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Dairy Chit Chat- Please read Mod note in post #1

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Comments

  • #2282
    Timmaay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,396 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    You won't have to burn diesel or waste an hr a day on the extra bay also, and it will still be standing when the diet feeder total gone to rust and worthless.


  • #2283
    keep going
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,551 ✭✭✭keep going


    wats the craic wrote: »
    i was thinking of investing in a diet feeder maybe in the next yr or so . it defo will be a second hand job , just want to know how other lads and lassies get on with them thanks

    garuntee you you will have more milkin the tank ,better cows ,and faster and better finished cattle and less money in you pocket


  • #2284
    Dawggone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,506 ✭✭✭Dawggone


    wats the craic wrote: »
    i was thinking of investing in a diet feeder maybe in the next yr or so . it defo will be a second hand job , just want to know how other lads and lassies get on with them thanks

    I've a feeder here. I had a large one that has been traded for two smaller ones. The one I have now has no chains, only a bottom augur that's driven by gearbox. Neighbour has the same one for 7 years and trouble free.
    I get on well with it but I do need it on a maize based diet..
    If you go down the road of feeding straights you won't need in-parlor feeders, maybe a feed to yield could be handy.


  • #2285
    Greengrass1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,493 ✭✭✭Greengrass1


    wats the craic wrote: »
    i was thinking of investing in a diet feeder maybe in the next yr or so . it defo will be a second hand job , just want to know how other lads and lassies get on with them thanks

    We've one here.
    I'll not be biased but I was at a local keenan demo yesterday.
    Farm we were on waa yeilding 19l or 1.57 kgs ms/day atm
    Here atm were yeildimg 15l av or 1.31 kgs ms/day

    Farm we were on was on fancy diet of maize/beet/29% p balencer due to the low P in the beet and maize and silage in the mix.
    Here we are feeding on av 2.6 kgs meal and 15.5 kgs silage.
    Farms feed costs atm was €4.245c
    His milk revenue just on a /solids basis was €5.72c
    Our feed costs here atm are €2.819c
    While our milk revenue just on a /kg of solids basis I'd €4.803c

    After feed costs each cow on the keenan demo farm left
    €1.475c
    After feed costs each cow here is leaving €1.984c

    That speaks for itself really.
    Now that doesn't inc bonuses, our bonus is worth a little bit more than his but best leave it our for that calculation.

    That really brings back the question of is that last 10% of production really worth the expense?


  • #2286
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Greengrass1 wrote: »
    We've one here.
    I'll not be biased but I was at a local keenan demo yesterday.
    Farm we were on waa yeilding 19l or 1.57 kgs ms/day atm
    Here atm were yeildimg 15l av or 1.31 kgs ms/day

    Farm we were on was on fancy diet of maize/beet/29% p balencer due to the low P in the beet and maize and silage in the mix.
    Here we are feeding on av 2.6 kgs meal and 15.5 kgs silage.
    Farms feed costs atm was €4.245c
    His milk revenue just on a /solids basis was €5.72c
    Our feed costs here atm are €2.819c
    While our milk revenue just on a /kg of solids basis I'd €4.803c

    After feed costs each cow on the keenan demo farm left
    €1.475c
    After feed costs each cow here is leaving €1.984c

    That speaks for itself really.
    Now that doesn't inc bonuses, our bonus is worth a little bit more than his but best leave it our for that calculation.

    That really brings back the question of is that last 10% of production really worth the expense?

    Ours broke down gg and I threw in grabs of maize and silage at feed barrier and mixed best I could, till i got her going again, came back and maize was gone with silage left. Strong cows or cows at barrier first ate most of maize and rest were left with silage and neither having a balanced diet


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  • #2287
    Greengrass1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,493 ✭✭✭Greengrass1


    Milked out wrote: »
    Ours broke down gg and I threw in grabs of maize and silage at feed barrier and mixed best I could, till i got her going again, came back and maize was gone with silage left. Strong cows or cows at barrier first ate most of maize and rest were left with silage and neither having a balanced diet

