Dairy Farming General

keep going · 22-06-2015 02:07PM

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.

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.

frazzledhome · 22-06-2015 04:10PM

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.

Gwan out a that, you'll still take it. Chances don't come easy down your country

frazzledhome · 22-06-2015 04:14PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

I'm costing a heifer at close to 1500 from birth to parlour .they are a huge cost to expanding herds

Is that factoring in the fact that >25% don't make it to Lac 2 and another 20% to Lac 3

Deepsouthwest · 22-06-2015 05:11PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

I'm costing a heifer at close to 1500 from birth to parlour .they are a huge cost to expanding herds

Not to forget AI, my AI bill last yr, divided by number of heifer calves on the ground this yr worked out at €105 per heifer

keep going · 22-06-2015 05:56PM

frazzledhome wrote: »

Gwan out a that, you'll still take it. Chances don't come easy down your country

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.

mf240 · 22-06-2015 06:35PM

Keep going i have to say i like the way your thinking it through and crunching the numbers .... a lot of lads would jump in feet first and hope for the best.

Youll probably get sick in your mouth a little when i say this but what about feeding more meal to your existing cows and let some other hero rent it.

Or try your luck at 150 an acre (give him a sad story about milk price and rising costs)

frazzledhome · 22-06-2015 06:56PM

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.

Your talking as your thinking of doing out if cash flow, am I mistaken?

Milked out · 22-06-2015 11:13PM

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

stanflt · 22-06-2015 11:47PM

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

stretch film · 23-06-2015 07:06AM

Anyone any experience with the no arming method of scanning. Some advantages if its as accurate .from how many days can you scan. ?

Greengrass1 · 23-06-2015 07:28AM

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

Will you do some with the 2 emptie ones to get them incalf?

stretch film · 23-06-2015 08:01AM

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

Dropped mine from that height by 5 inches and cows never a prob . The odd heifer gets caught but never a huge issue like before . Mine are the full square panels. The tapered edge ones might not need to drop as much

stanflt · 23-06-2015 08:42AM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Will you do some with the 2 emptie ones to get them incalf?

Cidr yesterday morning during scanning- one calves late feb the other the mid of March so they won't lose too much time

Deepsouthwest · 23-06-2015 08:49AM

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

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 · 23-06-2015 08:53AM

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.

Was at 82% held to first serve down to 64% now.
Had 15 6 wk repeats.
alot ?

stanflt · 23-06-2015 09:06AM

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Was at 82% held to first serve down to 64% now.
Had 15 6 wk repeats.
alot ?

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

Greengrass1 · 23-06-2015 09:13AM

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

Fair play. Similar hete. 2 yrs ago calving from mid august to 1st April
like your self down to 6 wk autumn block and a 10/12 week spring one. Hoping for a ten week

mahoney_j · 23-06-2015 09:22AM

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.

+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 · 23-06-2015 09:25AM

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

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

mahoney_j · 23-06-2015 09:31AM

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

About 25 days after serve I think gg ,won't do cows till mid August about a month after Ai/bull is finished .

stretch film · 23-06-2015 09:56AM

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. ?

(Bump)

Milked out · 23-06-2015 10:32AM

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. ?

Do you mean putting the probe in a plastic tube like thing? If so one of the vets here uses it, I fins it a grand job as cows don't be ****ting for the day like they would after being handled. If it's close to the 30 days they need to use the hand alrite. The other vet won't use it tho as he says there is a risk of it damaging inside the cow, rupturing her maybe as you can't judge like u would with the hand

Brown Podzol · 23-06-2015 10:40AM

stretch film wrote: »

(Bump)

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 · 23-06-2015 10:47AM

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.

Does it take long per cow?

Brown Podzol · 23-06-2015 10:50AM

Milked out wrote: »

Does it take long per cow?

Around the same as arming, can't say I noticed any difference.

Deepsouthwest · 23-06-2015 11:06AM

Milked out wrote: »

Does it take long per cow?

Have used all types of scanning here, tube with probe inside is by far the quickest, scanned the cows straight out of the parlour into the crush last yr and we couldn't milk quick enough for him, least stressful on cows as well, no cows sore or dunging non stop for a few days after, least accurate as well though, missed 5 sets of twins and met a man who bought some of my empties last yr, said one them calved and she's a right grand cow! V annoying.
Have scanned outside as well, but anything less than around 70 days he has to handle to find the calf, v slow if scanning before september. Also high chance of missing twins or abnormalities from outside.
Have a guy who does heifers for me, incredibly accurate, predicts sex of calf in 2/3's of them with 100% accuracy, but heifers dirty with tails out for a few days after, that's why I don't use him for the cows.

Deepsouthwest · 23-06-2015 11:13AM

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

52", 4'4 from the ground to top here

Milked out · 23-06-2015 06:04PM

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

52", 4'4 from the ground to top here

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

frazzledhome · 23-06-2015 06:54PM

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

Did you fit a vari speed milk pump?

Greengrass1 · 23-06-2015 07:08PM

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

Would froth affect your bf results? It's very bad in jar hete often fills up the second jar

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