening i noticed she was much livelier than her usual barely-able-to-stand state... and dung is normal... milk is still crap tho... but will keep fingers crossed she improves...

whelan2 · 31-05-2015 05:52AM

awaywithyou wrote: »

she is an RUU.. is in her 7th lactation... an average of 800kgs of solids delivered each yr along with over 10000 litres of milk/yr...

blood sample was for johnes... will do retest tues...

i mustr have what sulpha powders in country given to her!

however just this evening i noticed she was much livelier than her usual barely-able-to-stand state... and dung is normal... milk is still crap tho... but will keep fingers crossed she improves...

doubtful to be johnes, although i had a 10 year old come up positive on the scheme last year for johnes, she never had a scour, test is not 100% accurate

mf240 · 31-05-2015 11:21AM

awaywithyou wrote: »

she is an RUU.. is in her 7th lactation... an average of 800kgs of solids delivered each yr along with over 10000 litres of milk/yr...

blood sample was for johnes... will do retest tues...

i mustr have what sulpha powders in country given to her!

however just this evening i noticed she was much livelier than her usual barely-able-to-stand state... and dung is normal... milk is still crap tho... but will keep fingers crossed she improves...

A few shots of multi vitamin would be no harm.

Those supha powders are great but a sustained course of them will leave a cow very run down.

stanflt · 31-05-2015 11:28AM

2 days of sulpha powders and 20cc of norodine

atlantic mist · 31-05-2015 12:15PM

what sort of prices is everyone getting for rolls of plastic for bales got quoted 80 a roll on fri

on teagasc we have no dealing with them,
spent time in ag collage my impression was they were good at research
havent a clue when it comes to financial matters, the ag collage actual farm dnt make a profit (well it did when they dnt include staff wage) great at massaging the figures, one minute were being told this is how our farms should be run and the next this is only for research and not ment to make money

just do it · 01-06-2015 12:53PM

Lads
What LU/ac are you looking at on a 24hr grazing block? I'm not talking about the overall SR on the grazing block, I mean the no of cows/ac in the individual paddock being grazed.

Timmaay · 01-06-2015 12:59PM

This mays milk volume 25% on last year. Mix of more milking and more mature herd. Flat rate feeding though, has probably cost a few litres but not enough to worry about.

Milked out · 01-06-2015 01:23PM

just do it wrote: »

Lads
What LU/ac are you looking at on a 24hr grazing block? I'm not talking about the overall SR on the grazing block, I mean the no of cows/ac in the individual paddock being grazed.

34 cows per acre per 24 hours I think our advisor mentioned one day, which is just over 17kgdm per cow at a cover of 1500kg dm/ ha. That mite be a bit tight I think one of the lads who measure properly may have a a better figure

stretch film · 01-06-2015 01:25PM

just do it wrote: »

Lads
What LU/ac are you looking at on a 24hr grazing block? I'm not talking about the overall SR on the grazing block, I mean the no of cows/ac in the individual paddock being grazed.

Ideal pre grazing cover 1400/ha meaning 1300 kgs available (100 left)

That will feed 75 cows approx for 24 hrs on that Ha.

stretch film · 01-06-2015 01:26PM

Milked out wrote: »

34 cows per acre per 24 hours I think our advisor mentioned one day, which is just over 17kgdm per cow at a cover of 1500kg dm/ ha. That mite be a bit tight I think one of the lads who measure properly may have a a better figure

Good man MO , quick on the draw .

Dairy Farming General

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