    Not really the point of my post milked out.
    I know there's different circumstances everywhere ie. Land etc.
    What I'm saying is, is the different feeds etc worth it? We're just a bog standard simple diet here amd always have been. By my calculation there we'd be worse off going to buy maize and beet etc to make up this diet to get higher yields


  • #2288
    wats the craic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 532 ✭✭✭wats the craic


    Greengrass1 wrote: »
    We've one here.
    I'll not be biased but I was at a local keenan demo yesterday.
    Farm we were on waa yeilding 19l or 1.57 kgs ms/day atm
    Here atm were yeildimg 15l av or 1.31 kgs ms/day

    Farm we were on was on fancy diet of maize/beet/29% p balencer due to the low P in the beet and maize and silage in the mix.
    Here we are feeding on av 2.6 kgs meal and 15.5 kgs silage.
    Farms feed costs atm was €4.245c
    His milk revenue just on a /solids basis was €5.72c
    Our feed costs here atm are €2.819c
    While our milk revenue just on a /kg of solids basis I'd €4.803c

    After feed costs each cow on the keenan demo farm left
    €1.475c
    After feed costs each cow here is leaving €1.984c

    That speaks for itself really.
    Now that doesn't inc bonuses, our bonus is worth a little bit more than his but best leave it our for that calculation.

    That really brings back the question of is that last 10% of production really worth the expense?
    was at that demo myself ya its an expenise , only really thinking about it we are land locked were we are ie limited land on the home farm i want to expand if i am going to stay at cows , was going to use it buffer feed the cows when cows are tight .


  • #2289
    Greengrass1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,493 ✭✭✭Greengrass1


    wats the craic wrote: »
    was at that demo myself ya its an expenise , only really thinking about it we are land locked were we are ie limited land on the home farm i want to expand if i am going to stay at cows , was going to use it buffer feed the cows when cows are tight .

    All I can really say is ye need to work it out for yourself if it would pay more to get land to make good quality bales to buffer with and stock up to 4 cows /ha
    Or go buying in maize and balancers etc

    Imo I think the good quality bales every 3-4 wks would be a better route


  • #2290
    mf240
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,890 ✭✭✭mf240


    I would be overstocked on home farm. And would use bales to buffer.

    I have spent a small few pound putting in an extra 40 ft of feed space. Which means they can all eat at once. Id find this handier than a diet feeder. And just increase the meal in palour if needed.

    I would be very wary of some of the claims made by lads selling diet feeders.


  • #2291
    kowtow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,135 ✭✭✭kowtow


    mf240 wrote: »

    I would be very wary of some of the claims made by lads selling diet feeders.

    I'm particularly wary of companies that put an "i" in front of their product name and announce that they are now "connected" as if they had just invented a cow that needs no meal.

    Putting an 'i' in front of your name when you can't think of a really innovative product development used to be the last refuge of the damned.


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  • #2292
    Timmaay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,396 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    Milked out wrote: »
    Ours broke down gg and I threw in grabs of maize and silage at feed barrier and mixed best I could, till i got her going again, came back and maize was gone with silage left. Strong cows or cows at barrier first ate most of maize and rest were left with silage and neither having a balanced diet

    Much drop in yield as a result?

    But anyways I've that problem here also, a ring feeder at the back of the slatts has taken the pressure off, and I'd be happy almost every cow getting her bit of maize. Still struggling to get the cows to eat the PC pit silage tho, that I guess is where the diet feeder would help, but the much simpler solution is to have wayyy more leafy bales for the milkers next winter.

    If I had the land I'd scrap the maize and feed only leafy bales to milkers. Maize at 17c/kgDM isn't cheap, any estimates at the cost per kg/DM of leafy bales cut every 4/6weeks, including a land charge ha??


  • #2293
    Timmaay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,396 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    Actually on the whole winter diet topic, freedom you told me afew weeks ago to give my dad an ultimatum ha, cut high quality milker silage in early may or ditch the winter milkers, I've been trying to talk him around using a different contractor with a wagon, and cut in early may (like a neighbour is doing), that whole idea isn't going down well with him at all, and he has giving every excuse under the sun why not (including how one year when the silage was cut 7th of June it tested "top quality"). So my current solution is to only carryover 2young good cows to the autumn, and cull the rest!


