Deepsouthwest wrote: » Have the 30 extra cows ready to go? There's a fair cost in rearing 30 extra heifers from the time u AI the cow to the time the heifer stands in the parlour. It's a cost I certainly wouldn't be excluding.
keep going wrote: » I was testing ye, its a combination of having extra heifer s there and retaining girls that might otherwise move on.as im thinking about it the past few days the sheer financial pull is beginning to dawn on me.add this to the falling milk price its not looking pretty, the last time I did something like this was 09 and the spring of 10 was not pretty.
mahoney_j wrote: » I'm costing a heifer at close to 1500 from birth to parlour .they are a huge cost to expanding herds
frazzledhome wrote: » Gwan out a that, you'll still take it. Chances don't come easy down your country
keep going wrote: » Ah yes but good bit of think7ng to do about how to pull it off without front loading the infrastructure costs as I have made other commitments , at sub 30 cent there isnt going to be any spare money to say "yera we'll do that while we re at it".the outdoor cubicles are gone but the bulk tank has now assumed priority.
stanflt wrote: » scanned this morning 125 cows 2 empties 78% of the spring calvers calving in first 6 weeks-up from 28% this year 52 pregnancies to lwr
Milked out wrote: » Lads what height are the top of yer mangers in the parlour? Fitted new machine and mangers thurs in parlour and the cows are only starting to come in without a chase around the yard when a cow this eve in the 2nd row couldn't back out to lift her neck past the manger. They are about 4'2 at the highest point. I think it's a bit high myself
Greengrass1 wrote: » Will you do some with the 2 emptie ones to get them incalf?
Deepsouthwest wrote: » Incredible results(again!) Stan, esp considering the production ur cows are doing. I think guys like u should have ur total routine noted and used as a template for the rest of us to check ourselves against, everything from feed, minerals, vaccinations etc, u must be doing something v right to achieve those results. Still a few cows turning up here disappointingly, including 2 six wk repeats a few days ago, one of which was the first cow calved this yr, she has no excuse not to be incalf. At least turning up now is better than in a months time.
Greengrass1 wrote: » Was at 82% held to first serve down to 64% now. Had 15 6 wk repeats. alot ?
stanflt wrote: » Only had 44% hold to first service but 80% to second I started 2 weeks early to try and get a crip of block calving 4 years ago we calved the same amount of cows from sept- may every month This year we have a 6 week autumn and getting a handle on spring now without culling any cows and keeping production up
mahoney_j wrote: » +1 on that,scanned heifers and all bar 1 in calf to Ai fr,empty one bull nailed her 2 weeks ago so should be in calf .very happy there..cows all served in 36 days but over last week I've had a few early May served cows repeat which is annoying .serious shine off cows ,Mayo healthcare bolus seems to have done a good job and iodine still going in water daily
Greengrass1 wrote: » Would you scan all animals regardless if they were only served a week? how early can hr tell there incalf. Mentioned it to dad and he seemed keen enough to try it
stretch film wrote: » Anyone any experience with the no arming method of scanning. Some advantages if its as accurate .from how many days can you scan. ?
stretch film wrote: » (Bump)
Brown Podzol wrote: » Yes. Scan just in front of hind leg at the top of the udder. Can't pd under three months I think. Uses a serious amount of vegetable oil. Definitely less stress on the cow.
Milked out wrote: » Does it take long per cow?
Deepsouthwest wrote: » 52", 4'4 from the ground to top here
Milked out wrote: » I had a look at the neighbours as well same height but our ones are very deep so less space to swing the neck over and out the way. On another note first bf result thru new machine came in at 3.38, .5 below the previous day in old plant. A lot of froth in jar. Result from sun came back at 4.43 then. Will have to sort froth as first rinse doesn't get all milk residue from jar as well