  • #2294
    wats the craic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 532 ✭✭✭wats the craic


    the way i use to use maize when we had was mix up against the silage wall mixed great a poor mans diet feeder . it was well mixed up and left no waste have not maize for 6 yrs or so . good dmd bales prob is the best option , athough i love to go back to having maize . i getting more confused :D


  • #2295
    whelan2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,752 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    wats the craic wrote: »
    the way i use to use maize when we had was mix up against the silage wall mixed great a poor mans diet feeder . it was well mixed up and left no waste have not maize for 6 yrs or so . good dmd bales prob is the best option , athough i love to go back to having maize . i getting more confused :D
    you could pick up a refurbished feeder cheap enough. max 4k. do you have 2 tractors. we have a keenan 170 ,cows are fed with feeder and the rest get bales. Have this feeder over 10 years and its going fine. Bought it new


  • #2296
    Dawggone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,506 ✭✭✭Dawggone


    whelan2 wrote: »
    you could pick up a refurbished feeder cheap enough. max 4k. do you have 2 tractors. we have a keenan 170 ,cows are fed with feeder and the rest get bales. Have this feeder over 10 years and its going fine. Bought it new

    Willful waste Whelan. All you need is a wheelbarrow and a sprong...:)


  • #2297
    whelan2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,752 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Dawggone wrote: »
    Willful waste Whelan. All you need is a wheelbarrow and a sprong...:)
    in my spare hour..... in fairness no waste in cow trough.


  • #2298
    Dawggone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,506 ✭✭✭Dawggone


    whelan2 wrote: »
    in my spare hour..... in fairness no waste in cow trough.

    There are certain unmentionables on here. Diet feeders are close to the top of the list.


    I suppose that every cripple has their own way of walking...


  • #2299
    kevthegaff
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,084 ✭✭✭kevthegaff


    kowtow wrote: »
    I'm particularly wary of companies that put an "i" in front of their product name and announce that they are now "connected" as if they had just invented a cow that needs no meal.

    Putting an 'i' in front of your name when you can't think of a really innovative product development used to be the last refuge of the damned.
    Quality:-D


  • #2300
    wats the craic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 532 ✭✭✭wats the craic


    whelan2 wrote: »
    you could pick up a refurbished feeder cheap enough. max 4k. do you have 2 tractors. we have a keenan 170 ,cows are fed with feeder and the rest get bales. Have this feeder over 10 years and its going fine. Bought it new

    no just have one tractor , wat do you buffer feed the cows in the spring


  • #2301
    whelan2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,752 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    wats the craic wrote: »
    no just have one tractor , wat do you buffer feed the cows in the spring
    theres a feeder with a motor on the front of it might suit you. We put silage/ triticale/lupin mix and coarse mix in the feeder. At the minute its silage/ oaten straw and coarse ration.


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  • #2302
    whelan2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,752 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Dawggone wrote: »
    Willful waste Whelan. All you need is a wheelbarrow and a sprong...:)
    just scraped 2 passageways with hand scraper, valve gone on unit and we wont have new one until monday. Switch went on compressor for feeders in parlour this morning and eldest lad fell in the crap in the yard, so all in all a great morning, off to football soon


  • #2303
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Timmaay wrote: »
    Much drop in yield as a result?

    But anyways I've that problem here also, a ring feeder at the back of the slatts has taken the pressure off, and I'd be happy almost every cow getting her bit of maize. Still struggling to get the cows to eat the PC pit silage tho, that I guess is where the diet feeder would help, but the much simpler solution is to have wayyy more leafy bales for the milkers next winter.

    If I had the land I'd scrap the maize and feed only leafy bales to milkers. Maize at 17c/kgDM isn't cheap, any estimates at the cost per kg/DM of leafy bales cut every 4/6weeks, including a land charge ha??

    Down about 1L a cow but hard to quantify how much was just due to that tim as milking times were slightly different altho I gave them an extra bit in.parlour when feeder was out of action also.
    On having to buy in feed must measure pit properly yet as pit is above and beyond the walls but ours came in roughly at 45e/ tn fresh. No test results yet. Would wholecrop or grass silage be bought much cheaper with similar quality? The 26 acre pit of maize is alongside an 80 acre pit of grass and there ain't a missive difference in size obviously density is different but u get what I mean.


  • #2304
    jaymla627
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,125 ✭✭✭jaymla627


    Greengrass1 wrote: »
    We've one here.
    I'll not be biased but I was at a local keenan demo yesterday.
    Farm we were on waa yeilding 19l or 1.57 kgs ms/day atm
    Here atm were yeildimg 15l av or 1.31 kgs ms/day

    Farm we were on was on fancy diet of maize/beet/29% p balencer due to the low P in the beet and maize and silage in the mix.
    Here we are feeding on av 2.6 kgs meal and 15.5 kgs silage.
    Farms feed costs atm was €4.245c
    His milk revenue just on a /solids basis was €5.72c
    Our feed costs here atm are €2.819c
    While our milk revenue just on a /kg of solids basis I'd €4.803c

    After feed costs each cow on the keenan demo farm left
    €1.475c
    After feed costs each cow here is leaving €1.984c

    That speaks for itself really.
    Now that doesn't inc bonuses, our bonus is worth a little bit more than his but best leave it our for that calculation.

    That really brings back the question of is that last 10% of production really worth the expense?

    I think your slightly bulling with your figures our your lad above is getting bent over for maize/beet/meal, able to make up a equal three way mix of barley/soya bean meal/rolled maize for approx .29 cent a kilo/dm here if your man above put say 5 kilos of this into his diet feeder along with 13kgs of good quality grass silage at say 12 cent a kilo of dm his feed costs a day would be in our around 3 euro and that should easily cover 19 litres of production with probably nearly to much protein in the diet depending on silage


  • #2305
    Timmaay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,396 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    While most lads I know who cut towards end of may have only had Dmds in the low 70s or even 60s, The neighbour who cuts light leafy cuts with the wagon early may and 6wks later 2nd cut was telling me his results, 1st cut 83dmd, 26% DM, 16% protein!! 2nd cut 82dmd, 40dm, 13% p. Serious food for thought.


  • #2306
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Putting a 3 way mix of barley maize and beet pulp along with soya into ours. 3 way mix in at 220 and soya at 385. Top Up fresh cows in parlour then with 18% nut if needed. Cows are bulling away not sure what fresh are doing yet as haven't recorded in a while. Anyone getting better prices for ration mix like above?


  • #2307
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Timmaay wrote: »
    While most lads I know who cut towards end of may have only had Dmds in the low 70s or even 60s, The neighbour who cuts light leafy cuts with the wagon early may and 6wks later 2nd cut was telling me his results, 1st cut 83dmd, 26% DM, 16% protein!! 2nd cut 82dmd, 40dm, 13% p. Serious food for thought.

    Would they have grazed before cutting Timmaay? Big help too


  • #2308
    Timmaay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,396 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    Milked out wrote: »
    Would they have grazed before cutting Timmaay? Big help too

    Yep, if it wasn't grazed they'd be cutting it mid April ha!


  • #2309
    whelan2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,752 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    what is milk fill unit on silage results? mine is 1,24/kg dm, desirable range 0.95-1.05?


  • #2310
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    whelan2 wrote: »
    what is milk fill unit on silage results? mine is 1,24/kg dm, desirable range 0.95-1.05?

    Never heard of it something to do with intake capacity?


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  • #2311
    Greengrass1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,493 ✭✭✭Greengrass1


    jaymla627 wrote: »
    I think your slightly bulling with your figures our your lad above is getting bent over for maize/beet/meal, able to make up a equal three way mix of barley/soya bean meal/rolled maize for approx .29 cent a kilo/dm here if your man above put say 5 kilos of this into his diet feeder along with 13kgs of good quality grass silage at say 12 cent a kilo of dm his feed costs a day would be in our around 3 euro and that should easily cover 19 litres of production with probably nearly to much protein in the diet depending on silage
    He's buying the beet in so atm it's going for 40e/t washed.
    Maize is costing somewhere in the region of 35-40e/t if he's growing it himself.
    Simple maths.
    A 27% Protein ration does not come cheap


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